Golisano Institute Joins Effort to Mandate Disability Education for Healthcare Professionals

Dr. Holly Brown, executive director of the Golisano Institute for Developmental Disability Nursing, has joined the advisory committee for Project D.I.M.E. (Disability Inspired Medical Education).

Project D.I.M.E. is a three-year initiative funded by the Orange Grove Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The goal is to mandate disability clinical competency training as part of the curriculum in the training of healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, and osteopathic medicine physicians.

“It has been well established that the lack of comprehensive medical education relating to learning disability-based clinical competencies is a major contributing factor in the life shortening healthcare disparities that have been long studied and acknowledged,” wrote Rick Rader, editor-in-chief of Helen Journal and director of Project D.I.M.E.

Supporters include the National Council on Disability, the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD), the American Association on Health and Disability, and the Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association.

Brown is a member of the inaugural advisory committee, which includes a cadre of healthcare professionals who will help steward the mission of Project D.I.M.E. Other members of the advisory board include the co-chair of the U.S. National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices, the president of the American Board of Developmental Medicine, and the executive director of the American Association on Health and Disability.