Henry and Matthew have worked in conjunction with UAB Disability Support Services, UAB e-Learning, the Red Barn, United Ability and many other faculty and community partners over the past year to create an online disability education and training module. This module has and will continue to provide future health professionals within UAB graduate and professional schools with more information and a more personal connection to treating patients with a spectrum of physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities. Their module is both academic and interview-based with filmed personal interviews interspersed throughout the training that are done with patients with a range of disabilities, as well as their families and caregivers, to provide a more holistic, personal perspective on disability rather than the purely academic perspective that is typically given sporadically during their formal education. 

To test the module, Matthew and Henry piloted a similar version of the full e-Learning and in-person module. Medical and dental students who participated were given the opportunity to view and conduct interviews with families of persons with disabilities virtually and at the Red Barn, a therapeutic horsemanship center in Leeds, Alabama. Students overwhelmingly responded positively to the experience and reported an increased level of competence, comfort, and understanding in working with this population of patients in the future.

• A total of 18 medical and dental students participated in the pilot disability competency education virtual pre-module and in-person interactive experience, receiving 108 cumulative direct contact hours with persons with disabilities at the Red Barn.
• All 18 participating students responded favorably from pre- to post- attitudinal surveys regarding persons with disabilities.
• All 18 participating students reported being more likely to be open to working with patients with disabilities in the future.
• Over 15 filmed interviews were recorded at United Ability to provide future students a personal connection to disability advocacy while 5 filmed academic modules were developed in conjunction with UAB e-Learning, UAB DSS, and Dr. Danielle Powell with the Department of Physical Medicine and 
• A Chapter of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry was established to provide lasting interdisciplinary collaboration between healthcare students interested in working with patients with disabilities.

The project will continue via the full e-Learning and in-person module which is currently nearing completion to be implemented in the Fall in both the UAB School of Dentistry and Heersink School of Medicine. 

“A year ago, I had no idea what kind of doctor I wanted to be, spouting a different specialty every other week to the constant stream of family and friends asking that age-old small-talk question… “Do you know what kind of doctor you want to be?” I can say that this fellowship has given me plenty of moments of feeling inadequate and uncertain, with many moments of wondering whether our project would take shape, all in the hopes of bringing to life a goal that Henry and I envisioned a year ago would make at least a small difference for people with disabilities in our community. A year later, through this fellowship, I can say now that we did make some difference, and I do know what kind of future I want to have. I know that I want to be the person and the doctor who embodies a spirit of servant-leadership and passion, one that continues to work on projects that inspire change in the community, even when those creeping moments of inadequacy invade.”- Matthew Hudson