Literary Representation of Doctors with Disabilities
Dublin Core
Title
Literary Representation of Doctors with Disabilities
Description
There have been very few accurate and meaningful representations of doctors with disabilities in fiction. There is a dearth of disabled doctors in literature to begin with and when they are present, the themes or disability in conjunction with their profession are not tackled productively or successfully. Through the artifacts provided in this collection, we see that even though there is great potential to set good examples of disabled doctors as part of literature and hence public imagination, the opportunities are made light of and lost when either the themes are not developed holistically or done in a fragmented manner.
Collection Items
Of Human Bondageby W. Somerset Maugham (1915)
The first novel to have a representation of a disabled medical student and doctor was the 1915 novel Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham where the protagonist has a clubfoot. Following his jounery where he fumbles (used intentionally) both…
Now That You Mention Itby Kristin Higgins (2017)
This novel, which revolves around a female gastroenterologist getting hit by a van leading her to being temporarily disabled and moving in with her estranged mother is another lost opportunity at exploring what it means for a doctor to be disabled.…
The Second Opinion by Michael Palmer (Macmillan Publishers, 2009)
The Second Opinionengages with the representation of disabled doctors in two ways, albiet in a problematic manner. In the first engagement, we see Dr Sperelakis so disabled after involved in a hit and run and being comatosed that he is literally…
Sea Glass Island by Sherryl Woods (MIRA Books, 2013)
In the novel Sea Glass Island, we encounter the love interest of the protaonist who has some makings of a good disabled doctor representation in literature but it still has a long way to go. The doctor, who was disabled in a war zone is kind and…