Where We Stand
Section: Health Care Access
Policy: Disability Policies 

Disability Policies

 

Number 1 Definition of Disability

Principal 1: The OMA defines disability using the biopsychosocial model, which emphasizes the interplay between conditions of the body or mind and the environmental or structural context that limits an individual’s complete participation in society. 

Principal 2: The OMA recognizes that the current legal definitions of disability rely on a medical diagnosis to provide protection for, and obligate the distribution of resources to, individuals, and therefore are lacking. This current legal definition places the onus on the individual and may not fully acknowledge the possibility of impairment when no clear medical cause is found.  

Principal 3: The OMA advocates that reasonable measures, both existing and novel, be implemented to support persons living with disabilities in achieving full and healthy lives that maximize their independence and integration into the community, and to enable clinicians living with disabilities to fully and safely participate in the profession.

 

Number 2 Patient-Related and Person-Centered Disability Policy

Principle 1: The OMA’s commitment to providing universal health care access means no subset of people should be restricted in their access to health care, including those with all degrees of disabilities, including mild, invisible, and complex disabilities.

AMA Adapted Recommendations: Supporting Healthcare Access for People with Disabilities

  1. Advocate to protect access to appropriate and affordable healthcare, including preventative screenings, for all people with disabilities, regardless of the degree of their disability, throughout their lives.
  2. Advocate for the highest quality medical care for persons with disabilities, including supporting the autonomy and informed decision-making of patients and their designated medical proxies, parents, or guardians (as developmentally appropriate).
  3. Support clinicians in attaining appropriate resources to care for patients with disabilities, including making their offices more physically accessible, including but not limited to requirements of consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act and any applicable state laws; facilitating reasonable accommodation for patients with cognitive, intellectual, developmental, sensory, and neurodivergent conditions and promoting the use of telehealth and other digital health tools to increase accessibility to care in general.
  4. Promote cooperation among clinicians, public health and human services professionals, and a wide variety of people with disabilities to identify gaps in care and implement priorities and quality improvements for the care of persons with disabilities.

Principle 2: The OMA recognizes that a key component of combating bias and reducing healthcare disparities among people with disabilities is training health professionals on disability healthcare topics. The OMA supports policies that establish and improve upon curricula related to disability healthcare for trainees and clinicians.

OMA Recommendations: Promoting Training, Education, and Competencies for Health Professionals that Increase Awareness of Bias and Improves Disability-Inclusive Care

  1. Promote medical curricula that emphasize autonomy in medical decision making, while accounting for social and cultural preferences and decision-making processes unique to each person, in lieu of treatment plans that aim to merely fix, cure, or eradicate disabilities.
  2. Promote training, within both medical education and continuing professional development, on recognizing and addressing clinician bias, including implicit bias, toward people with disabilities.

AMA Adapted Recommendations: Promoting Training, Education, and Competencies for Health Professionals that Increase Awareness of Bias and Improves Disability-Inclusive Care

  1. Encourage clinicians and trainees to understand how variable presentations of complex functioning profiles in all persons with disabilities, including those with multiple co-morbid medical conditions, can influence diagnosis and treatment.
  2. Advocate for medical education programs to:
  • Implement a curriculum on the care and treatment of children and adults with a range of disabilities.
  • Center their disability education on the social model of disability and acknowledge the continued role of ableism in discrimination against people with disabilities in healthcare settings.
  • Establish and encourage enrollment in elective rotations for medical students and residents at health care facilities specializing in care for the disabled.
  • Educate trainees and clinicians on how to provide and/or advocate for appropriate and accessible medical, social, and living support for patients with disabilities so as to improve health outcomes.
  • Include people with disabilities as patient instructors and multidisciplinary health care providers (such as occupational and physical therapists) in formal training sessions and preclinical and clinical instruction for a holistic, patient-centered education.

Principle 3: The OMA actively supports government actions that provide adequate financial assistance and/or quality of life improvements for people with disabilities to increase health equity.

AMA Adapted Recommendations: Supporting Government Actions Promoting Health Equity for People with Disabilities

  1. Advocate for legislative support and funding of health care facilities, University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs), Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) programs, and other academic and research institutions whose primary mission is to meet the health care needs of persons with disabilities.
  2. Support insurance industry and government reimbursement that reflects the true cost of health care of individuals with disabilities.
  3. Support legislative changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 that would educate state and local government officials and property owners on strategies for promoting access for persons with disabilities. Oppose legislation amending the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 that would increase barriers for disabled persons attempting to file suit to challenge a violation of their civil rights.

OMA Recommendations: Supporting Government Actions Promoting Health Equity for People with Disabilities

  1. Advocate for increased resources for competitive, integrated, and supported employment services, as well as housing services to address health-related social needs and reduce health disparities for people with disabilities.
  2. Advocate for people with disabilities to have the option to move to community living arrangements in lieu of institutionalization whenever applicable, and to receive services in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their needs and informed choice.
  3. Support government actions that promote reduced exposure to evidence-based risk factors for certain disabling conditions.
  4. Support government actions that preserve and enhance Medicaid eligibility, reduce administrative barriers, and ensure adequate funding for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), supported employment, and long-term services for persons with disabilities.

 

Number 3: Clinician and Learner Related Disability Policy

Principle 1 - Protections for Students and Trainees with Disabilities: The OMA recognizes that eliminating discrimination against health professionals with disabilities starts with medical education and residency training programs. The OMA supports policies that advocate for disability accommodations during both the interview and the training processes for medical and physician associate (PA) students, as well as residents and fellows. 

Recommendations:

  1. Reject discrimination on the basis of disability in graduate medical education (GME) residency selection and in medical and PA school acceptance.
  2. Urge all training programs to create accessible and clearly stated “functional”, rather than “organic”, technical standards that emphasize what learners can do and provide clear information on how disability accommodations will be provided. 
  3. Encourage medical and PA schools, as well as residency programs, to proactively provide information about disability accommodations for all applicants, regardless of their perceived disability status. 
  4. Recommend that all medical training programs have a trusted, designated individual or committee trained in the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, state anti-discrimination laws, and available support services.
  5. Recognize that denying reasonable accommodations not only harms learners with disabilities but also impacts future patient care. Thus, training programs must provide appropriate accommodations to support educational success.
  6. Discourage GME programs from pressuring students to either hide their disability or to unwillingly disclose their disability status. 
  7. Ensure that testing entities follow ADA guidelines, specifically Section 36.309, which limits excessive or unnecessary documentation requirements for testing accommodations.

Principle 2 - Protections for Clinicians with Disabilities: To combat hiring practices that may be influenced by implicit or explicit bias against clinicians with disabilities, the OMA upholds Title I of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals in all aspects of employment, including hiring, training, and termination, based on disability.

Recommendations:

  1. Ensure that interviewing and hiring decisions for qualified clinicians are not impacted by disability status or the need for reasonable accommodations.
  2. Recognize that employers must provide reasonable accommodations, and that perceived cost cannot be used as a justification for discrimination, as established by the ADA.
  3. Promote understanding of ADA law to ensure compliance among employers and to empower clinicians with disabilities to understand their rights and protections. 
  4. Discourage harmful cultural norms in medicine that promote unsustainable working conditions and stigmatize individuals who need accommodations.
  5. Advocate for inclusive training standards and support a respectful and collaborative professional culture that allows individuals with disabilities to practice medicine both safely and successfully, centering on the shared goal of excellent patient care.
  6. Encourage the Oregon Medical Board to assess and improve its process for reviewing accommodation requests to reduce licensing delays. Additionally, encourage greater transparency regarding the range of available accommodations.
  7. Ensure that evaluations of clinicians providing unsafe patient care are based on objective, evidence-based standards and are conducted by independent professionals trained in disability rights to prevent discrimination.
  8. Discourage the use of minimum physical requirements unconnected to the essential functions of the job in job postings that either intentionally or unintentionally chill individuals with disabilities from pursuing those positions.

Principle 3 - Promoting Accessibility and Inclusion in Professional Spaces: The OMA supports the development of accessible facilities and conferences to ensure clinicians with disabilities have equitable opportunities for involvement compared to their peers without disability. 

Recommendations:

  1. Reduce barriers for clinicians to attend conferences, continuing medical education (CME), meetings, lectures and/or other educational and professional events by ensuring that reasonable accommodations are advertised and easily accessed. 
  2. Recommend that the OMA include a way to request accommodations for upcoming events/CME and clearly list available accommodations. 
  3. Advocate for equal access to hospital and educational facilities for clinicians with disabilities.
  4. Support the use of innovative models for accommodation in medical and PA training and professional development to reduce barriers and promote inclusion at all career stages.
  5. Create learning and work environments that foster belonging and acceptance for clinicians with disabilities. 
  6. Encourage research on disability accommodation(s) and patient outcomes for clinicians with disabilities.

 

See Appendix AB

Adopted by the Board of Trustees, October 2025.

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