Are there jobs that you wouldn’t want to try if you are hearing impaired? It might seem like hearing loss is the kind of thing that would hold one back, but it affects more than 20 percent of the people in the U.S. Many of them have jobs that might appear difficult to do without almost perfect hearing. You’d be surprised, individuals with hearing loss are lawyers, actors, musicians, lawmakers, judges and, yes, even doctors.
The fact is determined people who are hearing challenged find few limitations in their lives, especially given today’s advancements in hearing technology. Physicians that face this problem just look for workarounds that help them accomplish their goals. It is, after all, one small obstacle in a road full of challenges. How do physicians who have hearing loss manage their jobs?
They Understand Their Condition
Who knows better than a medical practitioner that hearing loss and intellectual ability having nothing to do with one another. Being hearing impaired is simply a mechanical failure of one or more portions of the auditory system. It has nothing to do with cognitive function or problem-solving skills.
A person with hearing loss must start by accepting that they can’t let themselves be held back by this one sense or lack of it. Doctors look for solutions to overcome the potentials hurdles related to their ear health.
They Get a Professional Diagnosis
A physician with a gradual hearing loss would automatically know to do what everyone else should — see an ear specialist and get a proper diagnosis. The hearing reduction can occur for different reasons, some of which will be reversible. Maybe the problem is excess ear wax, for example.
Chances are a medical doctor will also understand the importance of getting regular hearing tests to gauge their decline. This allows you to be proactive about your hearing health.
They Get Hearing Assistance
There is no rule that says you must learn to live with hearing loss. Doctors understand the importance of hearing assistance tools like good quality digital hearing aids. After the hearing test, a physician would know to work with a certified retailer to find a brand and model hearing aid that best suits his or her needs.
It’s possible a physician might do well with hearing aids that are Bluetooth compatible, for instance, and have directional microphones. Bluetooth allows the physician to connect the hearing aids to a smartphone or computer and directional microphones enhance conversation in noisy environments. Noise reduction probably comes in handy, as well, to filter out background noise.
They Get a Strong Support System
For a medical provider that might include joining professional organizations to network with colleagues facing the same challenges. The Association of Medical Professionals With Hearing Losses is a good fit for our industrious doctor. They not only connect you with other professionals online and via conferences, but they offer some must-have resources, too including ones that help the hearing challenged physician to find the right stethoscope.
They Use Their Disability to Grow
There is little doubt that hearing loss, whether it is new or something you have lived with your whole life, opens up new challenges, but, just maybe, it opens the door to opportunities, as well. Take Dr. Philip Zazove, for example. Dr. Zazove has been deaf most of his life and faced those challenges first hand. He states in an article for CNN Health that he applied to 12 different medical schools and struggled to even get interviews despite doing well on the MCATs. After attending graduate school, he finally was given a chance to go to medical school.
Today, he uses his hearing loss to better relate to his patients. In his family practice, he works with many who are hard of hearing or profoundly deaf. His life experiences have given him a unique opportunity to help others find their path.
What do doctors with hearing loss do? The same thing anyone does, they push forward against the things that work to hold them back and that starts with a proper diagnosis and hearing test, though.