Support Deaf Vet's Advanced Education for Better Animal Care

As a rehabilitation-focused veterinarian, the only one currently on the Big Island of Hawaii, I strive to provide the best for my patients and their caretakers. I derive a great deal of professional satisfaction from seeing improvements in mobility and comfort using manual therapies, acupuncture, laser, and hydrotherapy. For the past year, Dr. Polly Yamamoto has come over from Oahu once a month to provide support for my patients through chiropractic care. Seeing is believing! The additional progress made by the addition of veterinary spinal manipulation techniques has motivated me to pursue additional training so I can provide these services to a larger number of patients on a more frequent basis.

Chiropractic training, also known as Veterinary Spinal Manipulation Therapy, requires over 200 hours of course work at the training location. These are split between four to five modules (depending on the program) on location, over approximately six months, with additional independent study and case evaluation in between. Because I am Deaf, sign language interpreters or live transcription services are necessary for me to be able to participate in a program of this intensity. While organizations are usually supportive of my desire to pursue additional training, it is often difficult for them to fund accommodations of this magnitude, particularly as they have rarely encountered deaf veterinarians.

Having been turned down by one program due to this barrier, I am attempting to raise funds to assist with the cost of providing interpreters so that I can access the training needed to improve outcomes for the animals that come to me for support and care.