Disability and Becoming a Physician

[Volshe]

I hope this is the right forum for this!

I'm currently majoring in microbiology and pre-med. I have a medical condition which has caused some difficulties but has not stopped me from achieving a high GPA or my other goals.

However, I recently developed stroke like symptoms on my left side. It was diagnosed as migraine versus a stroke, and I was told it would go away within 24 hours. It's been a lot longer than that. I now have to see a neurologist to determine the cause and if it is reversible. So far I have been told it very well might not be reversible.

My left leg is weak and stiff, sometimes painful. I cannot walk properly anymore. My left arm has mild parasthesia and weakness of my ring and pinky fingers. The doctor I saw determined the weakness to be true in both my leg and hand, as well as an inability to extend my leg fully. (Just to give a nature of the disability I am facing). I am luckily right handed, though.

My question is this:
I have been wanting for the past 10 years (a very long time) to become an EM doc, with particular interest in trauma team work. At points I debate going for trauma surgery. I am understandably quite worried about how this affects my future. I have other specialties I'd like to work in that are less intensive (infectious disease, for example), but my heart has been in EM for so long.

I'd like to know if anyone can give some insight into if I should reassess my goals or just try to work through this? Do you think it is possible for me to continue reaching for my goals, if this is a permanent disability? If not, what specialties would you recommend I refocus my energy into?

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[LizzyM]

First, you should google "medical school" "technical standards". Your first journey is going to be getting into medical school and one of the steps is confirming that you meet the school's technical standards meaning that you can physically do certain things.

Next, you are going to complete medical school including the Step exam. This will determine whether you have the scores necessary to get into a medical specialty that appeals to you. Med school, particularly 3rd year is also the time to explore various specialties and to see what appeals to you. Many med students come in with a strong interest in x and leave happy to match in y because it is a better fit or has less undesirable attributes than the field that first interested the student.

It may be too soon to know what your capabilities are going to be two or three or five years from now. Take things one step at a time and that first step is determining if you currently meet the technical standards and then focus on getting into medical school. The rest will work itself out with time.

 

[Volshe]

I will do that. Thank you very much for the advice!

 

[deleted367183]

Hello there...take a look at my posting history (I am physically disabled) and feel free to PM me if you'd like to chat further. Yes, I think it is doable, but you have to apply very, very widely. Good luck!

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

The chair

I hope this is the right forum for this!

I'm currently majoring in microbiology and pre-med. I have a medical condition which has caused some difficulties but has not stopped me from achieving a high GPA or my other goals.

However, I recently developed stroke like symptoms on my left side. It was diagnosed as migraine versus a stroke, and I was told it would go away within 24 hours. It's been a lot longer than that. I now have to see a neurologist to determine the cause and if it is reversible. So far I have been told it very well might not be reversible.

My left leg is weak and stiff, sometimes painful. I cannot walk properly anymore. My left arm has mild parasthesia and weakness of my ring and pinky fingers. The doctor I saw determined the weakness to be true in both my leg and hand, as well as an inability to extend my leg fully. (Just to give a nature of the disability I am facing). I am luckily right handed, though.

My question is this:
I have been wanting for the past 10 years (a very long time) to become an EM doc, with particular interest in trauma team work. At points I debate going for trauma surgery. I am understandably quite worried about how this affects my future. I have other specialties I'd like to work in that are less intensive (infectious disease, for example), but my heart has been in EM for so long.

I'd like to know if anyone can give some insight into if I should reassess my goals or just try to work through this? Do you think it is possible for me to continue reaching for my goals, if this is a permanent disability? If not, what specialties would you recommend I refocus my energy into?

The chair of neurosurgery at U of Michigan is 4 9" woman and has spinal bifida. The chair of family med is also deaf at the same university. They have very inspirational stories. I highly recommend googling them. Dr. MURAZKO AND DR. ZAZOVE.

 

[NickNaylor]

For what it's worth, we recently accepted an applicant with a high spinal cord injury (somewhere in the cervical region). There were some concerns about his/her ability to complete the curriculum depending upon the degree of motor function, but as @LizzyM states, provided you're able to meet those technical standards, you will be fine.

In terms of your career, it will almost certainly be possible to practice in many different areas despite a physical disability. Things that require significant dexterity are likely out of the question, but even in a field like EM I wouldn't rule it out. Some of EM does include procedures, though, so that's something to keep in mind.

 

[arewethereyet...]

I realize this isn't exactly the same, BUT I have a good friend at my med school who has a pretty bad stutter to the point that she gets extra time for our standardized patient exams because sometimes it takes her a while to get the words out. At one point in our first year one of the department heads essentially tried to tell my friend that due to her stutter she didn't meet the "technical standards" required and that she shouldn't have signed the piece of paper saying that she did. She's still here, but I think the school is really worried that she isn't going to be able to pass step 2 cs (when we have a bunch of standardized patients) which I guess makes them look bad. Anyways, that's obviously different than what you've got but as LizzyM said DEFINITELY take a look at the technical standards.

On a different note, I have/had medically refractory epilepsy and it caused me some difficulties during college to the point that I didn't think I would be allowed to practice medicine (I had no idea that technical standards existed at the time) and tried a different path for a little bit. I was fortunate enough to get it under control at which point I decided to go for it and I wrote about it in my personal statement (risky in retrospect, especially because I had been seizures free for only ~6 months when I wrote it) but I still got in. Again, not the same thing, but I do think as long as there are no technical standards issues you have a definite shot as long as you apply broadly (including DO schools if you can make that happen).

 

[Volshe]

Yeah, it's gotten to a point where it's not nearly as bad but I still have weakness in my left leg and mild but intermittent parasthesia as well. I am hoping it will resolve with time (it's been near a month with no further improvement though), but if not I have looked at the technical standards and I do still meet them. It just might mean I have a little extra difficulty with some tasks, but nothing I would really have to worry about ruining my chances or affecting the safety of patients.

The stories I have read and posts I have seen have been quite inspirational and helped me out.

Thank you all for the replies.

 

[Goro]

One of my students had a significant ataxia and walked with some difficulty unaided. I've had a student who was legally blind, another with profound deafness. An MD I knew at Cornell had a grand mal stutter, and I have heard of two blind physicians. In addition, I once saw a nephrologist at Sloan Kettering who had a withered arm. How withered? Tiny, like a T. rex forelimb!

I hope this is the right forum for this!

I'm currently majoring in microbiology and pre-med. I have a medical condition which has caused some difficulties but has not stopped me from achieving a high GPA or my other goals.

However, I recently developed stroke like symptoms on my left side. It was diagnosed as migraine versus a stroke, and I was told it would go away within 24 hours. It's been a lot longer than that. I now have to see a neurologist to determine the cause and if it is reversible. So far I have been told it very well might not be reversible.

My left leg is weak and stiff, sometimes painful. I cannot walk properly anymore. My left arm has mild parasthesia and weakness of my ring and pinky fingers. The doctor I saw determined the weakness to be true in both my leg and hand, as well as an inability to extend my leg fully. (Just to give a nature of the disability I am facing). I am luckily right handed, though.

My question is this:
I have been wanting for the past 10 years (a very long time) to become an EM doc, with particular interest in trauma team work. At points I debate going for trauma surgery. I am understandably quite worried about how this affects my future. I have other specialties I'd like to work in that are less intensive (infectious disease, for example), but my heart has been in EM for so long.

I'd like to know if anyone can give some insight into if I should reassess my goals or just try to work through this? Do you think it is possible for me to continue reaching for my goals, if this is a permanent disability? If not, what specialties would you recommend I refocus my energy into?