Tess Carichner, a former MDisability intern, has already achieved many of her big academic goals. She will complete her Bachelor of Science in Nursing this month, along with a minor in Global Health, a minor in Disability Studies, and certificates in Disability Inclusion and Accessible Design, and Leadership at the University of Michigan.  

She is now poised to achieve even more as she begins her doctoral nurse training with the ultimate goal of becoming a researcher focused on improving health for people with disabilities. 

Carichner, who completed her MDisability internship in 2024, was just accepted to U-M's PhD in Nursing Practice program through the School of Nursing. Part of that package comes with an Innovations in Promoting Health through Team Science (T32) training grant. This grant will support her doctoral education; provide travel expenses so that she can attend nursing education and research conferences; and provide her with a stipend.  

She said that from an early age, she dreamed of getting her PhD in nursing at U-M. But dreaming wasn’t enough. She now realizes that it’s taken tons of hard work, study, research, and community organizing to get to where she is now.  

Examples of her work include not only the MDisability internship, but also participation in the Women and Gender Summer Fellowship Program at U-M and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network – Autism Inclusion Program, which is held online.

She also serves as editor of Accessing Disability Culture as a research assistant in the Digital Accessible Futures Lab, a role she’s held since 2022.

Along the way, her educational experiences at U-M helped her find a clearer direction in which to take a doctorate in nursing. She said that in the future, she is particularly interested in leading a research lab that collaborates with local disability organizations to conduct research related to safety, sexual and reproductive health, and education for multiply marginalized disabled populations.  

“My experience with MDisability showed me that I have a close network of mentors at U-M who feel similarly passionate about disability health equity and are excellent collaborators,” she said. “My nursing mentors at U-M’s School of Nursing have invested in my passion for disability health equity from the very start. 

“Knowing other advocates, healthcare workers, and researchers with disabilities has provided me with a supportive community that I hope every student with a disability gets to have.” 

Carichner began her first research assistant job when she was a junior in high school. At that time, she was interested in becoming a nurse but didn’t realize that she could be both a nurse and a researcher. When she got to U-M, she began a new job in a research lab and started a nursing honors program, which had a required research component. During that time, she discovered that nursing research was a significant field with opportunities to collaborate across disciplines to improve healthcare, define health-related issues, and promote health equity.   

“I am pursuing the nursing Ph.D. because I know that there is so much to improve about disability health, and research is what fuels the processes that allow for change in healthcare systems,” Carichner said. “I also want to teach future nurses on how to make the positive change they want to see in the world. Having a Ph.D. will allow me to lead research, advise on policy issues related to my research topics, and teach.” 

In addition to being accepted to the doctorate program, Carichner was a co-author on the recent paper, “Disability and Accommodation Use in US Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs” in JAMA Network Open, published in February. She has also been invited to write a commentary about her experience as a nursing student with a disability for a special issue of Creative Nursing.  

Carichner said she never would have imagined being published so early in her career and credits the MDisability program and its mentors for their help. 

“Before MDisability and coming to U-M as a student, I was generally only ever on the community or patient side of things,” she said. “At MDisability, I got to take those experiences into account when conducting research alongside other researchers who have lived disability experience or researchers who are strong allies to the disability community.  

“There is a power divide between those who research and those who are researched,” she added. “It is very important for people with disabilities to be researchers embodying community-engaged values. Through MDisability, I was able to connect and work with many people who have inspired my continual hope in the disability health equity movement.” 

During her time with MDisability, Carichner was introduced to Lisa M. Meeks, Ph.D., MA, adjunct associate professor of U-M Family Medicine and clinical professor of Medical Education at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and joined her lab after she completed the internship. 

Meeks, who is also a core MDisability faculty member, focuses on advancing access to health professions education for disabled learners and clinicians.   

“Tess is an exceptional talent, and I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with her — first through MDisability and now in the Meeks Lab,” said Meeks. “Her dedication to disability health equity and nursing is already contributing meaningfully to our work. I’m excited to see where her passion and leadership will take her, and the field.”