Doctors with disabilities need more support, study says

By Global News

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New research says more needs to be done to help doctors in Canada who have disabilities. The study is based on data from the 2021 long-form census and shows five per cent of practicing doctors report having a disability “always or often,” while 12 per cent report a disability “sometimes.” Dr. Michael Quon from The Ottawa Hospital suffered a traumatic brain injury from a cycling accident at the end of his residency. “Early on I had a lot of limitations in terms of like clinical work that I could do well and without symptoms. And what I found was there was really like a void, so there was no hospital policies in terms of accommodating physicians with disabilities.” Quon said. "Physicians are typically independent contractors working in hospitals, and they weren't protected by the same policies that employees were, so that right there is a major national policy gap." He added. As health reporter Katherine Ward explains, experts say there is a gap in providing proper support, and m

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