Deaf Family Physician, Justus Peters, Shares How He Overcame His Disability in Memoir

Can a deaf person become a doctor? They could if they have the will to overcome their disability. Dr. Justus Peters is just one of them.
 
Dr. Peters opens up about his painful struggles with hearing impairment from childhood all the way to medical school and the life beyond in his memoir titled “A Walk in My Moccasins: Memoirs of a Deaf Physician” (CreateSpace, 2012).
 
The title of the book does not only refer to his unique status as a deaf doctor but also pays homage to his Native American heritage through his mother, who is part Creek Indian. His mother inspired him to keep going when things got difficult. Her unwavering support kept him on the right path.
 
In “A Walk in My Moccasins,” Dr. Peters shares a few entries from the baby book his mother kept of him, especially the entries that detailed the gradual development of his deafness at age 4. His parents later found out that he had an inoperable inner ear damage, with a 50 percent loss in both ears that worsened later.
 
Readers cannot help but feel sorry for the author, who like almost all deaf children, would feel embarrassed wearing large hearing aids. He had his share of problems at school, where his schoolmates would call him names. He arrived at the point when he resented his schoolmates, his mother, and even God.
 
Inhering his love of writing from his mother, Dr. Peters decided to write a memoir about his experiences, a project which was 10 years in the making.
 
“I share my journey through childhood, school, nurse aid in a nursing home, to becoming an ICU/ER RN and finally getting into medical school as a deaf person. Being severely hearing impaired has enabled me to become an intent listener and to be compassionate for my fellow patients, who I cherish as my own family. I hope to leave a legacy of compassionate care to all who see me,” said the author.
 
Dr. Justus Peters’ “A Walk in My Moccasins: Memoirs of a Deaf Physician” will soon be displayed in the inaugural New York Rights Fair, which will take place on May 30 to June 1, 2018, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan, New York City.
 
Copies of the book are available at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Walk-My-Moccasins-Memoirs-Physician/dp/1470007053
 
Readers are encouraged to read the author’s blog www.askjustusmd.blogspot.com
 
A Walk in My Moccasins: Memoirs of a Deaf Physician
Written by Justus Peters MD
Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published date: April 13, 2012
Paperback price: $12.99
 
About the Author
 
Dr. Justus Peters is a family physician who cares for patients in the range of pediatrics to geriatrics. An avid reader and writer for most of his life, he finally completed “A Walk in My Moccasins: Memoirs of a Deaf Physician” to highlight the difficulties of becoming a doctor due to his deafness. He lives in Texas with his wife, and the two have many children: two human children, three cats, two dogs and a fish. Peters earned a medical degree from Creighton University School of Medicine in 2005. He went on to intern at Texas Tech Health Sciences and trained in family medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital. When he’s not working in his clinic or moonlighting in the ER, he writes a weekly column for the community paper.
 

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