For the last 10 years, we have been training second year medical students from Queen's University Belfast on how to communicate with deaf patients.
The Specialist Module on Deafness (external link, opens new browser window) is the only one of its kind in the UK and comprises of 72 hours of training in British Sign Language. The course also deals with issues such as:
- deaf awareness
- deaf culture
- healthcare issues for deaf and hard of hearing people.
Students work to develop a health-related British Sign Language Directory, with each class developing a chapter in a specific medical area, fully described in sign language.
One former student recently put this training to good use when a deaf mother brought her sick child to her GP practice and was delighted to find that the GP could communicate with her in sign language, having studied the Specialist Module on Deafness.
If you would like to know more, you may be interested in the Deaf Awareness course.