Could you be a doctor if you are deaf or blind?

[Bookish]

I'm not deaf or blind, but a thought struck me recently: What would I do if I lost my hearing or sight, or was otherwise disabled? Would I be able to be a doctor?

Does anyone know of any deaf/blind/otherwise disabled doctors? I'm just curious to see how they would cope in this profession.

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[BillrothI]

Yes - there are deaf and blind doctors. A blind GP was the focus of a documentary (or a segment of a documentary) a few years back. Can't remember his name or the name of the film, but he had developed means of providing excellent patient care despite his disability.

-Bill R.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Possible. This is also why physicians get disability insurance.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

I'm not deaf or blind, but a thought struck me recently: What would I do if I lost my hearing or sight, or was otherwise disabled? Would I be able to be a doctor?

Does anyone know of any deaf/blind/otherwise disabled doctors? I'm just curious to see how they would cope in this profession.

Yes - there are deaf and blind doctors. A blind GP was the focus of a documentary (or a segment of a documentary) a few years back. Can't remember his name or the name of the film, but he had developed means of providing excellent patient care despite his disability.

-Bill R.

Possible. This is also why physicians get disability insurance.

While I don't doubt its possibility, I'm wondering as to how it would affect the doctor-patient relationship.

 

[pyrrion89]

A lot of doctors also work in jobs in which they are not required to practice clinically. These jobs may not require a sense of sight or hearing. One example would be if you worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a representative.

 

[Bookish]

A lot of doctors also work in jobs in which they are not required to practice clinically. These jobs may not require a sense of sight or hearing. One example would be if you worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a representative.

That's true. I was thinking more along the lines of a practicing physician, though. I would be very interested to see examples of how physicians who actually deal with patients do so while deaf/blind. If anyone knows of such an example.

 

[Gauss44]

Yes - there are deaf and blind doctors. A blind GP was the focus of a documentary (or a segment of a documentary) a few years back. Can't remember his name or the name of the film, but he had developed means of providing excellent patient care despite his disability.

-Bill R.

What was his specialty (if you remember)?

 

[Doctor Strange]

What was his specialty (if you remember)?

He was a GP...

 

[PanRoasted]

He was a GP...

Let's not assume that everyone knows GP stands for general practitioner and keep the condescension down to a minimum.

Doubt you'd be able to practice in the same capacity if you were to go deaf or blind for any specialty.

 

[BillrothI]

If you Google it, plenty come up. Apparently not as uncommon as one might think.

-Bill R.

 

[gyngyn]

One can be a physician with any number of disabilities. It is much harder to be a medical student, acquiring the skills necessary to be a physician, without essential charateristics that can not be reasonably accomodated.

 

[red doctober]

Wisconsin accepted and graduated a blind medical student: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7318398/n.../blind-medical-student-earns-md/#.UcfiweA8yLg

 

[Geebeejay]

probably a lot harder and you'll probably face a lot more adversity if you were deaf and/or blind. But such is true for any career pursuits of a blind and deaf person.

 

[jdfamily]

I'm not deaf or blind, but a thought struck me recently: What would I do if I lost my hearing or sight, or was otherwise disabled? Would I be able to be a doctor?

Does anyone know of any deaf/blind/otherwise disabled doctors? I'm just curious to see how they would cope in this profession.

I read a book called How Doctors Think by Dr. Jerome Groopman, and he mentions an interview with with a real physician who is excellent at his practice. Because of the physician's blindness his other sensory perceptions have become more sensitive, and some might argue that he is a better physician at what he does because he detect and feel things that other physicians might not be able to. I highly recommend this book! I think the physician wasn't originally blind, but has been able to practice and keep patients

 

[noroxytocin]

I know this is an old thread, but how do you think a blind person could do research? I am blind, and whenever I tell people I want to do medicine and research, they act like it isn't possible. I'm mostly wondering about looking at the results of experiments.

 

[moisne]

If you are blind AND deaf - man I don't know how you even made it to med school - super impressive with just one disability.

I can tell you - probably no blind surgeons...

 

[noroxytocin]

I'm actually just blind, not deaf. I haven't made it to med school yet, but I'm trying to figure out which direction I should go, like getting an MD, PhD, or both. Trust me, I know I wouldn't do surgery, haha. My interests are more in neurology and endocrinology anyway.

 

[Theafoni]

I read about a blind doctor who specialized in psychiatry.

 

[noroxytocin]

Me too. Was it called white coat white cane or something like that?

 

[Great White Buffalo]

I'm not deaf or blind, but a thought struck me recently: What would I do if I lost my hearing or sight, or was otherwise disabled? Would I be able to be a doctor?

Does anyone know of any deaf/blind/otherwise disabled doctors? I'm just curious to see how they would cope in this profession.

At the University of Michigan, the Chairman of Family Medicine (Dr. Zazove) is indeed deaf. And the Chairwoman of Neurosurgery at the same University (Dr. Muraszko) is a woman who has spinal bifida (needed a special wheelchair to prop her up when she use to do neurosurgeries). Both are heralded at U of M, and have been very upfront in discussing their disabilities.

Please read an inspiring story (very short) of Dr. Muraszko:http://umhsheadlines.org/25/dr-muraszko-featured-in-ama-presidents-speech/

Excerpt from the speech above:

"But three obstacles stood in her way. First, she was only four feet nine inches tall, which would make reaching the operating table a challenge. Second, she was a woman, and almost 95% of neurosurgeons are male.
And third, she had a disability. As a result of her spina bifida, one of Karin’s legs is 2 inches shorter than the other. And in neurosurgery, where operations can take 12, 15, even 18 hours, it’s essential that physicians are physically, as well as mentally strong.
While the challenges before Karin were great, her determination was even greater. I told her that she was going to have to prove herself – even “over-prove” herself to achieve her goal.
I knew she could. I knew she would. And of course . . . she did!"

Let's open our thinking about what is possible!! These 2 pioneers are exceptional human beings, not letting their disabilities define them.

 

[noroxytocin]

Thank you so much. Almost everyone on the other threads I've made seem to be extremely un-motivating, which is really annoying. But I guess wanting to prove them wrong is motivating, as much like a cliche as that sounds. But yeah, it always helps me to know that other people with disabilities have succeeded, especially since people have literally sited requirements of having to have vision and things like that to be a physician. Clearly, there are exceptions.

 

[Goro]

My school has had deaf students; I have heard of blind doctors (they usually end up in Psychiatry).

I'm not deaf or blind, but a thought struck me recently: What would I do if I lost my hearing or sight, or was otherwise disabled? Would I be able to be a doctor?

Does anyone know of any deaf/blind/otherwise disabled doctors? I'm just curious to see how they would cope in this profession.

 

[Mad Jack]

Neurology would be a fairly difficult field for a blind physician unless you had a very high resolution image-to-touch hardware setup that would allow you to read CTs and MRIs, which are a huge part of neuro. You could definitely do neurology or endocrinology research with an MD/PhD. Endocrinology wouldn't be all that difficult, but making it through IM residency would be fairly difficult (not that it's all that easy for people who can see), which is a prerequisite to apply to an endocrine fellowship.

 

[Citan]

In my Physiology I class, there was a deaf student. She went on to become a Podiatrist.