Leveraging the Perspectives of Deaf Trainees to Better Care for Vulnerable Communities

To the Editor:

While legislation and modern advances have made it possible for more d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing (HoH) individuals to enter medicine, the number of d/Deaf/HoH medical trainees remains low and barriers to entry into medicine are significant. ¹ Those of us who are d/Deaf/HoH frequently encounter inequity during training, including being refused federally mandated accommodations such as sign language interpreters and captioning. These challenges have intensified with the rapid adaptations made to curricula and the learning environment during COVID-19. Many of us have encountered difficulties and massive delays in transferring our accommodations to online learning, remote work, and rearranged schedules, resulting in frustrations and the inability to access our training while our nondisabled peers continued on without us.

We are also experiencing additional barriers in the clinical learning environment. For example, one of us (Z.F.) was recently assigned to a COVID-19 testing tent. When the staff realized I was Deaf, I was asked to leave so someone “more fit for the role” could take over my duties. After firm negotiation and education regarding my capabilities, I continued my work without difficulty or error. Later that day, 2 Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users came for testing. Communication between them and the testing staff was difficult and frustrating. However, when I was notified, I went to them and was able to efficiently facilitate the process in ASL.

Our experiences represent just a few of the ways that disabled communities are often overlooked during times of crisis. Like the Deaf patients at the testing tent, our wider d/Deaf/HoH communities are struggling due to inaccessible health communication and information. ² The lack of COVID-19 materials in ASL is particularly apparent. In response, we (Z.F. and I.D.-L.) created Deaf In Scrubs (www.facebook.com/deafinscrubs), a novel educational platform to improve access to medical knowledge for d/Deaf/HoH communities. To date, it remains one of the few COVID-19 resources in ASL.

Despite the challenges of being d/Deaf/HoH trainees during COVID-19, we are creating connections and innovations, using our unique perspectives and strengths to fill gaps in care and education for our communities. As COVID-19 continues to highlight disparities, we ask you to consider the benefits of diverse disability perspectives. How might listening to, investing in, and granting opportunities to your disabled colleagues better inform responses to meet the needs of vulnerable communities?