Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane." — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1966
People with disabilities deserve better care—and it starts with better education.
The vast majority do not feel competent to care for patients with disabilities. In fact, the 30,000 medical school students who graduated this year received less than 11 MINUTES of training in treating patients with disabilities!
When It Comes to Disability, Medicine Falls Short
People with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities face serious health disparities: lower life expectancy, higher rates of preventable illness, and longer hospital stays. Why?
Because most healthcare professionals are never trained to care for them.
You can become a professor, department chair—even Dean of a medical school—without ever meeting a patient with a disability.” — Dr. Rick Rader
Despite more than 16 million Americans living with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD), and 70 million American adults reporting that they have a disability, most clinicians are not taught how to interact with them, diagnose them accurately, or provide effective care. The result? Deep, preventable, and deadly inequities.
People with disabilities experience significant disparities when it comes to health:
0% of U.S. medical schools require hands-on disability clinical training.
An average doctor sees
40,000 PATIENTS
during their career, but may never be trained to treat someone with a disability.
Untrained pilots can't land planes...
...and untrained medical professionals can't treat patients with disabilities.
Negative attitudes and biases within the healthcare system can lead to unequal treatment and poorer quality of care.
The goal of Project DIME is to mandate that all 200 US Medical Schools, 500 Nurse Practitioner Programs, and 300 Physician Assistant Programs include clinical disability competency training.
We've already done it in dentistry.
U.S. Dental Schools saw the light and now serve as a model for ensuring that the next generation of dentists have the skills, experience and confidence to treat patients with disabilities.
The health profession schools are overdue and need to replicate the dental school model.
Dental Schools Now Required to Train Students to Treat the Disabled
August 30, 2019
As recommended by the National Council on Disability (NCD), all dental schools in the United States now must revamp their curricula and training programs to include patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD).
The Council on Dental Accreditation (CODA) recently voted to require dental schools to now train their students in managing treatment of patients with ID/DD. Previously, patients with ID/DD were largely unable to obtain dental care because dental students were simply not required to learn to manage their treatment.
“Every dental patient in America deserves the same care, whether or not they have a disability,” said NCD chairman Neil Romano. “NCD applauds this decision that we view as necessary for people with ID/DD to obtain critical access to dental treatment, which is critical to the total health of all people.”
Imagine a World Where Everyone Gets Great Healthcare
Now imagine what happens when the next generation of doctors is equipped to care for every patient—with confidence, competence, and compassion.
When students learn to care for people with disabilities, they learn to care for everyone better.
This is not a niche issue. Doctors trained in disability-competent care become stronger communicators, more thoughtful diagnosticians, and more humane clinicians. Everyone benefits.
With the right education and exposure, inclusive care becomes the norm—not the exception.
For the past 30 years, the Morton J. Kent Habilitation Center at the Orange Grove Center, Inc. in Chattanooga, TN has been a specialized center of innovation. From the vision of Orange Grove Center Board Members in the early 1990s emerged a commitment that people with intellectual disabilities would live their lives filled with enrichment and happiness and that they would have every possible opportunity for self-advocacy and inclusion.
A significant part of the Habilitation Center’s mission has focused on medical education and the promotion of people with disabilities’ right to access to quality medical care. One of the many proud accomplishments of the Habilitation Center has been its role in mandating that all dental schools require students to participate in disability training.
At the helm of the Habilitation Center has always been its Director, Dr. Rick Rader. Dr. Rader’s advocacy for people with disabilities and his expertise in this field has opened many doors for people supported by Orange Grove Center and others with disabilities around the globe.
Following Dr. Rader’s invitation to address the United Nations about the need for global medical education reform in 2024, Orange Grove Center’s Board of Directors once again envisioned a new possibility of ensuring that the next generation of clinicians would be equipped to treat people with disabilities and approved Dr. Rader’s focus on the mission of Project DIME.
Through the creation of an Advisory Committee and the identification of a strategy to achieve the goals of Project DIME, Orange Grove Center anticipates meaningful impact on the improvement of future healthcare outcomes nationwide. While historically the Habilitation Center successfully advocated for medical, nursing, and physician assistant education in disability competency, the education was conducted when time allowed and without universal mandates or national acceptance.
Today, we envision a future where people with disabilities have access to quality medical care by doctors, dentists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who are educated on their needs and who are committed to positive medical outcomes for all.
For additional information about Orange Grove please visit us at OrangeGroveCenter.org
ADVISORY BOARD:
Rick Rader, MD, FAAIDD, FAADM, DHL (hon)
Director, Project DIME
Dr. Rader has served as the Director of the Morton J. Kent Habilitation at the Orange Grove Center (Chattanooga, TN) for the past thirty years. He is responsible for the creation, implementation, and evaluation of novel and innovative health delivery systems for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He is cross trained in developmental disabilities and medical anthropology.
He is a co-founder and Past President of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (aadmd.org) and is the President of the American Association on Health and Disability (aahd.us).
He has received two Presidential appointments with the National Council on Disability (ncd.gov) where he was instrumental in creating the Health Equity Framework as well as being appointed as the First Special Liaison for Family Healthcare Concerns at the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. He co-authored the Joint Commissions Sentinel Event Alert on Diagnostic Overshadowing.
He has published over 350 articles as past Editor in Chief of Exceptional Parent Magazine; and as current Editor in Chief at HELEN, The Journal of Human Exceptionality (helenjournal.org). He has been an advisor to four U.S. Surgeon Generals in health and disability. He serves on the board of the Alliance for Disability in Health Care Education.
Dr. Rader has played a significant role in promoting the need for medical schools to adopt a curriculum in clinical skills in disability competency. He was the first physician to be invited to address the United Nations on global medical education reform. He was a member of the task force that resulted in mandating that every U.S. dental school be required to teach students how to treat patients with disabilities.
He has served as the Global Director of the Inclusive Medical Program at Special Olympics International. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Lancet Commission on Health and Disability. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was an advisor to the Health Innovations Exchange at the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) at the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
Prior to his career focusing on intellectual and developmental disabilities, Dr. Rader served as the Executive Director of The American Institute of Stress and as the Director of Operations at Surgical Aid to Children of the World (SACOW).
David Ervin
CEO, Makom
David Ervin has nearly 40 years of experience in the intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) field as a provider, researcher, and policy advocate. He serves as Vice President of the Board for The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL), is a Fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and contributes to several national advisory committees focused on health equity and systems transformation for people with IDD.
Matthew P. Janicki, PhD
Research Associate Professor, Institute on Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Janicki is a psychologist and expert on aging and dementia in people with IDD. He co-leads the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices and has authored numerous publications shaping public policy and care models for aging individuals with developmental disabilities.
Matt Holder, MD, MBA, FAADM
Founder, KDHealth
Global Medical Advisor, Special Olympics
Dr. Holder is a pioneering leader in Developmental Medicine and disability-focused healthcare systems. He helped establish national curriculum standards for training physicians in IDD care and co-founded the Lee Specialty Clinic. He also serves on the board of the American Association on Health and Disability and supports inclusive health initiatives globally.
Karl D. Cooper, Esq.
Executive Director, American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD)
Karl Cooper is an attorney and disability advocate who leads AAHD’s efforts to promote health equity through policy, education, and outreach. He chairs the APHA Intersectional Council Steering Committee and advises NIH’s National Center on Medical Rehabilitation Research. His career spans law, public health, and cross-disability advocacy.
Jennifer Arnold, MD, MSc
Dr. Jennifer Arnold is a pediatrician, neonatologist, and leader in healthcare simulation with a focus on patient safety and disability health equity. She has founded major simulation programs and led innovative training initiatives that improve how clinicians are educated and how care is delivered. A nationally recognized speaker, author, and advocate, Dr. Arnold brings a unique perspective shaped by her lived experience as a physician, patient, cancer survivor, and parent of children with medical complexities—fueling her commitment to more inclusive, compassionate healthcare systems.
Vanessa Rastović
Disability Policy Strategist & NSF Research Awardee
Vanessa Rastović brings over 20 years of cross-sector leadership in disability-informed health equity. Her work includes oral health disparity research, public health innovation, and communications strategy for inclusive systems reform. A passionate advocate and SCUBA diver, she brings lived experience and policy acumen to every initiative.
Holly Brown, DNP, RN, PMHNP-BC, PMHCS
Executive Director, Golisano Institute for Developmental Disability Nursing
Dr. Holly Brown is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and educator advancing IDD inclusion in nursing education. She leads a groundbreaking nurse practitioner residency initiative with Special Olympics and maintains a clinical role at Hillside Children’s Center. Her work bridges hospital systems, academic programs, and national policy development.
Amy Houtrow, MD, PhD, MPH
Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Pediatrics, Endowed Chair for Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Crissy Renner
Executive Assistant
Office: 423-493-2924
crenner@orangegrove.org
Address to the United Nations
Dr. Rader spoke before the U.N. about the need for training for medical professionals.
More information
- 2024: Journal of Health Affairs Report: Doctors admit they do not want patients with disabilities
- 2002: Surgeon General Report: Healthcare providers lack the skills to care for people with intellectual disabilities
Our Mission:
To transform the healthcare experience of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities by embedding disability-competent education and clinical training in all healthcare professional programs—ensuring that every patient receives equitable, compassionate, and competent care.