[bookshare-discuss] Fwd: Fw: A New Doctor who is blind
- From: Cindy <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 14:41:21 -0700 (PDT)
Another article sent by my wants-to-remain-anonymous
friend. This is amazing. We saw a segment a while back
on one of the news magazine programs about a little
person who also became a physician -- I think a
surgeon -- despite the perceived handicap of his size.
Cindy
>
> This article runs in the Sunday Lexington KENTUCKY
> newspaper:
>
> New doctor doesn't let blindness stop him
>
> HE RELIES ON GADGETS AND DETERMINATION
> By Sharon Cohen
> ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
> MADISON, Wis. - The young medical student was
> nervous as he slid the
> soft, thin tube down into the patient's
> windpipe. It was a delicate
> maneuver -- and he knew he had to get it right.
>
> Tim Cordes leaned over the patient as his
> professor and a team of
> others closely monitored his every step.
> Carefully, he positioned the
> tube, waiting for the signal that oxygen was
> flowing.
>
> The anesthesia machine was set to emit musical
> tones to confirm that
> the tube was in the trachea and carbon dioxide
> was present. Soon,
> Cordes heard the sounds. He double-checked with
> a stethoscope. All was
> OK. He had completed the intubation.
>
> Several times over two weeks, Cordes performed
> this difficult task at
> the University of Wisconsin Hospital and
> Clinics. His professor, Dr.
> George Arndt, marveled at his student's skills.
>
> "He was 100 percent," the doctor says. "He did
> it better than the
> people who could see."
>
> Tim Cordes is blind.
>
> He has mastered much in his 28 years: Jujitsu.
> Biochemistry.
> Water-skiing. Music composition. Any one of
> these accomplishments
> would be impressive. Together, they're dazzling.
> And now, there's more
> luster for his gold-plated r?sum? with
> a new title: Doctor.
>
> In a world where skeptics always seem to be
> saying, 'Stop, this isn't
> something a blind person should be doing,' it
> was one more barrier
> overcome. There is only a handful of blind
> doctors in this country.
>
> Cordes finished medical school at the University
> of Wisconsin-Madison
> in the top sixth of his class (he received just
> one B), earning
> honors, accolades and admirers along the way.
>
> Without sight, Cordes had to learn how to
> identify clusters of
> spaghetti-thin nerves and vessels in cadavers,
> study X-rays, read EKGs
> and patient charts, examine slides showing
> slices of the brain,
> diagnose rashes -- and more.
>
> He used a variety of special tools, including
> raised-line drawings, a
> computer that reads into his earpiece whatever
> he types, a visual
> describer, a portable printer that allowed him
> to write notes for
> patient charts, and a device called an Optacon
> that has a small camera
> with vibrating pins that help his fingers feel
> images.
>
> "It was kind of whatever worked," Cordes says.
> "Sometimes you can
> psych yourself out and anticipate problems that
> don't materialize. ...
> You can sit there and plan for every
> contingency, or you just go out
> and do things. ... That was the best way."
>
> That's been his philosophy much of his life.
> Cordes was just 5 months
> old when he was diagnosed with Leber's disease.
> He wore glasses by age
> 2 and gradually lost his sight. At age 16, when
> his peers were getting
> their car keys, he took his first steps with a
> guide dog.
>
> Through the years, plenty of people have
> underestimated Cordes.
>
> That was especially true when he applied for
> medical school and was
> rejected by several universities, despite
> glowing references, two
> years of antibiotics research and a 3.99
> undergraduate average as a
> biochemistry major.
>
> Even when Wisconsin-Madison accepted him, Cordes
> says, he knew there
> was "some healthy skepticism." But, he adds,
> "the people I worked with
> were top-notch and really gave me a chance."
>
> Cordes says some of his most valuable lessons
> came from doctors who
> believed in showing rather than telling.
>
> "You can describe what it feels like to put your
> hand on the aorta and
> feel someone's blood flowing through it," he
> says, his face lighting
> up, "but until you feel it, you really don't get
> a sense of what
> that's like."
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
> Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
> Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.8.7 - Release
> Date: 2/10/2005
>
>
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