Director of Disability Resources, Carleigh Kude (she/her/hers), has been working in the field of access and inclusion for 20 years. She previously worked at Stanford’s Office of Accessible Education, and is an active member of several national organizations to advance access and equity in medicine and health sciences. You can reach Carleigh by emailing carleigh.kude@stanford.edu.

• Accommodation eligibility review.

• Reasonability determinations and implementation with faculty.

• Ongoing faculty and staff education.

• Advice on accommodation efficacy and disability management.

• Supporting students through applying for accommodations on licensure exams.

• Referrals to community and support such as advocacy organizations, disability inclusion initiatives, and assistive technology tools.

To register with Disability Resources and request Student Accommodation Services, please follow the below steps:

1. Contact Disability resources by email: disabilityresources-omsa@stanford.edu.
2. You will then be sent an online intake form to complete. These are private; they will not be shared outside of Disability Resources.
   
3. Submit documentation. You can upload medication documentation within the intake form or email, with secure subject line, to disabilityresources-omsa@stanford.edu.
   
4. Schedule an intake meeting with the Director. You will receive an invitation to schedule meetings once we receive your intake form (regardless of documentation).   

Disability Documentation Requirements  

Stanford University School of Medicine is committed to disability inclusion. To ensure compliance with the Amerians with DIsabilities and its Amendments Acts and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Office of Disability Resources determines eligibility for student accommodations services through an individualized, interactive process. This includes a review of documentation.  

Students with readily observable disabilities (e.g., those using a wheelchair, white cane, etc.) may not need to submit documentation.  

Provisional accommodations may be extended to students whose documentation (including psychoeducational or neuropsychological) tests are out of date (recency of 1-5 years is ideal). In these cases, the Director will work with individual students on making a plan for updating documentation as they proceed through Medical School.

All documentation must be:

1. Translated into English, typed on letterhead, include the title and credentials (including relevant licensing information), dated, and signed.
2. Prepared by appropriate qualifying professionals with comprehensive training and direct experience providing health services and/or treatment to the student.
3. Documentation from a family member or someone with a personal relationship with the student (although they may be qualified by training and licensure) will not be accepted.

Documentation Should Include:

1. Summary of the professional relationship to the student, including duration of time providing care, identification of assessment instruments, testing procedures, or other methods of evaluation. Original referral information can also be helpful.
2. Current disability, including diagnosis and diagnostic code(s).
3. Relevant medical, developmental, cognitive, and/or psychosocial history.
4. Severity of the condition and, if applicable, prognosis or expected duration of disability.
5. Information regarding treatment plan, necessary elements of daily living, disability management, medication and possible side-effects.
6. Description of the current functional limitations experienced as a result of the condition. This should address the student’s disability experience in such a way that adequately illustrates substantial limitations on one or more life activities in an academic setting.
7. Recommended accommodations and rationale that directly ties the accommodation(s) need to the functional limitations of the disability.

For questions or guidance documenting disability, please email  disabilityresources-omsa@stanford.edu.

Accommodation determinations are made by the Director of Disability Resources. Sometimes, a requested accommodation may be considered appropriate in some educational contexts but not be as reasonable in others (for example, didactic accommodations will be different than clerkship accommodations and each clerkship and clerkship site will have its own structure and outcomes).  

The right to the interactive process includes thorough consideration of each accommodation, in each educational environment, as needed and in close collaboration with faculty. All accommodation denials will be made in writing and accompanied with reasoning in addition to an invitation to meet to identify alternative reasonable accommodations.  

Disagreements with accommodation determinations will be referred to the University ADA/Section 504 Grievance procedure.  

Complaints about this process, or concerns about working with the Director of Disability Resources, should be made to Dr. Mijiza Sanchez-Guzman, Associate Dean, Office of Medical Student Affairs.  

updated January 17, 2024