In high school, I began experiencing some high frequency hearing loss for no reason. It has progressively gotten worse to the point where my ability to discern high frequencies is worse than that of an 80 year old and I am now a candidate for hearing aids. My ENT and audiologist haven't been able to find a cause--and before anyone asks, they've already ruled out loud noise exposure, as my audiogram shows a steep drop off at high frequencies rather than the characteristic notch associated with NIHL. I've even had an MRI done to rule out the possibility of neurofibromatosis. The only saving grace is that I currently have above average hearing at low to mid frequencies. Things are loud, just not clear. I generally understand people just fine in quiet rooms, but throw background noise or high female voices into the mix, and I start to have trouble.
I'm still demoing my hearing aids and working with my audiologist to fine-tune them, but as of right now, their benefits seem questionable.
Recently, I completed my IPPE rotation at a community pharmacy. One thing that always gave me anxiety was answering the phone. I currently work at an LTC pharmacy where I don't have to deal with that sort of thing, so I've had little experience with it. My preceptor had me take a few verbal prescriptions and transfers over the phone, and in my transcriptions I butchered a lot of patient, physician, and drug names. I already have a hard enough time keeping up when the person on the other end talks too quickly, but to complicate matters, having them spell things out for me doesn't help much. Any letter that rhymes with E or F sounds similar to me over the phone, and I can tell that other physicians and pharmacists get annoyed after having to repeat themselves for the third time or having to resort to phonetic spelling.
I'm not sure whether this is a common issue that even people with normal hearing struggle with, or whether it's something that gets better with experience, or whether misspelling things is even that a big of a deal. My preceptor made no comment despite seeing that I clearly struggled with phone calls. But now I'm legitimately worried that my deafness will hurt me as a future pharmacist. I could potentially kill a patient or severely impede workflow. Would employers feel less inclined to hire me if they knew about my disability? I do not wish to work in retail post-graduation, so hopefully my job will revolve less around taking phone calls, but I also realize it's not something you can ever get away from entirely in this field.
Is it possible to still work in this profession with bad ears? Should I be reevaluating my career? Does anyone know any deaf or hard of hearing pharmacists?
I'm still demoing my hearing aids and working with my audiologist to fine-tune them, but as of right now, their benefits seem questionable.
Recently, I completed my IPPE rotation at a community pharmacy. One thing that always gave me anxiety was answering the phone. I currently work at an LTC pharmacy where I don't have to deal with that sort of thing, so I've had little experience with it. My preceptor had me take a few verbal prescriptions and transfers over the phone, and in my transcriptions I butchered a lot of patient, physician, and drug names. I already have a hard enough time keeping up when the person on the other end talks too quickly, but to complicate matters, having them spell things out for me doesn't help much. Any letter that rhymes with E or F sounds similar to me over the phone, and I can tell that other physicians and pharmacists get annoyed after having to repeat themselves for the third time or having to resort to phonetic spelling.
I'm not sure whether this is a common issue that even people with normal hearing struggle with, or whether it's something that gets better with experience, or whether misspelling things is even that a big of a deal. My preceptor made no comment despite seeing that I clearly struggled with phone calls. But now I'm legitimately worried that my deafness will hurt me as a future pharmacist. I could potentially kill a patient or severely impede workflow. Would employers feel less inclined to hire me if they knew about my disability? I do not wish to work in retail post-graduation, so hopefully my job will revolve less around taking phone calls, but I also realize it's not something you can ever get away from entirely in this field.
Is it possible to still work in this profession with bad ears? Should I be reevaluating my career? Does anyone know any deaf or hard of hearing pharmacists?
