The inaugural JABSOM Disability Day, which was held on February 26, 2025, is a testament of JABSOM students spearheading disability education for their peers and the JABSOM ‘ohana as a whole.
This began when fourth-year student Lauren Sternberg (JABSOM 2025) entered medical school in 2021 and noticed the lack of formal disability training for medical students. As a disabled student herself, Sternberg worked with faculty to develop curricula focused on disability education for JABSOM MD students.
Fast forward to present day, the Disability in Medicine curriculum now provides an elective course, an interest group and a Certificate of Distinction for MD students upon graduation.
Sternberg, along with fellow students Michelle Kimura (JABSOM 2027) and Riley Parks (JABSOM 2025), and faculty mentors Drs. Teresa Schiff-Elfalan and Karen Thompson, launched the inaugural JABSOM Disability Day on February 26, 2025.
“We are so proud of Lauren and Michelle for their vision of including an activity during the MD7 unit focused on the care of patients with disabilities, and for their initiative in making it a reality. Thank you, also, to Riley Parks, for his support and help with the events of the day. Their ideas and organizational skills morphed into a wonderful day enjoyed by all who participated, including JABSOM students and the wider JABSOM community,” said Dr. Thompson. “Thanks to these motivated and compassionate medical students, Disability Day was beyond memorable and impactful. It helped to build partnerships between JABSOM and the organizations involved, and was a lot of fun, too!”
The Disability Day was part of the second-year student course MD7, which focuses on geriatrics and pediatric medicine - two areas more prone to having discussions about disabilities.
Students, faculty and staff met with different organizations that work with disabled individuals and how their work and experiences intertwine with healthcare professionals. Special Olympics of Hawaiʻi (SOHI), AccesSurf, Shriners Children’s Physical Disabilities and Assistance Dogs of Hawaiʻi hosted discussion panels and activities for students to interact with this particular patient population.
Kimura volunteered as swim coach for Special Olympics since she was in eighth grade and continued volunteering with the organization even when she was studying at Villanova University in Philadelphia, PA, which hosts the largest student-run Special Olympics in the U.S. When she returned to Hawaiʻi, she managed health programs statewide for SOHI during her gap year before entering JABSOM in 2023 - a role that she calls a full-circle moment.
“Special Olympics, and even more importantly, the people I have met through it, have made me the person I am today,” she said. “They have always been my safe place, and while my ‘why’ in medicine has evolved and grown in many ways since starting medical school, my first ever ‘why’ will always be the negative experiences with the healthcare system that Special Olympics athletes and their families have shared with me. So getting the opportunity to share an organization and group of people that is so important to me with my classmates has been a dream come true.”
SOHI hosted a unified bocce ball session at lunchtime at the Kakaʻako Makai Gateway Park, the field neighboring JABSOM and UH Cancer Center, where students and faculty played with Special Olympics athletes and staff. Assistance Dogs of Hawai’i provided a “meet-and-greet” with their training dogs so students could learn more about them and how they help disabled individuals.
Kimura felt a sense of pride seeing her classmates interact with the athletes she grew to know and love and learn how they can be empathetic physicians for people with disabilities.
“The day surpassed all my expectations in the best ways,” she said. “I am really proud of the athletes and parents who came to share their stories and play bocce, and also really proud of my class for being receptive to the important messages and experiences they had to share.”
Kimura and Sternberg plan to host Disability Day annually and to pass the torch of leading this event to future generations of JABSOM students. They hope to also broaden the reach of this event to residents and physicians in the community to give them the opportunity to learn directly from these organizations and individuals.
“One highlight of Disability Day was hearing the speakers share how these future doctors can best care for their disabled patients,” Sternberg said. “Although these requests may seem small, such as talking directly to the patient instead of their caregiver, I believe students left thinking, ‘Yeah, that makes sense. I will make sure I do that.’”
As her medical school journey comes to a close this year, Sternberg, a future pediatrician, hopes to change the narrative about disability in medicine for future generations to come.
“I believe it is my kuleana to continue this work to improve the healthcare of people with disabilities and educate doctors in training,” she said. “As a soon-to-be pediatrician, I hope to change the dialogue around disability so that all keiki feel a sense of belonging.”
