Spotlight: Canadian Association of Physicians with Disabilities

The Canadian Association of Physicians with Disabilities (CAPD) is a not-for-profit social networking and support organization for physicians, residents, and medical students. Founded in 2000 by the late Dr Ashok Muzumdar, a physiatrist who lived with a visual impairment, the CAPD supports physicians with disabilities, provides a national forum for discussing related issues, influences clinical education and research, and more.  

The CAPD strives to ensure that doctors and medical learners are not forced out of the medical profession due to disability. CAPD vice-president Dr Quinten Clarke says its organizational mandate has evolved since its establishment. At that time, the organization largely focused on supporting physicians in practice who were not permitted to continue working due to disability, medical reasons, or discriminatory policies. As the organization has evolved and the contemporary understanding of disability has changed, the CAPD has shifted its focus to removing barriers in medical training and practice that prevent individuals with disabilities from working or continuing their studies. 

While the conversation around disability has transformed in recent years, Dr Clarke says there is still much work to do to make medicine an accessible career for people with disabilities, including prioritizing the active removal of accessibility barriers and implementing universal design principles. The CAPD is advocating for the needs of doctors with disabilities to be front and centre—not an afterthought.

In alignment with this work, the CAPD is developing a curriculum on disability in health care with patient partners and medical learners with disabilities from across Canada. This series of modules will establish a basic understanding of disability and accessibility that can help improve the competency of medical learners and physicians in working with and caring for people with disabilities, improving access to care, and creating a more inclusive medical culture.

The CAPD works closely with national and international organizations, including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Federation of Medical Students, Resident Doctors of Canada, and the Docs with Disabilities Initiative. The CAPD Trainee Group has been highly engaged at the medical student and resident levels with organizations to ensure that decisions about medical learners with disabilities incorporate their input and lived experience.

To support physicians, residents, and students, the CAPD has created guides to help them access accommodations at various stages of medical training and hosts periodic support sessions for learners with disabilities. The CAPD Trainee Group offers a mentorship program that connects medical students with near-peer mentors—other students or residents who have navigated the same accommodation processes, faculty hurdles, and clinical challenges.

Visit the CAPD website (www.capd.ca) to learn about its work and how to get involved.  
—Ellen Tannam 
Communications Specialist, Communications and Public Affairs, Doctors of BC