#79 -Better Doctor Visits for Patients with Disabilities

Patients with disabilities are often misdiagnosed and sent for diagnostic tests that can not be preformed. Operation House Call is a program that trains the medical field to better treat patients with disabilities. Operation House Call is part of the curriculum at the Yale School of Nursing, Boston University Medical School, UMass Medical School, Tufts University, and Simmons University. As of May, 2019 Operation House Call is available nationally for medical programs wishing to offer the curriculum. On the show today is the director of Operation House Call, Maura Sullivan. She is going to share with us the impact the program is having on medical students and nurses who are educated via the 5 components of the curriculum which include an orientation led by self advocates, website courses, a 2 hour immersive visit to the home of a family who has a member with an intellectual or developmental disability, a reflection stage, and feedback from the host family. In addition to discussing operation house call, Maura shares pending legislation that could have a very positive impact on the medical care the disability community is receiving and she also gives us a few tips and tricks to make our next medical visit run smoothly.  *Kim can be found between episodes on instagram at journey2lomah Related Episode: #70 - Do This Not That: Lessons from a Self Advocate