Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Medical Student Program To Learn From Families Experiencing Developmental Disabilities, Brigid Jacob, Ragda Izar, Hanna Tran, Katherine Akers, Anil N. F Aranha, Omar Afify, Elizabeth Janks, Jennifer Mendez

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Patients and families experiencing developmental disabilities (DDs) may lack trust in physicians due to negative experiences in healthcare. DDs include conditions impairing physical, learning, language, or behavior areas, beginning during the developmental period and impacting daily functioning ('Developmental Disabilities'). Medical students generally do not receive standard training to effectively communicate with and diagnose patients with DDs. ARIE is a program for medical students to meet and learn from these patients and their families. Students learn about these families’ experiences during home visits, guided by standardized interview questions and surveys about families’ trust in physicians. Families did not appear to strongly …