You will likely find yourself feeling a bit lost and perhaps alone FOLLOWING THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED throughout this process. It can be difficult to pave your own way while you watch classmates follow what seem like such clearly outlined paths to success. However, once you push through the discomfort, you will find a community of professionals and patients that is well worth the effort. I questioned my decision-making countless times throughout medical school and residency (and still do), but I have been able to find the critical motivation and support through organizations and colleagues who have similar goals and want to serve adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
In my third year of medical school, I attended the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry's (AADMD) annual conference for the first time. I not only learned a ton, but also gained a sense of community and shared mission that would be critical in helping me continue to pursue the path I was on. It was inspiring to hear about the work and advocacy of the clinicians who had been in the field for years. For example, many at the AADMD have been tirelessly working for years to obtain a medical underserved population designation for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I learned about the many roadblocks they encountered, as well as the successes and steps forward.
Although, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities still do not have this designation, everyone at the AADMD is continuously thinking of new ways to approach this advocacy or alternative ways to improve the care of those with intellectual and developmental disabilities as a group. The ideas they raise are broad and innovative and require knowledge outside of medicine to come up with. Working with the AADMD has taught me that in addition to clinical work, developmental medicine is incomplete without advocacy. I have much to learn about how to be an effective advocate for individuals with intellectual disabilities across the country but feel privileged to have this community guide me. Find the community that does this for you, that keeps you motivated, and that teaches you what you cannot learn in medical school or residency alone.
FOLLOWING THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
I wish I was able to give you a clear-cut guide to how to become a developmental physician with a list of the best medical schools, dental schools, or residency training programs. Unfortunately, the path to developmental medicine is not that simple. At the same time, following such a road less traveled comes with countless benefits. It is hard to describe the satisfaction that comes with creating your own path and serving one of the most underserved patient populations. As much as I experience working with and consulting the "I can't" group of clinicians, my patients bear the majority of this burden. It saddens me every time I send a referral and a patient comes back to me and tells me the specialist couldn't meet their needs because of their disability - that dietician didn't have a wheelchair scale to allow them to appropriately manage their gtube feedings, or that specialist "doesn't see that diagnosis." Even throughout my now 2.5 years as an attending, I have learned how to manage issues I was previously uncomfortable with to meet the needs of my patients, and I know I have much more to learn. No matter what specialty or type of practice you are drawn to, I encourage you to stick with developmental medicine. We need each one of you to fill the gaps of care for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I am fortunate enough to be a professional, sibling, and parent in the disability space, and I am constantly encouraged by the students I encounter with passions in this space.
We need all of you to help break down barriers. It will be frustrating, and it will not be glamourous, but it will be worth it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Emily Johnson, MD is the medical director of the Developmental Disabilities Health Center in Colorado Springs, a clinic that provides primary care and psychiatric services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She additionally serves as the VP of Policy and Advocacy of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry and a Clinical Instructor for the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Outside of her professional roles, she is a proud sister of a young man with Down syndrome and a proud parent of a three-month-old with Down syndrome.
BETWEEN THE LINES : BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS [IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER]
As a trainee, it likely doesn't feel like you have any time to read, although if you can find even small chunks of time to do so, I encourage it. After completing residency, I have returned to it and have been reminded of the importance of exploring other ways of thinking. By nature, medical school and residency teaches you a framework on how to think and a certain perspective with which you approach problems. This is largely a necessity, but it is equally important to expand our thought process and views from those who have been trained differently. These books provide what I consider to be valuable perspectives from the disability community or admirable ways of thinking.
| American Snake Pit: Hope, Grit, and Resilience in the Wake of Willobrook Dan Tomasulo | Bewilderment Richard Powers | Fables and Futures: Biotechnology, Disability, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves George Estreich | Far from the Tree: Parents, Chidlren, and the Search for Identity Andrew Solomon |
| The Girl from Aleppo: Nujeen’s Escape from Wa to Freedom Nujeen Mustafa | The Premonition: A Pandemic Store Michael Lewis | Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World David Epstein | What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City Mona Hanna-Attisha |