u/astudentslawyer

Hi everyone — with a new medical school year starting soon, I wanted to do an AMA aimed mostly at incoming medical students who may need disability accommodations, but questions by everyone are welcomed.

I am an attorney who works on student/disability/accommodation issues involving medical schools and other educational programs. I previously posted here as u/FLeducationlawyer. I am now posting from u/astudentslawyer, which is the same attorney/account owner, just under my broader student-law focused name. Here is a link to the previous AMA done in here: https://www.reddit.com/r/DisabledMedStudents/s/HY1uZEBwcv

Important disclaimer: This AMA is for general educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in this post or in any reply is legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by this AMA, by your question, by my response, or by any private message. Communications here are not privileged, not confidential, and not protected by attorney-client privilege. Please do not post or send confidential, identifying, privileged, or sensitive information. If you need legal advice about your specific situation, you should consult an attorney directly.

I also cannot give medical advice, diagnose anything, or tell you what accommodations you personally “should” receive. I can answer general questions about how these processes often work and what students can do to better understand the accommodation process and protect their records.

A few ground rules:

• Do not post identifying information about yourself, your school, patients, faculty, classmates, or specific private disputes.
• Keep questions general enough that they can be answered publicly.
• Do not post confidential documents, medical records, disciplinary letters, accommodation letters, school emails, or anything you would not want publicly available.
• Please do not DM me confidential facts expecting legal advice or confidentiality. Reddit messages are not a substitute for a private legal consultation.
• If something is urgent, high-stakes, or tied to dismissal, board eligibility, graduation, financial aid, discipline, clinical placement, or licensing, you should strongly consider speaking with an attorney.
• Laws and school policies vary, so my answers will be general and may not apply to your specific situation.

I know accommodations can be especially stressful for new medical students because you are trying to start school on the right foot while also figuring out how much to disclose, what to request, and how to avoid being labeled as “difficult.” My goal here is to provide practical general information.

Ask me anything.