Physically Disabled Student Considering Medical School

[bryanjustinxvii]

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Hello Everyone,

I currently have my Bachelors degree in Psychology and am thinking of pursuing medical school to ultimately become a Psychiatrist. Nevertheless, I do have a physical disability and am highly uncertain as whether to pursue a career in medicine. I have EDMD (Emery Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy). It is difficult for me to stand for extended periods of time, walk long distances, etc. I may eventually be wheelchair bound but am currently able to walk. I am just curious as to what kind of accommodations would be provided for me and was curious what others thought.

I've read countless articles about admission to medical school with students who have disabilities. While most of those students were deaf, blind, or had some other physical ailment, they were accommodated to some degree. I do not need any academic accommodations. In fact, I have a cummulative GPA of 3.98 and work very hard in the realm of academia. I am mostly concerned about the clinical rotations during my 3rd and 4th years of being in medical school. I could in no way stand for a few hours and perform surgery or even partake in emergency medicine. It seems to me that the clinical rotations vary on each school, or so i've read.

All in all, being that I have this disability I am concerned about even attempting. I am a highly motivated individual and when I see my goal I always achieve it. That's why I'm even considering this due to the fact that medicine and psychology are two huge passions of mine in life. I honestly couldn't see myself not doing both for a career. My biggest hurdle is going through the clinical rotations. My future career as a psychiatrist will mostly consist of office settings where I am able to use a chair for support. Anyone have thoughts on this? Am I truly wasting my time in pursuing this or should I go through all the steps and see what happens?

Thanks

Bryan

 

[Lokhtar]

Yea, you do have to be able to meet the technical standards. I would look through a school's website and see if you can fulfill those standards (most schools have pretty much the exact standards).

If you can, then I am sure the school will try to accommodate you the best they can.

 

[oreosandsake]

Hi Bryan

If you need assistance with this process, I would recommend you contact the people at:

http://www.westernu.edu/cdhp-about

good luck

 

[bryanjustinxvii]

I just looked at the school in which I want to attend and it says "The Feinberg School willingly works to accommodate students with disabilities" and "technical standards include unimpaired observation and communication skills, reasoning abilities, and motor skills necessary for the performance of laboratory tests and diagnostic procedures." According to that I should be able to do everything listed. It says nothing about standing for extended periods of time, which is my main concern.

I may just end up cold calling the schools and speaking to some rep regarding disabilities and accommodations. While I know they can't legally give me an exact answer. I do want to find out if it's even worth pursuing. I've read about doctors in wheelchairs who have made it through medical school. Yeah, it was a struggle, but they did it. Any more input about this subject would really help. Thanks!! 🙂

Bryan

 

[Apollyon]

Positive mental attitude is the way to roll, brother. I know of a doc at Duke in a wheelchair who does (or did, those several years ago when I was there) brachytherapy treatment for patients. It CAN be done!

 

[st0w]

It's certainly feasible. I know of a number of physicians who went through medical school in a wheelchair, some with assistive devices (standing chairs) and some without. And I know of a number of medical students currently in that same situation. Heck, I even know several surgeons who require adaptive equipment or a wheelchair to operate. Most schools will be willing to work with you, as long as the burden or accommodations you're requesting are not overwhelming. Which it doesn't sound like they are.

Just like Apollyon said, your attitude is the biggest part of it. If you show up there and make it clear to them that while you have to do things a little differently, you aren't going to be a constant pain in the arse that needs to be led around by the hand, they'll be willing to work with you. If you're clear and truly confident that you can do it, they will be also.

I don't know much about EDMD, but it seems to more preferentially affect lower limbs, which will work to your advantage compared to upper limbs. People have overcome it, but a lack of manual dexterity is a much bigger problem than not being able to stand.

 

[Downbytheicu]

Hey Bryan, it can be done. I have a form of dwarfism called Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia, and I'm in the middle of my third year. For me, the problems are an inability to stand for prolonged times (I can stand at an OR table for about 3 hours but I pay for it the next day), arthritic pains, and needing some stools around the hospital. I'm relatively tall for someone with dwarfism (about 4'9"), but still need some adaptive equipment, especially when working with a 6 foot surgeon. You can PM me if you have more questions and I can go into more specifics, but it can absolutely be done if you pursue it and are willing to go to whatever school will completely support you in the endeavor. Best of luck.

 

[KKat]

I think it is wonderful that you are pursuing Medicine! Of course you will have more hurdles to cross than most students, but I believe that if you are set on it you will succeed. From my understanding, much of what you will face will be the attitudes of other doctor's (with out disabilities) towards your disability.

I think it is important for you to talk to the disability office at you prospective medical schools to get a good understanding of the accommodations available to you even if you plan on not using them. For the purposes of the interview, I think it would be wise to demonstrate and understanding and than you have researched your options, just in case.

Granted there will always be people on the adcom who are biased, whether conscious or unconscious, against those with disabilities. There is a fine line between not getting accepted because of your disability or because you were not as qualified as other applicants.

There are also other doctors who are disabled out there. Perhaps there are some out there who would be willing to talk with you about their experiences and difficulties as a med student/doctor. Again, I think this would be wise for purposes of the interview.

I myself am hard of hearing. Not at all deaf, I can manage quite will in one on one conversations. I have a hearing aid in my right ear, that helps but it is not quite at the level of normal hearing and loud situations make it difficult understand. It is particularly difficult for me to hear people who are not facing me, mumbling, have strong accents, speak very softly, or in loud environments. So I am aware that there are some areas where I will have difficulty in, such as in surgery (masks obstruct my view of the mouth, therefore making it more difficult to understand what someone is saying) and the ER rotation.

I do not think that my hearing will affect my ability to be a physician and I have found that telling others that I have difficulty hearing makes them more understanding and they know to speak to me directly. If I don't tell people they automatically think that i am spacey, not listening, or pretentious.

I, like you, am not planning on requesting accommodations. I think that the accommodations for hearing impaired students are more of a pain that those with other disabilities. For instance, some may have assistants that follow them around or some may need to have translators in the OR for the student from what I have read. I also want to look into whether they make see through masks which would really help my comprehension in the OR.

Most doctors I have spoken to have been very supportive of me and have told me the one thing that I will have difficulty with is hearing the heart through a stethoscope. However, in my research I have found out that they make digitally amplified stethoscopes and visual stethoscopes.

I have my interviews coming up and my goal is to make it obvious that I can communicate effectively and am well spoken even with my disability.

Good luck in your pursuit of medical school!

 

[HotWheelsDr]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone in a wheelchair has had any success with getting into med school? I am about to transfer to FSU to get my BA in Psychology. It has always been my dream to be a dr- I have a mild form of CP and I use a wheelchair and have use of only one hand. I would love to be a psychiatrist I do not want to be some master surgeon. I have been reading all the horror stories about disabled people having trouble getting into med school. Should I just stick with psychology? any insight would be helpful.

 

[st0w]

I was wondering if anyone in a wheelchair has had any success with getting into med school?
...
I have been reading all the horror stories about disabled people having trouble getting into med school. Should I just stick with psychology? any insight would be helpful.

Yes, lots of people have. Don't let all the negativity you read on SDN get you down (that should really be a part of the logo). There's a good thread over at CareCure that you should read if you want an idea of how successful people have been.

Yes, it will be more difficult - but certainly not impossible. And medical school is hard for everybody. You know yourself and what you are and are not capable of. Be honest with yourself about your abilities, and if you want to go to medical school and be a psychiatrist, then absolutely go for it! 👍

One of the most important things is to find and apply to schools who are openly willing to work with you. There are schools out there who are actively interested in recruiting students who are differently abled. You'd be surprised.