Open question

Ghostswimmer

I know this could be potentially problematic to discuss, but is a serious query.

The premise for this question is Health & Safety. I would like to think it is universally accepted that physically choosing an incorrect medicine or prescribing such is dangerous and potentially fatal. In the laboratory, incorrect choice of a chemical can result in experiment going wrong or potential Health and Safety problem.

Apart from all the other human errors that are out there that can potentially make this happen, the question I have been trying to debate with myself recently is that “should people with dyslexia be allowed practice in professions such as Pharmacy, Science and Medicine?”

Like I said, I’m not intentionally trying to cause any discomfort or bad feelings here and I know it is not exactly “PC” to talk about it. I’m simply asking an open question based on a safety aspect. I would be interested in what the fellow members think.

Thanks.

Chuchoter

Wow, I have actually never thought of that before. A lot of the names of medicines look really similar, but come to think of it really no, they probably shouldn't without constant supervision that would be near impossible to provide. I think thats really one of the flaws with the spelling and grammar waiver in the JC and LC, if you can't do it you can't do it, the real world doesn't care whether you've got dyslexia.

Improbable

I'm not sure if it applies for dyslexics but there is a system of grants in place to help employers adapt the workplace for individuals with disabilities. But realistically, I think the non-discrimination against people with disabilities can only extend so far. I'm not trying to troll or be offensive but if a person cannot perform the duties of a particular job to a certain level of performance, the employer should be (and I think are) within their rights to not hire that person, regardless of the fact that the lack of performance is caused by a disability.

Vorsprung

The most I've worked in 1 week, actually it was probably 6 days, was 96 hours. I don't know what having dyslexia is like, but if an artifical version exists, I had it by the end of that week - similarly with other NCHDs around the country.

Alt_Grrr

Ghostswimmer wrote: »

“should people with dyslexia be allowed practice in professions such as Pharmacy, Science and Medicine?”

To be honest, Science and Medicine are full of people like you and me, but have specific learning disabilities. (Not sure about Pharmacy)

an awful lot of research scientists I know have dyslexia and are more then capable of following safety rules nor do chemical names get in the way.

I personally think that the person in question with dyslexia (Or any other disability) is more then capable of making there own mind up about going after a career in science when they reach adulthood.

by the time most people with dyslexia are in there 20's or so they know there capabilities and limits and know what they can work on.
and these are careers that require years of study to get into anyway.

I really don't see you having any valid cause for concern in this area.

There are thousands of people with dyslexia (Or other Learning Disabilities) in all sorts of jobs in Ireland today (Scientists, Accountants, Pilots, Dentists, Gardí, Teachers, Engineers, Bankers, the list goes on ) and I think that a blanket ban on these people from doing there jobs, which they got based on there own merits and skills, just because a few people don't understand there condition is completely and utterly wrong.

It would be like me saying women should be banned from being driving instructors, since we all know women can't drive!

MrCreosote

Bit of an unusual question.

Surely if you can get past the current tests with dyslexia- Leaving Cert, University exams, Postgrad exams- then there should be no bar on working in any medical or scientific job.

Chuchoter

MrCreosote wrote: »

Bit of an unusual question.

Surely if you can get past the current tests with dyslexia- Leaving Cert, University exams, Postgrad exams- then there should be no bar on working in any medical or scientific job.

Well I don't know about uni/postgrad exams, but the LC has a spelling and grammar waiver, which personally I think is used by a lot of people to get extra points. For example my friend with really mild dyslexia gets this waiver, so for her language her A would be anyone elses C, but when she goes to Germany she still won't be able to read German. She's said it herself that its a great points spinner.

RobFowl

Vorsprung wrote: »

The most I've worked in 1 week, actually it was probably 6 days, was 96 hours. I don't know what having dyslexia is like, but if an artificial version exists, I had it by the end of that week - similarly with other NCHDs around the country.

I managed 128 hours one week as an SHO in Obstetrics. At then end of this shift I couldn't read the mims/bnf and had trouble writing notes.

To this day I cannot recall how I drove home (no recollection at all from handing over the bleep til realising I was in the drive outside my house).

Dyslexia if recognised does not necessarily rule out practising medicine. That said severe cases would probably not managed to pass the volumes of undergraduate examinations nor postgrad ones.

Ghostswimmer

Regarding passing exams, as a poster stated, there are waivers, which mean that examiners do not take into account misspellings.

Also, many of the lecturers in several Universities/Colleges in Ireland (UCD, UCC and RCSI) are given guidlines that the exam is not a test of English, it is a test of knowledge in whatever subject it may be (e.g. pharmacology, physiology etc).

Thus, one can get through the coursework without having to correctly spell anything, as long as the waiver is granted. So that point of not being able to get through the coursework wouldn't hold much water. It will only be in the clinic/real world where this "issue" may arise as a problem.

As we all know, what happens in college is not the way the real world works.

Vorsprung

Was talking to the OH who's a pharmacist yesterday about this.

She reckons those with dyslexia in her class (and there were about 3 or 4) were a lot more careful about their work, and thus were as safe, if not safer than the rest of them.

Makes a bit of sense, but I guess it's more applicable to those with a milder form of the condition.

Agree with RobFowl about the severity of the condition providing a bit of a speed bump DURING the college course.