Reducing barriers through education: A scoping review calling for structured disability curricula in surgical training programs

Background: Patients with disabilities face widespread barriers to accessing surgical care given inaccessible health systems, resulting in poor clinical outcomes and perpetuation of health inequities. One barrier is the lack of education, and therefore awareness, among trainees/providers, of the need for reasonable accommodations for surgical patients with disabilities. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of the literature on the current state of disabilities curricula in medical education and graduate residency curriculum. Results: While the literature does demonstrate a causal link between reasonable accommodation training and positive patient-provider relationships and improved clinical outcomes, in practice, disability-focused curricula are rare and often limited in time and to awareness-based didactic courses in medical education and surgical training. Conclusions: The absence of structured curricula to educate on anti-ableism and care for patients with disabilities promotes a system of structural “ableism.” Expanding disability curricula for medical students and trainees may be an opportunity to intervene and promote better surgical care for all patients.