How To Work In Healthcare When You Have a Disability

6/6/2020

Having a passion for wanting to help others is a great starting point for exploring a career in healthcare. As a person with a disability, there may be some extra challenges in finding the right fit in terms of a job, but there are several ways to navigate forward. #disability #employment #healthcare

|You may be a person with a disability, but your mind is sharp and your desire to help others is strong. Unfortunately, there are going to be some barriers when it comes to working in healthcare. There are some jobs that will be out of reach for reasons such as safety.

However, all is not lost. There are a number of healthcare careers that can be done when you have a disability. And if your disability is temporary, all the better as you can collect disability and then get back to work in the medical field as you can see from this guide on disability insurance for physicians.

There are even online healthcare careers as a possibility if your issue is mobility. In this article, we will go over several options for a job in the medical world if you have a disability.

Please note: This article does not contain healthcare or therapeutic advice. If you are concerned about your health or well-being, speak with a health professional or visit your nearest medical facility in an emergency. This is a collaborative article.

How To Work In Healthcare When You Have a Disability

Having a passion for wanting to help others is a great starting point for exploring a career in healthcare. As a person with a disability, there may be some extra challenges in finding the right fit in terms of a job, but there are several ways to navigate forward on a path to finding a career that's right for you.

American Disabilities Act

Major healthcare employers are actively needing to comply with the American Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure that they are able to hire employees with a disability whenever possible. This means that an employer will also need to make accommodations so that a person who has a disability is able to work safely and effectively.

This can mean that an individual who is hard-of-hearing or legally deaf is hired, for example, to handle records, which can ensure that they are not in a position that would put patients, co-workers or themselves at risk. Most importantly, the ADA ensures that any employee who has a disability also has the ability to accomplish their work according to their ability.

An employee who takes care and time to interview and hire individuals with a disability is a sign of willingness and desire to be a more inclusive and diverse workplace, for example, live-in caregiver jobs in Pennsylvania. It also means that there is no discrimination on the part of an employer against an employee or potential employee with a disability. Nobody can be turned away from a job as long as there is no direct threat against the person with the disability or others at the workplace that could be injured.

Programs for People with Disabilities

Starting as early as high school there are numerous programs that are either organized by the state or non-profits to help people with a disability find a career in healthcare.

There is training in various fields that can be then used to help get the necessary learning for continuing in their education as they enter university or other training programs for specific careers.

In these organizations and programs, you may also be set up with an advocate who is an individual who can help you find the job or training for a career in healthcare by working alongside you and on your behalf during the recruitment process.

Department of Labor

The government is also a great resource for finding a career in healthcare as the Department of Labor will also work with some of the previously mentioned types of programs. Explore their website or seek out employers in your location to start finding career options or programs in your specific area.

“We are all different, which is great because we are all unique. Without diversity life would be very boring." ~ Catherine Pulsifer

Conclusion

You can go pretty far into a career in healthcare as a person with a disability. Even so far as becoming a physician. There are many doctors working with disabilities in wheelchairs or other impairments. Because of the ADA, many hospitals and clinics will work to accommodate the right candidate to set up a workplace for employees who have a disability.

By combining your passion to help others and support in finding the right career for you, the path can lead you to a fulfilling career in the healthcare field.

Resources:

TASH: Advocate for People with Disabilities
(ADA) American Disabilities Act
Department of Labor

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