Issues whilst at Medical School

The following document details the generic staff structure of a medical school with the aim of helping you to find out who you should be contacting for advice, information and support in the event of problems relating to your health/disability. Obviously, there will be local variations so this may not apply exactly to your particular medical school but hopefully it will be of some help

Medical School Staff Guide:

It is advisable to try to ensure that any required adjustments are all flagged up prior to you taking on clinical placements or examinations and we suggest that you enquire about this specifically to avoid recurring problems in the future

Other generic University services to consider contacting for help and support in the event of challenges/discrimination faced as a result of your health problem/disability are also included in this document

You may find this article interesting. It outlines a 'Transition to University' pilot program for students with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and, regardless of your particular diagnosis, it may provide some ideas to make the transition easier for you

Ellen Collard has produced a blog of life as a medical student with a disability which you may find helpful and informative. Her website is fully accessible with text to speech functionality and is also downloadable as an MP3 file

The GMCs Welcomed and Valued guidance includes guidance for medical schools on how to accommodate and adapt for chronically ill/disabled students. See Chapter 4: How can medical schools apply their duties?

Sophie Jackson has produced a brilliant career guide for medical students and doctors with long-term conditions/disabilities which is well worth a read:

:A career guide for medical students and doctors with long-term conditions/disabilities

If this guidance is not being followed then feel free to use the contact us section choosing option 'Feedback regarding a medical school' to let us know about this

If you wish to pass on your concerns to the GMC, please see our GMC Guidance and Advice page for more help

Many organisations working in this field are interested in examples of reasonable adjustments that have been made. These will be unique to each individual but they can help when organisations are considering what is possible for disabled medical students and doctors generally. If you have any examples you’d like share, please feel to use our contact us form to do so