Audrey Yap

Dr. Audrey Yap is the Accessibility Theme Lead, a new theme lead role. The Accessibility Theme Lead will work collaboratively with lived experience community partners, students and faculty to promote the Social Model of Disability within the undergraduate Medical curriculum.  The goal is to ensure the principles of Disability Justice in the MD curriculum is included in an intersectional way so learners appreciate the experiences of disability as a natural part of being human.  In this way, the Theme Lead will work toward removing ableism (ie. viewing “nondisabled” as “ideal” and “disability” as “abnormal”) and foster lifelong learning in accessible practices for all.

Dr. Audrey Yap is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.  She works as a physiatrist at Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital, Sinai Health in Neurorehabilitation. For over 10 years as a teacher of accessibility content for MD learners, she has partnered with lived experience experts/patient partners.   As a physician she promotes a holistic approach to patient care that acknowledges how each person has their own unique set of life experiences that influence care needs.  She is mindful of how intersecting identities can affect individual care needs and how, as physicians, there is always more to learn from our patients and their experiences.  Overall, she wants to equip learners with a disability inclusion lens so they learn about illness and wellness within the context of patients as equal partners.  On a national level, she is an active member of the Anti-Ableism Special Interest Group of the Canadian Association of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.