Medical Attention

Photograph by Jess Lopatynski

One might assume that out of all the professional fields, health care is the one that understands best how to treat and work with disabled people.

Not so, says Brenda Premo, director of the Center for Disability Issues and the Health Professions at Western University of Health Sciences, in Pomona, Calif.

“Most health professionals are trained to fix people, to make them all better,” says Ms. Premo. “But there are things that occur where we can’t be fixed, and that’s where it becomes awkward because in a lot of cases people with disabilities are not sick, and most professionals don’t know what to do with that.”

The center, which opened last year, is dedicated to educating doctors, nurse practitioners, and other health-care professionals on how to better meet the needs of the disabled — from knowing how to properly move a wheelchair-bound patient to an examination table to being able to communicate with a deaf or blind patient.

The need for such education is increasing, Ms. Premo says, as the number of disabled people in the United States — now more than 50 million — is on the rise and will continue to grow as the population ages. The center is using a $623,000, two-year grant from the California Endowment to develop a curriculum.

Among the center’s advisory board members are Andy Houghton, a disability-rights activist, and Julie Madorsky, a survivor of polio who was named United States Physician of the year. Here, Dr. Madorsky and Mr. Houghton give pointers to students who are learning physical therapy.