Skilled and Savvy: Contributing to a Diverse Workplace

Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami

Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami is the Director of Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services at the University of Michigan, where he oversees the office of Services for Students with Disabilities, two Testing Accommodation Centers, Academic Support and Access Partnerships, and is the founding director of the Adaptive Sports & Fitness Program. He is also an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Urology, and Orthopaedic Surgery and the Associate Director of the Health Policy and Economics Path of Excellence at Michigan Medicine; and holds an Adjunct Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery appointment at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in an effort to develop a robust adaptive sports medicine program in anticipation of the upcoming Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028.

“Dr. O” was born in Nigeria before immigrating to the US at a young age. He attended High School at Deerfield Academy and college at Stanford University where he also ran Track & Field, serving as captain his last two seasons and achieving Academic All-American recognition.

He then earned his MD from the University of Michigan before matching into Orthopedic Surgery at Yale. At the beginning of his 3rd year he experienced a spinal cord injury, paralyzing him from the chest down. After two surgeries and intense rehabilitation, he was blessed with some return of motor function, and navigates the world as a proud wheelchair user, managing the other long-term sequelae of an incomplete cervical spinal cord injury.

He went on to earn a master’s in Engineering, Science, and Technology Entrepreneurship from The University of Notre Dame, and completed his Family Medicine Residency at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana. He served on the St. Joseph County Board of Health, appointed by then Mayor, turned Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, was featured on Robin Robert’s Good Morning America Series “Thriver Thursday,” and has a catch phrase, “Disabusing DisabilityⓇ,” hoping to demonstrate that DISability doesn’t mean INability. He is a member of U of M’s Institute on Health Policy and Innovation, sits on the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honors Society Board of Directors, received Michigan Medicine’s Distinguished Early Career Alumni Award in 2020, was given the “A Teacher’s Teacher Award'' by the Academy of Medical Educators, and currently serves as the President of the Michigan Medicine Alumni Society Board.

Nationally, he served as the Disability Issues representative on the Steering Committee for the Group on Diversity and Inclusion at the Association of American Medical Colleges, sits on the National Medical Association’s Council on Medical Legislation, and was selected by the White House Office of Public Engagement to participate in the Health Equity Leaders Roundtable Series dedicated to exploring perspectives around Access to Care. He was appointed to the America250 Foundation Health and Wellness Advisory Council and President Biden’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. He speaks around the country on topics related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, including, but not limited to creating a health system that is accessible to and inclusive of both patients and providers with disabilities, and providing reasonable and appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities in higher education. He has been featured on CBS News, PBS News Hour, and MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and is passionate about adaptive sports and fitness, striving to provide access to physical fitness and inclusive recreational and competitive sports for all.