Implementing experiential disability awareness training in graduate medical education: evaluation of the Come Roll with Me program

Individuals with disabilities frequently encounter structural, attitudinal, and communication barriers in healthcare that contribute to persistent health disparities. Many physicians and medical trainees report limited preparation and discomfort providing disability inclusive care, often due to insufficient training and exposure to individuals with disabilities throughout medical education. The Come Roll with Me (CRWM) program is a participant-led experiential learning initiative grounded in “Intergroup Contact Theory” that has demonstrated effectiveness in increasing attitudes, empathy and comfort when engaging with wheelchair users in undergraduate medical education. This study describes the implementation of CRWM into graduate medical education and evaluation of its implementation as the next step towards improving resident physicians’ attitudes and comfort toward individuals with disabilities. CRWM was implemented across four residency programs at a large academic medical center. Fifty-five resident physicians participated in one of four identical two-hour sessions. Each session included three interactive stations led by wheelchair user facilitators, licensed physical therapists, and Doctor of Physical Therapy students. Stations consisted of wheelchair propulsion, transfer techniques, adaptive transportation, and facilitated dialogue about wheelchair users’ lived experiences. Residents completed the Attitudes and Perspectives Toward Persons with Disabilities Scale pre- ( n = 49) and post-event ( n = 19). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to measure attitudinal changes of 18 residents who completed both surveys. Faculty facilitators participated in a nominal group technique to identify factors contributing to successful implementation and opportunities for improvement. Residents’ attitudes toward individuals with disabilities significantly improved following participation ( p < 0.001). Through the nominal group technique, faculty facilitators identified authentic interactions between residents and wheelchair user facilitators, along with prior experience implementing CRWM with medical students as key contributors to successful implementation. Enhancing planning, coordination among stakeholders, and strategies to address residents’ time constraints were identified as opportunities for improvement. CRWM shows promise as a model to integrate disability-focused experiential learning into residency and is worth continued refinement. Future research should examine the sustainability of these effects and generalizability across training settings. This study was approved by the University of Alabama Institutional Review Board (IRB #300013574).