Sonoran UCEDD Joins National Cohort to Integrate More Developmental Medicine into COM – Tucson Curricula

The award enables the Sonoran UCEDD to engage people with disabilities to help teach developmental disability care to health sciences students.

The Sonoran UCEDD received a grant from the National Curriculum Initiative in Developmental Medicine to integrate more developmental medicine into UArizona College of Medicine-Tucson curricula. The award enables the Sonoran UCEDD to engage people with disabilities to help teach developmental disability care to health sciences students.

Tamsen Bassford, MD, associate professor and Sonoran UCEDD affiliated faculty member, is the principal investigator (PI) for a new award.

The Sonoran UCEDD is partnering with Special Olympics Arizona and other community stakeholders to help teach current UArizona Health Sciences students about how to better care for individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities (I/DD).

The project will work with COM-T faculty to integrate activities throughout the four-year curriculum that aims to provide a more in-depth understanding of the care and treatment of individuals with IDD. 

Lynne Tomasa PhD, MSW, FAAIDD, assistant professor, is Co-PI and will direct evaluation for the grant. Other collaborators include Elizabeth Leko, MPA, director of the Standardized Patient Program, COM-T and Dr. Tyler Kennedy (COM-T alumni), and medical student Jacqueline Hoffman—both previous leaders of the student interest group, Medcats for Developmental Medicine.

UArizona’s Sonoran UCEDD is among 18 other institutions across the country chosen by the National Curriculum Initiative in Developmental Medicine to improve the experiences of individuals with disabilities in health care settings and situations. 

Release Date: 
09/17/2020 - 1:15pm