Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Speaker: Dr. Erin Jarrell

Meeting Description (tentative):

You will learn about Dr. Jarrell’s experiences with accommodations for her vision impairment in college, medical school, residency, and the workforce and will hear about the value of physicians with disabilities in clinical practice.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Jarrell earned her MD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2005 and went on to complete residency at UPMC St. Margaret Family Medicine Residency Program in 2008.  Following residency, she moved to Norton Shores, MI where she joined a large family medicine practice and worked for eight years in direct patient care.  She later assumed an administrative role with Affinia Health Network in which she launched the COMPASS program in the greater Muskegon, MI area.  This program utilized nurse care managers and a multidisciplinary provider team to systematically improve care for patients with mental illness and other chronic diseases. 

Dr. Jarrell’s interest in medicine and serving people with chronic disease and disability stemmed from her lifelong legal blindness.  In medical school, she earned a Disabilities Medicine Area of Concentration in which she helped to compose a survey to assess the accessibility of PCP and OB/Gyn offices in Pittsburgh.  In addition to disability advocacy, Dr. Jarrell has a passion for international medicine and she participated in volunteer brigades to a small village in Honduras in both medical school and residency.  She also participated in a delegation to Tajikistan in 2008 to share the concept of primary care with local physicians.  Dr. Jarrell feels strongly that a diverse workforce in the medical profession will reduce health care disparities and she works to help others view disability as an especially valuable diversity element.