Disability in Undergraduate Medical Education in the United States: A Scoping Review

PURPOSE: Students with disabilities remain disproportionately underrepresented in undergraduate medical education (UME). This scoping review synthesizes the literature on undergraduate medical students with disabilities in the United States to identify the purpose of the literature and map how disability is portrayed.

METHOD: The authors searched 8 databases for relevant publications published between January 2008 through August 2024. Publication inclusion was determined using a two-phase title/abstract screening process and full-text review conducted by two independent authors. Data extraction focused on characterizing the publication, followed by an analysis of the publications' goals and how disability was portrayed.

RESULTS: The authors identified 10,491 publications; 81 were included, most of which were journal articles (n = 78). In 23 publications, at least one author identified as disabled. Five main goals were identified in the publication purpose statements, including describing (n = 50), calling for action, evaluating, arguing, and creating. Overall, disability was portrayed as (1) diversity, (2) deficiency, (3) inherently connected with accommodation and technical standards, and (4) a place of habitual omissions. Two studies discussed disability in relation to intersectional identities, and two used gender or race in multivariable models. No studies explicitly focused on UME and disabled students of color, disability and gender diversity, or disabled LGBQ+ students.

CONCLUSIONS: This scoping review identified that disability is portrayed from an abled viewpoint as race and gender-neutral, static, and as diversity, deficit, or a legal construct. Future researchers should consider how disability is conceptualized and the use of intersectional frameworks.