Deaf and Disabled Representation in the US Physician Workforce

To achieve the goal of health equity, there is a universal push to create a more diverse physician workforce to address health disparities in medicine. Limited attention has been given to the benefits of training physicians with diversity other than gender, race, and ethnicity until recently. In this chapter, disability as a sub-group of diversity is discussed and introduces the definition of disability with a focus on certain disabilities within the physician workforce, such as deaf physicians or physicians with mobility, psychological, visual, or other chronic disabilities. Recent trainee and workforce trends show increasing representation of this group within the physician workforce especially since the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. However, this group continues to face structural and cultural barriers in the modern era which impact recruitment and retention of these physicians within the workforce. Strategies are discussed on how to create inclusive environments for Deaf and disabled physicians to overcome such barriers and the manifold benefits that such physicians contribute towards the workforce and patient care.