2022 CLIME Together Symposium
The University of Washington (UW) Center for Leadership and Innovation in Medical Education (CLIME) invited all health sciences educators to participate in its 7th annual CLIME Together Symposium for Excellence in Health Professions Education on Friday, June 10, 2022 virtually. This year’s theme was Disability and Healthcare.
- Dr. Lisa Meeks and Dr. Neera Jain gave a joint plenary “Becoming Anti-Ableist in Medical Education.”
- UWSOM Alumnus Dr. Conrad Addison, MD interviewed by Dr. Heather Feldner, PT, PhD, PCS “Limitations are features, not bugs in the human experience; features that drive innovation and connection in surprising ways.”
- UW Affiliated Storytellers share their stories about living with disability in ways that relate to the past and future of healthcare.
Resouces
Transcription: CLIME Together Symposium Transcription
Plenary Slides: Jain-Meeks CLIME 2022 (PDF)
Available Through UW Library: Disability as Diversity: A Case Studies Companion Guide, Medical Student Well-Being, Equal Access for Students with Disabilities
Learn at ACGME Equity Matters: https://dl.acgme.org/learning-paths/equity-matters-video-library
Docs With Disabilities Initiative: https://www.docswithdisabilities.org/
Disability Visibility Project: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/
Demystifying Disability: https://emilyladau.com/book/
Academic Ableism: https://www.press.umich.edu/9708722/academic_ableism
CLIMEcasts: Anti-Ableism and Disability Allyship in Medical Education Series
2022 CLIME Symposium Co-Chairs

Heather Feldner, PT, PhD, PCS
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Dr. Heather Feldner, PT, PhD, PCS is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, core faculty in the Disability Studies Program, and an Associate Director of the Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences (CREATE) at the University of Washington. Her research centers at the intersection of mobility, disability, and technology. This includes examining perceptions and outcomes of mobility technology, how understandings of disability and identity emerge and evolve through technology use, and how disability can be further integrated into intersectional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. Her current work incorporates multidisciplinary, mixed methods approaches drawing from her background as a pediatric physical therapist, doctoral work in disability studies, and postdoctoral research in user-centered rehabilitation and design in mechanical engineering

Heather D. Evans, PhD
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Email: hdevans@uw.edu
Areas of Expertise: Heather is a socio-legal scholar who focuses on the ways in which institutions such as the law, higher education, and the medical field interact with marginalized populations. She has conducted statistical analyses, ethnographic fieldwork, and evaluation research. Heather’s current work is in the field of Critical Disability Studies examining disclosure, identity management, and workplace accommodations among people with physical, mental, and sensory differences that are not readily apparent. She is also committed to community based research and does consulting work for local social justice organizations, primarily focusing on disparities within the criminal justice system. Heather earned a Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Washington and spent 8 years teaching courses in the Department of Sociology; Disability Studies Program; and the Law, Societies & Justice Department at UW. She joined the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at UW in July 2021 as an Acting Assistant Professor and Research Director for the Northwest ADA Center.
Plenary: Becoming Anti-Ableist in Medical Education with Drs. Neera Jain and Lisa Meeks

Neera Jain, PhD, MS, CRC
She co-authored and co-edited Equal access for students with disabilities: The guide for health science and professional education, 2nd edition (Springer Publishing, 2020), and co-authored the AAMC special report, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education: Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians with Disabilities (2018). Formerly, she led disability services for health science students at Columbia University and the University of California, San Francisco. In Aotearoa, Neera managed a free legal service run by and for disabled people: Auckland Disability Law.
Dr. Jain is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Critical Studies in Education, University of Auckland Faculty of Education and Social Work and a contract lecturer in medical humanities at the University of Auckland Medical Programme. She is a board member at large for the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science Education. In 2021, she will join the Centre for Health Education Scholarship at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine as a postdoctoral fellow.

Lisa Meeks, PhD
Dr. Meeks is passionate about equal access to education and healthcare for persons with disabilities and has co-authored several articles and books on the subject of disability in medical and health science education, helping to inform policy and best practice in disability inclusion. Her research has been featured on NPR, in the Washington Post, CNBC, Bloomberg Law, the Chicago Tribune, Medscape and the Huffington Post.
She is the co-creator of the social media campaign #DocsWithDisabilities on twitter, co-host of the Docs with Disabilities Podcast. co-founder of the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science and Medical Education, co-developer of both the AAMC Disability Webinar Series and the UCSF Disability Training Series for Faculty and Administrators, and served as the co-PI/author of the AAMC Special Report: Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education: Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians with Disabilities,
Dr. Meeks currently serves as faculty to the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Equity Matters Campaign, is a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Advisory Committee for Health Workforce Research Conference, Co-Chairs the International Council for Disability Inclusion in Medical Education and the Disability in Graduate Medical Education (DIGME) working group.
UWSOM Alumnus Dr. Conrad Addison, MD interviewed by Dr. Heather Feldner, PT, PhD, PCS

Conrad Addison, MD
A UWSOM alumnus (Montana WWAMI E13), Conrad sustained a cervical spinal cord injury in a mountain biking accident during his third year of medical school. He returned to clerkships full-time after a year of intensive rehabilitation and has since engaged his medical training uninterrupted. He completed his internal medicine residency at the Billings Clinic and is currently finishing a sleep medicine fellowship at the University of Utah. His experiences continue to inform his firm belief that limitations are features, not bugs in the human experience; features that drive innovation and connection in surprising ways. Accessible systems allow us to leverage abilities of all learners and provide a more rewarding experience for patients and providers alike.