Exploring accommodations along the education to employment pathway for deaf and hard of hearing healthcare professionals

Co-authored by prominant providers in the field of medicine, this article explores the challenges that Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) healthcare professionals face with accommodations in healthcare education.


Best Practices in Access: Interpreter Consistency

In this article, the NDC explores how interpreter consistency directly affects access and communication.


Beyond Facilitating Communication: The Value of Designated Interpreters

Dr. Michael Argenyi (a Preventive Medicine resident at The University of Massachusetts Medical School) reflects on the value of designated interpreters in his own professional experiences.


How I Bridge 2 Worlds as a Deaf Medical Student

Victoria MacPherson (Osteopathic Medicine) outlines her unique insights on patient care.


Designated Interpreters: An Examination of Roles, Relationships, and Responsibilities

Annette Miner explores the importance of designated interpreters in regards to the “Deaf professional’s relationship with others in the workplace.” Author Annette Miner obtained her Ph.D. in Interpretation, focusing on pedagogy and research from Gallaudet University.


Designated Interpreters:
A Model to Promote the Diversity and Inclusion of Deaf Professionals in Academic Medicine

Authored by Dr. Wyatte Hall, Dr. John Cullen, and interpreter Marlene Elliot, this article in the Journal of Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC, January 8, 2019) highlights the hidden costs incurred by deaf professionals and institutions when models outside of the designated interpreter model are used.


Deaf and Hard of Hearing Learners in Emergency Medicine

Co-authored by Alicia Booth, this publication in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine (2018) explores the challenges that can ultimately lead to successful inclusion of DHoH students in emergency medicine.


Designated Interpreters are Different

Alicia Booth outlines the unique relationship between Deaf Professionals and Designated Interpreters, particularly in medical environments. Role adaptation and flexibility are key to this new and evolving specialty area of sign language interpreting…


Leading Practices and Future Directions for Technical Standards in Medical Education

Although physicians with disabilities bring unique perspectives to medicine and contribute to a diverse physician workforce of culturally-competent practitioners, they remain underrepresented in the profession. This publication in the Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges (November, 2018) concludes that ‘schools should consider the principles of universal design to create policies and assessments that work for all learners, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for after-the-fact accommodations.’


The Unexamined Diversity: Disability Policies and Practices in US Graduate Medical Education Programs

Dr. Meeks, Dr. Moreland, Dr. Zazove, Dr. McKee and others take a close look at GME (Graduate Medical Education) program policies on disability considerations.


Technical Standards and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Medical School Applicants and Students: Interrogating Sensory Capacity and Practice Capacity

Applicants to medical schools who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHoH) or who have other disabilities face significant barriers to medical school admission. One commonly cited barrier to admission is medical schools’ technical standards (TS) for admission, advancement, and graduation…


Health Professionals with Disabilities: Motivating Inclusiveness and Representation

Medical schools seeking to increase representation of minorities in the profession have sought to improve matriculation and graduation rates of racial and ethnic minorities [1]. But one minority group whose needs remain neglected in the medical field is persons with disabilities…


Medical Schools’ Willingness to Accommodate Medical Students with Sensory and Physical Disabilities: Ethical Foundations of a Functional Challenge to “Organic” Technical Standards

Students with sensory and physical disabilities are underrepresented in medical schools despite the availability of assistive technologies and accommodations. Unfortunately, many medical schools have adopted restrictive “organic” technical standards based on deficits rather than on the ability to do the work…


Understanding the Work of Designated Healthcare Interpreters

Interpreters who work regularly with a deaf health professional are often referred to, in the U.S., as designated healthcare interpreters (DHIs). To date, there have not been any systematic studies that specifically investigate the work of DHIs, yet the number of deaf people pursuing careers in the health professions continues to grow (Zazove et al., 2016), and the number of qualified DHIs to work with these professionals is insufficient (Gallaudet University, 2011)…


Deaf doctor makes patients feel heard

The personal story of Dr. Philip Zazove, an author, physician, and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan. He is one of the first deaf physicians in the United States and is dedicated to improving health care for the deaf and hard of hearing community…


Accommodating Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Operating Room Environments: A Case Study

Increasing numbers of deaf students in the health professions require accommodations in the clinical setting to ensure effective learning and accurate communication. Although classroom learning barriers have long been identified and addressed, barriers to clinical education have been far less analyzed…


Commentary: What Are the Benefits of Training Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Doctors?

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHoH) individuals are underrepresented among physicians and physicians-in-training, yet this group is frequently overlooked in the diversity efforts of many medical training programs. The inclusion of DHoH individuals, with their diverse backgrounds, experiences, and struggles contributes to medical education and health care systems in a variety of ways, including…


Helping Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students Succeed in STEM

Tilak Ratnanather and his postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins in the departments of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and Biomedical Engineering


Exploring Deaf Physicians’ and Physician Trainees’ Experiences with Designated Interpreters

Todd S.K. Agan delves into the emerging concept of “designated interpreters” in the field of signed language interpretation. This 2018 study is available for download.


Deaf and Hard of Hearing Physicians: Accommodations, Education, and Practice, by Dr. Moreland and Dr. Zazove

Drs. Moreland and Zazove present a survey and data relating to Deaf and HoH physicians.


Wayne State University School of Medicine News

Medical student Lincoln Erickson’s knowledge of sign language provides comfort amid chaos in emergency.


Negotiating the Capability Imperative: Enacting Disability Inclusion in Medical Education

Dr. Neera Jain explores disability inclusion in medical education in this doctoral thesis.