Disabled Doctors Will Also Share Expertise as Patients

When Stanley K. Yarnell, MD, talks about providing health care for the

disabled community, he speaks from both the “”abled”” and “”disabled”” sides:

He earned his medical degree sighted; he now is legally blind.

Dr. Yarnell will be one of two physicians hosting a

presentation/discussion on health care access issues for the disabled from

10 a.m. to noon on Thursday, May 27 at Western University of Health

Sciences (WesternU). The event, sponsored by the University’s Center for

Disability Issues and the Health Professions (CDIHP), is free and open to

the public.

Dr. Yarnell, who is a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation,

will be joined by Doug Ota, MD, a quadriplegic. The two physicians, who

work at St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center in San Francisco, will

answer questions about their own experiences as health care professionals,

and will lead discussions about public access issues from both a patient’s

and health provider’s perspective.

“”Who better to educate health care professionals regarding working with

disabled patients than physicians who themselves happen to be disabled?””

said Brenda Premo, founding director of the CDIHP.

WesternU founded the CDIHP earlier this year to prepare health care

professionals to better meet the primary care needs of people with

disabilities. The CDIHP will emphasize both immediate reforms in

educational curriculum as well as long-term research on policies and

related issues.

Dr. Yarnell received his doctor of medicine degree from Ohio State

University in 1973 and has been legally blind due to recurrent optic

nauritis since 1978. He has been active within the disability community

for more than 20 years, particularly in regard to spinal cord injuries and

the late effects of polio. He was named the Health Care Professional of

the Year by the President’s Committee for Employment of People with

Disabilities in 1990 and served on the White House Health Care Providers

Advisory Group to the health care reform task force in 1993.

Drs. Yarnell’s and Ota’s presentation will be held in the College of

Pharmacy’s Pod 3 in the Health Professions Center building on the

WesternU campus on Second Street in Pomona.

For more information, contact the CDIHP at (909) 469-5380.