Disability Education – A National Update

Friday, February 20, 2026

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM AST

Location: 203

Course Director(s)

Leslie Rydberg, MD

Associate Professor; Medical Student Education Chair; Associate Residency Program Director
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab; Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine

Speaker(s)

Allison Kessler, MD (she/her/hers)

Section Chief of SCI Medicine, Associate Professor of PM&R, Monika and Henry Betts Medical Education Chair
Shirley Ryan Abilitylab and Northwestern University
Jennifer Russo, MD (she/her/hers)

Associate Program Director, Brain Injury Fellowship
Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation
Nethra S. Ankam, MD

Professor
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Colette Piasecki-Masters, MD (she/her/hers)

Resident
Harvard/Spaulding Rehabilitation

Brief Session Description : This session will highlight the importance of integrating disability education throughout medical training. It will cover key initiatives in undergraduate and graduate education, including the Disability Integration Toolkit, the Disability Education Network, and the ACGME Disability Education Summit. Additionally, the session will address support for physicians and medical students with disabilities, featuring efforts by Docs with Disabilities and the Access in Medicine Summit. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the core competencies for disability education, advocacy efforts by leading organizations, and strategies to further integrate disability education into medical curricula.