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Ambrose Scholar brings lecture series to MUSC by Mary Helen Yarborough Public Relations The entire world changes for a person with disabilities. One day, he’s walking or rushing around, never giving the condition of his legs a second thought. Then, a terrible automobile crash changes everything, crippling the once vigorous person. For the physically disabled, this p erson’s outlook on life often darkens in a stark, new isolated world.   Megan Bales Megan Bales, a second-year physician assistant student at MUSC’s College of Health Professions, became so committed to shedding light on the challenges faced by persons with disabilities that she developed a lecture series aimed at medical professionals. Her work earned her a Paul Ambrose Scholarship.   She learned that medical providers, such as occupational and physical therapists, have to understand the complex set of issues that disabled individuals face. The psychological effects of physically disabled persons often goes untreated, she said, which can present more difficult barriers to recovery.   Bales’ lecture series, “What’s Your Disability,” will be held noon - 2 p.m., July 21, in the College of Health Professions building at MUSC.   The series features Catherine Graham, a rehabilitation engineer for the University of South Carolina, and Charleston psychiatrist, Dean Schuyler, M.D., also a former clinical associate professor at MUSC. The lecture will be geared toward health professionals who provide care to members of the disabled population.   The Chicago native explained that the world disabled persons face is one of isolation, both physically and emotionally. Even caregivers and medical providers look upon these patients differently and with perceived misunderstanding and diminished compassion, Bales said. This unique approach to the issue is being considered for coverage by NBC TV for which Bales interned two years ago. Meanwhile, she is focusing on teaching health professionals and eventually hopes to educate communities, she said.   “That’s why we’re doing a lecture series, because we thought it was important to health care professionals to understand these issues since they would oversee the needs of these people,” Bales said. “It’s really directed at PTs who plan to set up a practice for the physically handicapped. Some issues they would need to consider are whether a patient also needs to be referred to treatment for depression, or are they only physically challenged. We want these professionals to help these patients open up.”   Graham, a paraplegic, will discuss the physical and institutional challenges faced by persons with disabilities. Schuyler will address the psychological pain that accompanies physical restrictions for the disabled, Bales said.   “We need to know how to approach people with disabilities and help break the ice, so to speak, so we can help them reflect their life’s change,” Bales said. “They feel depressed, physically isolated and do not feel whole.”   Graham will discuss her fight for accessibility in a world that is often inaccessible to persons in wheelchairs. For her, life changed at age 16 when a car accident rendered her a paraplegic. She grew up to earn her master’s degree in bio-engineering and turned her affliction into a career. She spends her days scoping parking lots, businesses, schools, even medical offices, and recommending ways to improve access and help facilities attain compliance of federal laws and meet guidelines established by the American Disabilities Association.   “I was surprised to learn how few hotels are equipped to accommodate wheelchairs,” Graham said. “It’s nice to have a shower before a meeting.”   For instance, when Bales was looking for a space to accommodate Graham, she found that while many hotels are wheelchair accessible, few have wheelchair accessible bath facilities (see chart on this page). Bales receives high honor Bales’ work to improve conditions for the disabled also earned her a highly competitive scholarship and a $200 grant from the Paul Ambrose Scholarship. She is using the grant to present the lecture series at MUSC.   Bales earned her undergraduate degree from Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. She joined 41 other students who were selected from applicants representing 36 health professions schools from across the country who attended the 5th Annual Paul Ambrose Health Promotion Student Leadership Symposium in Washington, D.C., June 23-26.   Throughout the inter-professional leadership development meeting, Bales and others attended sessions and discussions led by national leaders in population-based health care, project planning, health care financing, advocacy, coalition building, health literacy, cultural competence, power structure analysis, and training and careers in public health and preventive medicine.   The symposium was the vision of Paul W. Ambrose, M.D., a rising star in preventive medicine who died in the Pentagon attack on Sept. 11, 2001.   The symposium was founded on the belief that in order to integrate prevention and public health principles into clinical education programs and communities, students must acquire skills in leadership, advocacy and coalition building. By focusing on these areas of leadership development, the program strives to cultivate a cohort of student leaders capable of assuring quality health professions education, and ultimately, improvement in the public’s health. Charleston hotels offering wheelchair-accessible showers   Handicap accessibility—you don’t think about what it means until you need it.   You can get into the door of a restroom, but you can’t fit your wheelchair into the stall. You make reservations at a restaurant, but you have to enter the restaurant through a back door next to the kitchen, or take a service elevator to the main floor to get to your table.   Hotels pride themselves in being handicap accessible, but that, too, may end at the door – the bathroom door. Many hotels that claim to be handicap accessible (H/A) have outfitted their H/A rooms with tubs—requiring a difficult maneuver for someone unable to walk—instead of a wheelchair-accessible shower.   The Catalyst  identified several local hotels that do offer roll-in showers in some of their H/A rooms —although when making a reservation be sure to specify the shower instead of a tub. Best Western King Charles—1 room Charleston Place—roll-in shower located in spa Charleston Riverview—14 rooms Comfort Inn Riverview—6 rooms Courtyard by Marriott—1 room DoubleTree Guest Suites—14 rooms Embassy Suites Historic Charleston—8 rooms Francis Marion—10 rooms Holiday Inn Historic—2 rooms Renaissance Charleston Hotel—2 rooms —by Leslie Snyder, MUSC Public Relations Friday, July 21, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.