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How Does Disability Justice Affect the Medical Profession?

The disability justice framework involves the examination of disability and ableism. Society assumes that doctors should be able-bodied to sufficiently deliver high-quality care. This promotes discrimination against physicians with disabilities. Disability injustice in the medical profession promotes negative profiling, prevents doctors with disability from exploiting their potential, undermines their capability, and leaves them invisible hindering the delivery of better healthcare outcomes and more competent care. This argument is derived from an analysis of two texts, ‘Are you my doctor? Toward a world where a physician in a wheelchair is no big deal’ and ‘America Needs More Doctors with Disabilities’. The argument will influence readers’ views on physicians with disabilities.

Effect of Disability Justice

Disability justice promotes negative profiling in the medical profession. Physicians with disabilities don’t fit the profile of a prototypical doctor as defined by society. People tend to question the credentials or achievements of physicians with a disability than they would ‘normal’ physicians. According to Blauwet (2018), because of her being in a wheelchair, she had an unappealing encounter. A man mistook her for a patient. He equated the wheelchair with vulnerability and illness.

The man could not even notice a stethoscope around her neck or a badge that read Br. Blauwet (Blauwet, 2018). Instead of treating her just like other normal physicians, she is negatively profiled. This indicates that discrimination against physicians with disabilities promotes negative profiling. 

Medical profession

Ableism prevents doctors with disabilities from exploiting their potential. Society assumes that doctors should be in perfect health and be able-bodied to adequately deliver high-quality care. This suggests that disability is an inability. It means that physicians with disabilities are incapable of providing quality care (Blauwet, 2018). Because of this presumption, physicians with disabilities are denied a chance to exploit their potential in proving health care.

This also means that patients fail to access the services of these physicians. People with disabilities have in many things outdone ‘normal’ people. They have been dancers, senators, inventors and actors (Blauwet, 2018). They have succeeded in many things. This shows they have great potential that is limited by ableism.

Ableism and Physicians

Ableism leads to undermining the capability of physicians with disabilities. People against disabilities argue that doctors with disabilities may not be up to the tasks when it comes to performing certain tasks. However, according to Ratcliff (2018), “running a code isn’t simply chest compressions or intubating a patient”. There is more than these doctors can do.

For example, they can identify more effective treatments and participate in developing evidence-based practices. Physicians with disabilities are not failures as presumed. They are more capable than society typically presumes. Just because they accomplish tasks differently from ‘normal’ people doesn’t mean they are failures (Ratcliff, 2018). Again, even doctors without disabilities cannot perform all tasks in the medical profession. However, ableism seems to see doctors with disabilities as incapable or as failures.

Also, ableism leaves physicians with disabilities invisible. This is associated with high societal stigma and a lack of public access (Blauwet, 2018). This way, when such a physician enters a patient room, heads turn. People start wondering whether the doctor is qualified or whether they will receive quality care. This is because disability has not been normalized especially among healthcare providers.

This is why a doctor in a wheelchair is a big deal today. This makes physicians with disabilities to feel invisible, unwelcomed and not valued (Blauwet, 2018). This is worsened by the medical model of disability. Based on this model, disability is considered an individual flaw, a diagnosis or a pathology. This makes it hard for society to normalize the presence of physicians with disabilities.

Promoting disability justice

Promoting disability justice in the medical profession would be good for doctors and patients. First, it would facilitate the delivery of better health outcomes. Ratcliff (2018) posits that “increasing the number of physicians with disabilities could help improve health care outcomes for patients with disabilities”. This is because increased diversity in medical practice is associated with positive outcomes. Additionally, when patients with disabilities identify with a physician, they are more likely to comply with treatment.

Second, physicians with disabilities can lead to the delivery of more competent care. The physicians share lived experience which informs care for patients with disabilities. This is because they have a better understanding of the experience of patients with disabilities. Ratcliff (2018) says that “A primary care doctor who shares my exact diagnosis will inarguably always have a better understanding of my life experience than any doctor without disabilities ever could”.

Disability injustice in the medical profession

Disability injustice in the medical profession promotes negative profiling, prevents doctors with disabilities from exploiting their potential, undermines their capability, and leaves them invisible in hospitals. This obstructs the delivery of better healthcare outcomes and more competent care. Discrimination of physicians because of their disabilities hinders the delivery of high-quality care.

Including them in the medical profession by normalizing their presence is the solution. This is because there would be increased diversity in the medical profession associated with positive outcomes. In addition, by sharing their lived experiences, physicians with disabilities would promote the delivery of more competent care for patients with disabilities.

References

Blauwet, C. (2018). Are you my doctor? Toward a world where a physician in a wheel chair         is no big deal. Stanford Medicine, 1-6.

Ratcliff, A. (October 19, 2018). America Needs More Doctors With Disabilities. HuffPost.           Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/opinion-america-needs-more-doctors-           with-disabilities_n_5bc9e59de4b055bc947feebd?ncid

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