Advancing Medicine’s Approach to Disability

By Keith Gillogly

Hall is co-author of the Annals of Internal Medicine paper, “Fostering Support and Inclusion for Physicians, Postgraduate Trainees, and Medical Students with Disabilities.” The position paper addresses disability-related issues in medical education and in the practice of medicine. It provides 13 actionable recommendations toward a fair and inclusive environment for physicians and students.

The ACP is a national and international organization of internal medicine physicians and the largest medical specialty organization in the world, with 163,000 members. Hall currently serves as governor for Upstate New York with the ACP and has been vice chair of its Health Equity Committee, which led to his authoring the paper. He also contributed to a related position paper detailing the state of health and health care access for individuals living with disabilities.  

Hall estimates that by age 75, nearly 50% of people experience some form of disability, while 12% or 13% of the civilian non-institutionalized population is disabled, he says. This includes both visible disabilities and invisible disabilities, such as cognitive disabilities or mental health conditions that may not be readily apparent.

In contrast to the data from the general population, reported disability rates are lower among the U.S. medical community. Between 4% and 7% of medical residents report having a disability, as do 3% of attending physicians, Hall says.

But are the numbers truly that low? The paper describes how stigma and reluctance could be preventing physicians from disclosing disability. Further, it’s possible that the workplace does not offer adequate accommodations once medical training is complete.

“The same accommodations that somebody needed in medical school will probably be needed later in their career too,” Hall says. “Are they falling out of the workforce because they don’t have those accommodations?” 

Among the 13 points, Hall and his co-authors discuss erasing the stigmas surrounding disability and disclosure of it, including at the institutional level. “There must be institutional policies to support and address stereotypes and promote education and cultural shifts to combat ableism,” he says.

The authors and ACP urge maintaining transparent policies and simple processes when students request accommodations and encourage medical schools to review and revise educational technical standards to ensure they’re not unintentionally and unnecessarily exclusionary.

As an example, medical students rotate through clinical experiences in various specialties to gain a broad range of exposure. While exploring surgery, a person with visual impairments or limited use of their legs could require assistive technology to properly see or stand for long periods in the operating room, Hall says.

Accommodations should be reasonable and appropriate. “Is it something we can rectify relatively easily and in keeping with financial constraints?” Hall asks. “There are some disabilities that might not be compatible with practicing as a physician, but many, many are, especially with more and more emerging technologies.”

Further, Hall says, representation of individuals with disabilities within the medical community matters and is vital to patient care. “We talk about having more physicians of color to be reflective of the populations we take care of. Disability is very much like that.” 

Hall, who’s been on Jacobs School faculty for 30 years, lives with cerebral palsy. “I’m a disabled person; I always have been. But my mentality was to put that in the background unless it needed to be in the front.”

At many points during his life and his medical training when his disability prevented equal participation, there was lack of understanding and limited accommodation along with much more reluctance to disclose disability. Now, he hopes to change that.

“If I have been given the opportunity to have a voice and a platform for the benefit of other people, it’s incumbent upon me to use that,” he says.

It’s important for people with disabilities to share and vocalize their needs, Hall says, because people without disabilities may not be aware of them or realize what’s most helpful.

Still, Hall recognizes the challenges in accommodating such a varied disability landscape. But inaction is no answer.  

“There is no blanket approach, because just like there are multiple types of disabilities at multiple stages in people’s lives, we don’t always know what an individual will need.”

Hall cites Catherine Lawton, MD, a 2025 Jacobs School graduate, as an example of someone who became disabled but was able to excel throughout medical school thanks to her own ingenuity and the determination of medical school educators to provide her with an equitable education experience.

While camping, Lawton was injured by a fallen tree shortly after applying to medical school, paralyzing one of her legs and damaging her spinal cord, among other serious injuries. Last year, upon graduation, she began a physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at the University of Washington.

“I think the importance of this work, and the importance of what’s happening at the Jacobs School, is the openness to understanding this issue and the openness to create the environment that makes advancements possible,” Hall says. 

Additional authors on the paper include Katelan Cline, of the ACP; Micah W. Beachy, DO, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center; and Priscilla W. Carr, MD, of the Central Vermont Medical Center. The paper was commissioned by the ACP’s Health and Public Policy Committee.