Ever since he was a young child, Dr. Thomas McDavitt held on to the dream of becoming a veterinarian. Despite some opposition from well-meaning professionals during high school and college, Thomas forged ahead, taking the classes he needed and volunteering himself in various clinics and zoos to increase his knowledge and skills. Several professionals expressed concern that being deaf might hinder him from performing the tasks needed to work with animals. “How will you hear the heartbeat and lungs?” they asked.
Profoundly deaf, Dr. McDavitt uses his hands to tell him what his ears cannot. He feels for lung congestion and heartbeats combined with information from an assistant and refers any animal to a specialist if there are any concerns.
Dr. McDavitt runs his own practice in Hickory Hills, Illinois. Read more about this veterinarian here:
Deaf Veterinarian Has a Heart for Animals.
Watch a video of an ABC News segment:
Comments
2 responses to “Dr. Thomas McDavitt, Veterinarian”
Hi, My name is Susanne Miller and I come from Nova Scotia, Canada. I ask you question about veterinary assistant. Hope hear from you soon. Thank you
Susanne
Hi Dr. McDavitt,
I am in an ASL class, I have an assignment to do research on how deaf people can use American Sign Language in their jobs. I have always wanted to be a large animal vet and chose to do the assignment on deaf vets. You interested me most. So, if you could help me… Do you use American Sign Language in your job? How often do you get deaf customers? I read that you have been deaf since 5, could you tell me how that affected your life in becoming a vet? Please get back to me at your soonest convenience.
Thanks,
Ashlynn