A Public Health Failure: The Lack of Disability Clinical Care and Competency Training of Medical Professionals

SCOPE AND PURPOSE: Comprehensive disability clinical care and competency training is not a requirement in most health professional education programs, although some institutions have voluntarily adopted training that can serve as a model for others. Consequently, healthcare professionals enter clinical practice without consistent preparation to address disability-related care needs. Often, this results in diagnostic overshadowing, a pervasive problem in medical care where a provider assumes that disability is causing new symptoms instead of looking for separate or distinct medical issues. This causes delayed and unequal access to care. NCD’s framework provides a foundation for discussions about the need for requiring disability-inclusive medical education, patient care, and institutional accountability and provides policymakers with eight core competencies that collectively address clinical knowledge, patient-centered care, legal responsibilities, communication, care coordination, and advocacy.