Reprinted with permission of The News & Observer. Copyright 1995, Raleigh NC (919)829-8918 / (919)829-8916 (fax)

    MEDICAL SCHOOL TEACHES WITH SIGN LANGUAGE ECU's historic deaf student

    By Jerry Allegood



    GREENVILLE -- Fourth-year medical student Scott Richard Smith has never heard the rhythmic thump of a heartbeat or the cry of a baby.

    Deaf since birth, Smith studies medicine in a world of silence.

    But he sees and feels what others hear, he says, and sometimes senses what others miss.

    "When the doctor is talking to patients, sometimes they forget the difference in the language level," says Smith, who communicates through a sign language interpreter. "I think being deaf reminds me to break the language barrier.

    "To me, that is actually an advantage."

    Smith, 25, is scheduled to graduate in the spring from the East Carolina University medical school, where he is the first deaf student. ECU officials say they have not found any students, who, like Smith, were deaf at birth at other medical schools. In fact, some schools have policies that would effectively rule out adeaf person, says Ann Jobe, senior associate dean of the ECU medical school. Providing an education to a qualified deaf person was part of the school's mission todiversify, she says.

    Smith's undergraduate record was impressive enough to open most medical school doors.

    He was a triple major at ECU and graduated with a 4.0 grade point average with degrees in chemistry, biochemistry and biology. He applied to more than a dozen medical schools and was a top candidate at one school. Then he asked for an interpreter and went for an interview. He went from top to bottom, he says.

    "I didn't like it but that's what deaf people are used to, unfortunately," Smith says.

    Jobe says that Smith was accepted at the Greenville school after intensive discussions with faculty about potential problems, especially in doctor-to-patient settings. As an extra admissions review, Smith spent time in a pediatric clinic to gauge how someone, who could not hear, could work with patients.

    "We felt very clearly he had other acute senses, other than hearing, and he could use them just as well," Jobe says. "Scott's senses, other than hearing, are at a peak of development."

    The biggest obstacle, she says, was overcoming doubts from hearing people. Ultimately, the school decided to give Smith a chance.

    "The key was he proved right away he could do it," she says.

    Being a deaf medical student has required some adjustments. Smith listens to heartbeats, for example, with a stethoscope that illustrates sound with wave patterns on a hand-held monitor.

    "Instead of using my ears, my hearing, I use my eyes," Smith says.

    He has not yet found an instrument to translate the more subtle sounds of breathing. He says that in a clinical setting, a physician's assistant could take over that function, much as they assist hearing doctors during exams.

    And then there are the tag team sign languageinterpreters.

    The university provides two sign language interpreters, who accompany Smith throughout the day, and often into the night. At times, one interpreter translates Smith's sign language into spoken English for the person he's speaking with. The other translates that person's spoken English into sign language for Smith.

    When Smith is on call, one interpreter is on call. When he goes to the operating room, they go to the operating room. When he sees patients in the clinic, they arethere.

    Because of the volume and complexity of medical school material, interpreters Lisa Greene and Peter Crume take turns signing. During a detailed lecture, they might swap after 20 minutes.

    "Sometimes, you have a lecture that is so complicated it's like 'Worry about what it means later. Just get it out,'" says Greene, who has worked with Smith since he began medical school.

    Smith and his interpreters have developed their ownsigns for some words to avoid extensive signing.

    "You have to have teamwork for this to work," he says.

    The interpreters have learned to be calm during an emergency, like the time a patient stopped breathing while Crume was signing. If lots of people are around, Crume says, he focuses on the person who Smithneeds most.

    Both interpreters say they will probably use their expertise with other deaf people when Smith graduates. "The running joke is 'When are you going to get your M.D. degree," says Crume, who has signed for his deaf parentsmost of his life.

    By 10 a.m.one weekday, the obstetrics clinic vibrates with the chatter of pregnant mothers, doctors, nurses and lab technicians.

    Smith steps into an examining room and introduces himself. He explains that Crume is his interpreter and the patient, who is there for a check-up, nods. She watches Crume as he signs Smith's questions about how she is doing. Then Smith dispenses advice.

    Crume and Smith say they have never had a problem with a patient communicating through an interpreter.

    "If you go in a room confident, acting like you know what you are doing, it doesn't matter what language you are using. The patient understands," Smith says.

    The attending physician, Julius Mallette, says he usually tells clinic patients that medical students will accompany him. With Smith, he simply adds that Smith is deaf and will have an interpreter.

    Smith has demonstrated that he can handle the demands of medical training and clinical work, Mallette says.

    "What I like about him is that he is an aggressive learner," Mallette says. "He really wants to learn the information needed to give good patient care."

    When he is not studying, Smith enjoys playing a variety of sports and watching sports on TV. He participates in a theater group and has directed a presentation of "Beauty and the Beast." He doesn't care much for prime-time television, even the medical shows.

    Smith says he initially wanted to be a scientist, but realized during college that he didn't want to be "a lab rat" and decided instead to become a doctor.

    Smith's parents, Richard and Elizabeth Smith of Clemmons, learned sign language and began communicating with him as an infant on the advice of a deaf couple at their church. Smith signed his first word at 14 months old and continued to learn language rather than rely on lip reading.

    Smith credits his parents' support for much of his success. His mother, he says, always told him that he could do whatever he aspired to, because he was just like everyone else -- he just couldn't hear. His mother, who taught him to read, even fought school officials for the right to have him in public schools.

    Smith says he plans to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology and establish a medical practice that serves hearing and deaf people. And he wants to be a role model for other deaf people.

    "That's what deaf children really need," he says. "They need a good deaf adult role model."

    Scott Richard Smith:

    Born: Feb. 3, 1970, in Winston-Salem.

    Family: Parents, Richard and Elizabeth Smith of Clemmons; brother, Jason Smith, age 15.

    Education: West Forsyth High School; B.S. in biochemistry, biology and chemistry, East Carolina University, 1992.

    Honors: Summa cum laude graduate of ECU; Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, 1990-92; outstanding senior award from ECU biology department, 1992; Waters biology senior research award, 1992; university scholars award recipient, 1988.

    Extracurricular: co-founder of ECU Sigma Lambda fraternity, 1993; director, ECU Fantasy Drama Troupe, 1993-94; member, president ECU sign language club, 1992-93; ECU silent attack intramural sports program, 1992-96.

    Hobbies: Travel,reading, foreign films, complex board and card games, baseball cards, bowling, golf, tennis, baseball, softball, politics and writing. Also likes working with children and HIV-positive patients and advocating for deaf rights.

    Favorite Book: "The Celestine Prophecy" by James Redfield.

    Favorite professional sports teams: Los Angeles Dodgers, Dallas Cowboys and Charlotte Hornets.

    Favorite ACC school: Wake Forest University.

    Favorite Athletes: Mike Piazza of Los Angeles Dodgers and Troy Aikman of the Dallas Cowboys.

    Favorite Movie: "A Clockwork Orange" by Stanley Kubrick. "I like foreign films because they have subtitles. I also like the topics that foreign films cover. They have a wider variety than American films are willing to cover."

    Cutline(s): Scott Richard Smith, a rising senior medical student at ECU, signs during his Tar Heel of the Week interview at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville.