Disabled student pursuing medical degree.

[raj6689]

Hi, I am a disabled student on crutches. I have a very good academic career and want to pursue a medical degree. But I donot know the difficulties that can be faced by me due to my disability. can anyone give an insight into it? Is my decesion wrong?

[JustK]

Hi! and welcome! Even though i am a highschooler myself, I believe that everyone can do whatever they want if they put their mind to it. You know your strengths and weaknesses and you know how much you can handle. As I've read on here, medical can be very stressful, but if this is your dream, make your dream come true. I dont know that much about disabilites, but usually the people that have them are the ones with the biggest hearts. I give you points for wanting to go into the medical field, I desperately want too also.

This is just my 2cents on the matter.

[erdavis]

Originally Posted by raj6689

Hi, I am a disabled student on crutches. I have a very good academic career and want to pursue a medical degree. But I donot know the difficulties that can be faced by me due to my disability. can anyone give an insight into it? Is my decesion wrong?

You have to meet the Techinical Standard for medical school. The address below is for my school UASOM but Im sure other school have similar Technical Standards.

http://main.uab.edu/uasom/2/show.asp?durki=21321

UASOM also have Accommodation Application Process for disable students in order to help them meet the technical standard so they can matriculate. Im sure other medschools have something similar.

http://main.uab.edu/uasom/2/show.asp?durki=21323

[sumstorm]

I wish JustK was right, but I have personal experience with 2 individuals who are limited in what they can do by thier bodily limitations. My late husband could not serve in the military due to juvenile diabetes, and then could no longer work in his chosen career (medical technologist) due to pathological exposure after he recieved kidney/pancreas transplants. My second husband was unable to pursue his dreams of being an astronaut due to vision issues; he was near-sighted. In this country, we want to believe merit and hard work are all that matters...and I wish I still believed that!

Having said all that, most medical schools require you to be able to perform certain skills to certain standards. Towards that end many have created technical standards. Often these standards will include an option of 'with reasonable accomodations' but I do not know what is reasonable. I do think you could contact the vet schools you are interested in anonymously and ask about this. I believe you will get answers and explanations.

You might also see if you can find a doctor who has a similar disability, and find out what they know. If someone has already achieved it, it can make your path a bit easier (gives you a reference point, may provide suggestions on accomodations that you might not have thought of, etc.)

[JustK]

Originally Posted by sumstorm

I wish JustK was right, but I have personal experience with 2 individuals who are limited in what they can do by thier bodily limitations. My late husband could not serve in the military due to juvenile diabetes, and then could no longer work in his chosen career (medical technologist) due to pathological exposure after he recieved kidney/pancreas transplants. My second husband was unable to pursue his dreams of being an astronaut due to vision issues; he was near-sighted. In this country, we want to believe merit and hard work are all that matters...and I wish I still believed that!

Having said all that, most medical schools require you to be able to perform certain skills to certain standards. Towards that end many have created technical standards. Often these standards will include an option of 'with reasonable accomodations' but I do not know what is reasonable. I do think you could contact the vet schools you are interested in anonymously and ask about this. I believe you will get answers and explanations.

You might also see if you can find a doctor who has a similar disability, and find out what they know. If someone has already achieved it, it can make your path a bit easier (gives you a reference point, may provide suggestions on accomodations that you might not have thought of, etc.)

I guess I was wrong, but as sumstorm said this is what we want to believe. I'm sorry to hear about your husbands.

raj6689, hope all goes well.

[FutureCTDoc]

Many fields of medicine including internal medicine and psychiatry can be done by persons with limited mobility. Most schools are more than willing to make the necessary accommodations required. You may not be a surgeon but there are plenty of opportunities to practice medicine.

[Law2Doc]

Originally Posted by sumstorm

...Having said all that, most medical schools require you to be able to perform certain skills to certain standards. Towards that end many have created technical standards. Often these standards will include an option of 'with reasonable accomodations' but I do not know what is reasonable. ....

Agreed. Med schools will often give you a list of technical standards you need to be able to do, and you will be required to be able to do these with no more than reasonable accomodation (with reasonable being determined by the med school). Accomodations may be significant or nearly non-existent, depending on what the program deems reasonable. Meaning you might be able to complete med school on crutches by taking elevators, but you'll still be expected to perform certain procedures that require a certain amount of manual dexterity, and will have to have a condition that allows you to work the long hours (up to 30 in a row) of med school. There are med schools that have accepted wheelchair bound students, and at least one blind person has completed medical school. It should be noted that even if a medical school makes accomodations to allow a disabled person to complete their education, they again may face difficult hurdles at the residency level, where accomodations may often be less significant because any accomdations given to one resident cannot lead to a detriment to the others. Meaning you can't expect other residents to be obligated to cover for you on things you cannot do -- instead the program won't take you. So, for instance, the wheelchair bound med student I knew was "allowed" to apply to a very limited range of residency paths. And I seem to recall that the blind med student never matched into a residency. So everything turns on the extent of your disability, and whether you can perform what med schools and residencies believe you need to be able to perform. That's the cold hard truth. The yay-sayers who tell you "you can do anything you put your mind to" sometimes are setting you up for a fall. Go down this path with your eyes open and know your limitations. Good luck.

[loveoforganic]

How in the world could a blind person make it through medical school?

[Law2Doc]

Originally Posted by loveoforganic

How in the world could a blind person make it through medical school?

Lots of accomodations well beyond what most schools (and all residencies) would deem reasonable. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7318398

[loveoforganic]

Thanks for the link. Pretty awesome story, accomodations or not. Could definitely have a future in psych/research/etc. Can't believe he was intubating :O

[raj6689]

Thx guys for your insights. But I am still in a phase of recovering and hope to get independent without crutches within two years or so,and if not independent i should be able to get around nicely with a stick. But I fear what would be the attitude of patients towards me if I have a stick for support. They might not want to put their lives in hands of a doc who himself has a disability.

[JustK]

Originally Posted by raj6689

Thx guys for your insights. But I am still in a phase of recovering and hope to get independent without crutches within two years or so,and if not independent i should be able to get around nicely with a stick. But I fear what would be the attitude of patients towards me if I have a stick for support. They might not want to put their lives in hands of a doc who himself has a disability.

Hopefully they will see you as an inspiration, for becoming a doctor even if it requires you to deal with your disability just like they have to fight to deal with theres (illness or likewise).

[raj6689]

Originally Posted by JustK

Hopefully they will see you as an inspiration, for becoming a doctor even if it requires you to deal with your disability just like they have to fight to deal with theres (illness or likewise).

thanks. Hope people accepts me for what i am at heart. I really feel that i can give my full care to patients as i myself have gone through this phase of life.

[AryaStark]

It would be nice if people could see past things we cannot help, but unfortunately that is not the way the world works. People have their biases, and a lot of people are unfortunately set in their ways. I'm sure the majority of your patients wouldn't see your disability as an issue and if they did, would never say anything. However, if you are the doctor, the patients will have to respect you or they just won't be treated. No skin off your back.

Also, I am sorry about your husband. However, I know that being an astronaut is VERY difficult to do, so they can be as selective as they want. As someone who is near sighted, although it might not be fair, I can understand why they would require people with perfect vision. The equipment is so expensive, and it's probably just safer and more economical to have someone in "perfect" condition.:: pushes glasses up:::

Also, although TV is not like real life at all, there was a doctor on ER who used crutches for the run of the series. That was actually the first vision that came to mind when I read your post.

[sumstorm]

Originally Posted by raj6689

Thx guys for your insights. But I am still in a phase of recovering and hope to get independent without crutches within two years or so,and if not independent i should be able to get around nicely with a stick. But I fear what would be the attitude of patients towards me if I have a stick for support. They might not want to put their lives in hands of a doc who himself has a disability.

Actually, I have had several docs who had been in the military and had disabilities as a result (one without an arm, and another who had lost an eye.) In both cases, I didn't care becaues they were excellent doctors who treated me with respect and stayed very current in their fields. In both cases, the docs were well known and had as many patients as they desired.

[sumstorm]

Originally Posted by AryaStark

Also, I am sorry about your husband. However, I know that being an astronaut is VERY difficult to do, so they can be as selective as they want. As someone who is near sighted, although it might not be fair, I can understand why they would require people with perfect vision. The equipment is so expensive, and it's probably just safer and more economical to have someone in "perfect" condition.:: pushes glasses up:::

He actually became an aeronautical engineer. Pretty successful in his current field of data security. I just dislike the ideal that the USA is a meritocracy; I think it leads people to believe that failing at obtaining specific careers is due to laziness or stupidity, when in reality, we all can't necessarily be what exactly we want to be. I completly understand hte vision limitations, as does my husband. However, I have also heard him (and others in similar circumstances) refer to themselves as 'failures' for not achieving thier dreams....even though their dreams were never viable for them. Then there is Gatticca....

[TheProwler]

Originally Posted by Law2Doc

Lots of accomodations well beyond what most schools (and all residencies) would deem reasonable. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7318398

Well, he is a psych resident now, so there's at least one residency that can accept that.



Anyways, as for the threadstarter's question, crutches shouldn't be an insurmountable issue. There's a surgery resident here that has to use one crutch at all times for walking (I think she can stand without it though).

[Starphoenix]

I appreciate this thread. I'm an "old lady" of 41, but I have things in common with you, OP. I am disabled with systemic autoimmune disease (my body attacks itself), and I wish to return to school for premed. I have mobility issues, among others.

I'm sure people have made it through with disabilities of various kinds. I wish there were a book about this; I've searched high and low, but no one has interviewed such people. Hmmm....

[ucsfstudents]

It is not impossible. Fields such as psychiatry, radiology, pathology are OK for those who are physically disabled. I have a friend who is wheelchair bound in the pharmacy program at UCSF. I've worked alongside an Emergency Medicine physician who is wheelchair bound -- (was hit by a car while riding his bike, he was already a physician by that time). Just be honest about your limitations, and determine which medical careers would be accepting. Afterall, I'm sure you have a lot to offer, including your deep understanding of what it means to be a patient and to have limitations. Talk to people in the medical field, and ask to speak to people with disabilities who also practice medicine. Good luck!

[vasca]

There's a doctor at my hospital that is disabled and needs to walk with a stick who works at the blood bank. Really nice fellow and he's heavily liked by the staff. He mostly stays in the blood bank area though you'll sometimes see him talking to patients that they need to have relative donate blood and makes sure that blood isn't wasted. Luckily my hospital is just 1 floor and simply spread out so he doesn't have to worry about climbing stairs that much.

To the OP: While med school won't mock you for your disability, they won't baby you either. I was never babied when I went to med school in my non dominant language and I don't hear well. A lot of people simply talk more loudly when I can't hear them, but other people can be jerks. I had a classmate when I was a student that broke his leg and he had to operate with the cast on with no crutches. Get ready to climb stairs nonstop, because chances are your classroom is in the highest corner of the building.

[erdavis]

I dont think climbing stairs will be an issue. All public buildings have to be wheelchair accessible. So if there is more than one floor, there has to be an elevator in the building somewhere