#DisabledDoctor
#DisabledParent
#Asian

Born with a physical disability, I have been interacting with our healthcare system for my entire life as a patient. At times I’ve received poor or unsafe care because our medical system is ill-equipped to care for people with disabilities. These instances became especially common after transitioning from the pediatric to adult clinical care setting. During medical training, I faced similarly rooted but different barriers. The ableism embedded in our profession almost led me to leave medicine completely because I felt so unwelcome. Everyone deserves to be represented, to be valued, to feel safe in the spaces they go into, and to be able to access the services and resources they need. DEIA efforts are needed in order to achieve this both in our profession and in society at large. I hope we can reach a point when these "efforts" will become normative.