Support group for medical student with chronic physical and/or mental condition

[coconutbread]

Hello! Incoming medical student to U of T here. I have two questions.

1. Can any current medical students (not necessarily at U of T, but would be a plus) speak to specific resources or accommodations made available to medical students who live with a chronic physical and/or mental condition? For example, I've read somewhere on this forum about someone who did not have to do their rural rotation, some on-call shifts, or had exam deferrals due to their specific circumstances. I'm not sure what I'd need for my condition specifically, but it would be helpful to know what kinds of rules are in place.  

2. Are there any organized groups where such students can gather and get to know one another? Having a chronic condition can be pretty isolating and difficult, even with any accommodations that are offered. I know that it's still a pretty stigmatized topic especially in medical school but based on what I'm hearing from some parts of the medical community, and features on White Coat Black Art, I'm hopeful that the scene is changing a bit. I am part of a social support group at my current institution for students with chronic conditions and it's been great to have a safe space where we are able to respect each other's privacy, but still share our experiences and feel understood. 

Thank you!

[Maggiie19]

I'm an incoming dental student so I can't really help you in that sense, but I too was wondering what kind of accommodations are available for people with chronic physical conditions (sorry to hijack your post). I have never asked for accommodations during undergrad, even though I should have, so I have no clue what can be offered.

[Birdy]

Hey!

 

PGY-2 FM. I have unfortunately fairly active rheumatoid arthritis, another connective tissue disorder, and was pregnant both during med school and residency. Both the RA (and immunosuppression associated with being on a biologic) and the pregnancies and breastfeeding involved accommodations. 

I also had a medical leave in med school due to postpartum depression. 
 

My med school was typically accommodating and reasonable to deal with. I encountered students who had other conditions (one comes to mind who had post concussion symptoms for an extended period) who were well accommodated with things like modified schedules. I did have a test delayed when I was pregnant because I’d been in the hospital all night, and an OSCE delayed by a year because I would have had to do it while 3 weeks postpartum.

While I have not sought much in the way of accommodations in residency, the ones I have asked for have been met with a lot of support. I do know of residents who have modified schedules, specific site assignments, had accommodated time for licensing exams, etc.

Reasonable and medically necessary accommodations will be made. You must be able to provide documentation stating that you have a medical need for X, Y, Z (does NOT need to disclose reasoning or diagnosis.) The school can push back if they don’t feel it’s a reasonable expectation but almost all universities have some sort of accessibility department that can help navigate things. 

There is stigma when it comes to licensing and having mental health issues in particular. Dr. Goldman interviewed me for his show actually because I’ve gone through it but because of pushback I got on it, we agreed not to air my episode.

As to groups, I don’t know of any for all medical learners. I’m in one for physician moms with health issues, but would love to hear of a more general one too. 
 

edit: also you may deal with some irritating interactions in med Ed where everyone assumes that all students/residents are fully able bodied. Attendings who try getting the entire group to run up multiple flights of stairs while rounding, for example, or group social events for mandatory groups that necessitate activities that would be challenging with respiratory, cardiac, or mobility challenges. There is the assumption that no one in the group might be disabled and so no attempt to welcome or invite requests for accommodations or alternate activities. I found this very frustrating in med school and rarely socialized with colleagues because I didn’t want to constantly be the stick in the mud. 

[coconutbread]

3 hours ago, Maggiie19 said:

I'm an incoming dental student so I can't really help you in that sense, but I too was wondering what kind of accommodations are available for people with chronic physical conditions (sorry to hijack your post). I have never asked for accommodations during undergrad, even though I should have, so I have no clue what can be offered.

Hi @Maggiie19 incoming to U of T? no worries and I'm glad this thread could connect us on this topic. I only asked for accommodations once during my undergrad/masters combined - but it wasn't even a formal accommodation, just a sick note that I got. I always wonder whether or not I can categorize myself as being "disabled". From the googling I've done on my condition, some severities are considered disabling, while other severities are not. It's a bit stressful and lonely falling into a grey zone. 

I might gauge interest amongst health profession students (med, dent?) in starting a little online group chat or regular discussion group in August for people like us - with no need to disclose one's condition, of course. 

[coconutbread]

3 hours ago, Birdy said:

Hey!

 

PGY-2 FM. I have unfortunately fairly active rheumatoid arthritis, another connective tissue disorder, and was pregnant both during med school and residency. Both the RA (and immunosuppression associated with being on a biologic) and the pregnancies and breastfeeding involved accommodations. 

I also had a medical leave in med school due to postpartum depression. 

My med school was typically accommodating and reasonable to deal with. I encountered students who had other conditions (one comes to mind who had post concussion symptoms for an extended period) who were well accommodated with things like modified schedules. I did have a test delayed when I was pregnant because I’d been in the hospital all night, and an OSCE delayed by a year because I would have had to do it while 3 weeks postpartum.

While I have not sought much in the way of accommodations in residency, the ones I have asked for have been met with a lot of support. I do know of residents who have modified schedules, specific site assignments, had accommodated time for licensing exams, etc.

Reasonable and medically necessary accommodations will be made. You must be able to provide documentation stating that you have a medical need for X, Y, Z (does NOT need to disclose reasoning or diagnosis.) The school can push back if they don’t feel it’s a reasonable expectation but almost all universities have some sort of accessibility department that can help navigate things. 

There is stigma when it comes to licensing and having mental health issues in particular. Dr. Goldman interviewed me for his show actually because I’ve gone through it but because of pushback I got on it, we agreed not to air my episode.

As to groups, I don’t know of any for all medical learners. I’m in one for physician moms with health issues, but would love to hear of a more general one too. 
 

edit: also you may deal with some irritating interactions in med Ed where everyone assumes that all students/residents are fully able bodied. Attendings who try getting the entire group to run up multiple flights of stairs while rounding, for example, or group social events for mandatory groups that necessitate activities that would be challenging with respiratory, cardiac, or mobility challenges. There is the assumption that no one in the group might be disabled and so no attempt to welcome or invite requests for accommodations or alternate activities. I found this very frustrating in med school and rarely socialized with colleagues because I didn’t want to constantly be the stick in the mud. 

Hi Birdy! 

Thanks for sharing all these details about your experience. You sound incredibly resilient and I'm glad to hear that people were receptive to your needs. 

Re: White Coat Black Art - the exact podcast I had in mind was the one featuring a woman with a certain form of spina bifida. Whenever she had to take care of herself on the job, she felt pressured to hide this fact from her colleagues, saying instead that she needed to take a call or otherwise. I'm sorry you experienced pushback in sharing what sounds like an important story. 

If there isn't a general one for medical learners, then perhaps I'll gather a small one (~5 ppl) for undergraduate medical learners, to start. Do you think you would have benefited from such a group when you were going through your medical education? I'm also considering finding upper-years who can better speak to the group about what they can expect, but again, with this issue being fairly stigmatized it may be hard to find those who are willing to share.

Re: your edit - I'm absolutely on board with your frustration around the able-bodied assumptions! Hearing about the different O-week activities that were going to happen got me stressed out - for example overnight camping, which is technically doable for me but would be very difficult and uncomfortable (I'm almost glad that O-week activities might be virtual this year). To be fair I don't know whether or not they had alternative activities planned, but even then I got the feeling that most activities would assume everyone was perfectly healthy and able-bodied. It can be so lonely and isolating. I understand that institution-backed events must meet certain accessibility standards, but I can see how these considerations are overlooked in smaller activities. Since meeting the people I have through my current social support group, I've come to realize just how critical it is to invite those requests for accommodations - these aren't the kinds of issues that can simply be solved via one-on-one counselling services.

[Maggiie19]

6 hours ago, coconutbread said:

Hi @Maggiie19 incoming to U of T? no worries and I'm glad this thread could connect us on this topic. I only asked for accommodations once during my undergrad/masters combined - but it wasn't even a formal accommodation, just a sick note that I got. I always wonder whether or not I can categorize myself as being "disabled". From the googling I've done on my condition, some severities are considered disabling, while other severities are not. It's a bit stressful and lonely falling into a grey zone. 

I might gauge interest amongst health profession students (med, dent?) in starting a little online group chat or regular discussion group in August for people like us - with no need to disclose one's condition, of course. 

Incoming student at Dal! Sorry for the confusion, I should have specified. I would love to be able to join an online group (if that's an option given different university/program) 

Exact same situation for me! I'm part of a few groups on Facebook for my condition and there's such a wide variety of severity. I don't know where I fall on the scale or if I would considerer myself disabled either. I totally understand what you mean by it being lonely.

[ellorie]

You could also consider seeing how active the Canadian Association of Physicians with Disabilities still is. They were active when I was in touch with them about 5 years ago but I haven’t gotten an email in a while so they may have dwindled down. 

[mew]

15 hours ago, coconutbread said:

Hello! Incoming medical student to U of T here. I have two questions.

1. Can any current medical students (not necessarily at U of T, but would be a plus) speak to specific resources or accommodations made available to medical students who live with a chronic physical and/or mental condition? For example, I've read somewhere on this forum about someone who did not have to do their rural rotation, some on-call shifts, or had exam deferrals due to their specific circumstances. I'm not sure what I'd need for my condition specifically, but it would be helpful to know what kinds of rules are in place.  

2. Are there any organized groups where such students can gather and get to know one another? Having a chronic condition can be pretty isolating and difficult, even with any accommodations that are offered. I know that it's still a pretty stigmatized topic especially in medical school but based on what I'm hearing from some parts of the medical community, and features on White Coat Black Art, I'm hopeful that the scene is changing a bit. I am part of a social support group at my current institution for students with chronic conditions and it's been great to have a safe space where we are able to respect each other's privacy, but still share our experiences and feel understood. 

Thank you!

Hi, I'm a 2T2, I have academic and clinical accommodations for a couple of different conditions, happy to chat over PM!

[coconutbread]

13 hours ago, ellorie said:

You could also consider seeing how active the Canadian Association of Physicians with Disabilities still is. They were active when I was in touch with them about 5 years ago but I haven’t gotten an email in a while so they may have dwindled down. 

Hi @ellorie yeah I had heard of them a few years ago, but I'll definitely reach out again to see what resources are out there. Thanks so much!