About 5 years ago, a group of Harvard medical students went to instructor Dorothy W. Tolchin, MD, with an idea: Train students to graduate with the skills, perspective, and humility to take good care of patients with disabilities of all types, including autism, which affects 1 in 36 children<\/a>.<\/p>\n Together, they embarked on a project to integrate disability education within Harvard Medical School, Boston. Today, Harvard is in its fifth year of this embedded curriculum; Tolchin is the inaugural director of disability education at Harvard Medical School.<\/p>\n A key component of Harvard\u2019s program is its partnership with Operation House Call<\/a> (OHC) of The Arc of Massachusetts in Waltham, Massachusetts. OHC is a unique initiative that equips medical students to deliver compassionate, competent care to individuals with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The program combines classroom learning with real-world experiences. It is currently implemented in all Massachusetts medical schools and is one of only a few like it in the United States.<\/p>\n Despite the need for specialized training, no accreditation standards currently mandate autism education<\/a> in medical school curricula. A small survey published last year<\/a> found that only 16% of medical students had received formal training in neurodivergence; 97% expressed a desire for more.<\/p>\n Too often, medical students graduate with little education and understanding of proper care for people with autism, explains Maura Sullivan, CEO of The Arc of Massachusetts<\/a>; it\u2019s a gap that contributes to medical access issues for patients with autism, an increase in health disparities, and more.<\/p>\n In this piece, Medscape Medical News<\/em> explores the state of autism education, ongoing efforts to enhance training, and how medical students can advocate for change.<\/p>\n \u201cA little over half<\/a> of schools have at least some elements of disability education, but it\u2019s not necessarily autism education,\u201d Tolchin said.<\/p>\n Sometimes, autism education is limited to one or two sessions; usually, it is focused on diagnosis and recognizing signs or symptoms, and there\u2019s much less emphasis on the patient and family perspective, said Michael Zhu Chen, an MD-PhD student at Harvard Medical School.<\/p>\n \u201cStudents graduate with a general understanding of patient care but without the necessary skills to provide a comfortable clinical environment, ask questions, and engage people across the neurodiversity spectrum,\u201d Tolchin said.<\/p>\n Traditional medical school education also tends to lack a curriculum aimed at the continuation of care. \u201cIn many cases, autism is diagnosed in childhood, but obviously, there are adults with autism. It\u2019s not like they all of a sudden aren\u2019t people that physicians are caring for anymore,\u201d Chen said.<\/p>\n According to Tolchin, without set curriculum requirements in medical schools, schools tend to provide education when there is an available champion for advocacy and\/or available resources.<\/p>\n Research in BMJ Open<\/em><\/a> found that only 25% of primary healthcare providers reported high confidence in communicating with adult patients with autism or identifying and making necessary accommodations.<\/p>\n When physicians in training don\u2019t receive adequate education about caring for patients with autism, there\u2019s a wide range of consequences.<\/p>\n![\"Business](\"https:\/\/img.medscapestatic.com\/vim\/live\/professional_assets\/medscape\/images\/thumbnail_library\/ht_250324_maura_sullivan_120x156.jpg\")
Business News The State of Autism Education in Medical Schools<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Business News The Repercussions of an Underprepared Physician Workforce<\/strong><\/h2>\n