Literature

Curbside Consults Podcast

Understanding Disability with Dr. Cheri Blauwet

By Mridula Nadamuni, MD

Published October 12, 2022

In this episode of Curbside Consults, we are joined by Dr. Cheri Blauwet, Chief Medical Officer at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School, and retired Paralympian in the sport of competitive wheelchair racing. We discuss the evolving understanding of disability in the medical community, disability advocacy, and her experiences practicing medicine with a disability.

00:05 – Intro
 02:36– Journey into sports medicine as a career
 07:30 – Challenges of applying and matriculating to medical school as a disabled trainee
 14:30 – Understanding a social model of disability
 16:30 – Becoming an anti-ableist society
 17:33 – Person-first vs. identity-first language framing
 21:35 – Nonvisible disability
 22:50 – Accommodations for students with disability
 24:10 – Supporting faculty with disability
 29:44 – Concluding remarks
 30:04 – Outro

Articles discussed in this episode:

1. Meeks LM et al. Structural Barriers to Student Disability Disclosure in US-Allopathic Medical Schools. J Med Educ Curric Dev 2021.

The Curbside Consults series complements the foundational information in Rotation Prep by taking a deep dive into key clinical topics with expert clinicians and educators. These podcasts explore and critique the evidence behind clinical practice and break down statistical concepts for the busy clinical trainee.

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Cheri Blauwet, MD, is Chief Medical Officer at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School, and retired Paralympian in the sport of competitive wheelchair racing.
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Mridula Nadamuni, MD, is a 2022–2023 NEJM Editorial Fellow. She completed her internal medicine/pediatrics residency and chief residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center.