The American Medical Association shared its new perspective on ableism in medicine in its educational primer, "Ableism in Health Care," part of its larger strategic health equity plan.
The primer advocates for a shift in the conceptualization of disabilities away from a medical model that "seeks to 'fix' a person" toward a "social model." This updated perspective does not view a person's activities as being inherently limited by their impairment, but rather by their environment and the institutional and societal norms that exclude and pathologize them.
Joanna Bisgrove, MD, an assistant professor of family and preventive medicine with Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, shared her experience with working with a hearing impairment in an AMA article published Aug. 14.
She explained that her hearing loss, while an "impairment," is not a "disability" unless it restricts her from doing her job. When she has access to the use of aiding resources, such as an amplified stethoscope, a scribe and clear masks for her patients so she can read their lips, her hearing loss does not prohibit her from doing her job.
Dr. Bisgrove serves as a vice chair for the AMA's new disability advisory group, which stems from policies adopted by the AMA House of Delegates to develop and promote tools to support physicians and medical students with disabilities.