Learning Dimensions and Educational Approaches for Training Physicians and Medical Students to Care for People With Intellectual Disabilities: A Delphi Study

ABSTRACT

Training on caring for people with intellectual disabilities remains insufficiently integrated into medical curricula, while guidance on relevant learning dimensions and educational approaches remains heterogeneous. This study aimed to develop expert‐informed recommendations for designing such training. A two‐round Delphi method elicited expert opinions on learning dimensions (building on Lennox and Diggens' (1999) taxonomy), educational approaches, assessment strategies, and the role of lived‐experience experts in training physicians and medical students. Experts supported updating the taxonomy of knowledge, skills, and attitudes and identified affect and vocation as potentially complementary learning dimensions. Experts emphasized the importance of combining theoretical and practical learning, including direct contact with people with intellectual disabilities, and recommended adapting assessment to learning and clinical contexts. These expert‐informed recommendations offer guidance on learning dimensions and educational approaches for designing training to prepare physicians and medical students to care for people with intellectual disabilities.