Petition for Partially Sighted Doctor to be Allowed to Practise
- by: Jemma Saville
- recipient: Wessex Deanery
In brief:
Partially sighted doctor, Jemma Saville, has not been offered a training position as a doctor on the grounds of disability. If you believe this to be unjust and unfair, please sign. If you want more details, see below, or email.
In depth:
In 2002, Jemma Saville started medical school in Southampton. Like any other medical student, she was intelligent, enthusiastic and wanted to make a difference in health care.
During her second year of study her vision deteriorated and in 2005 she was registered partially sighted.
The medical school supported her through her visual loss, and despite some obstacles, she completed her finals and graduated as a doctor in 2008.
In 2008 she was informed that there was no position for her to go to and took some time out from the profession to make some decisions.
By November 2008 the decision was clear: that there was a reason for all that studying and determination to succeed, and it wasn't just for a piece of paper, or the letters "Dr." She gained GMC provisional registration in March 2009: the General Medical Council believe that she poses no danger to patients on the grounds of her visual impairment.
Despite this, she has not yet been offered a training post within a hospital.
This petition is about showing her support, and proving to the sceptics out there, that (with very obvious limits) people with disabilities can be fantastic doctors.
"I want to be a psychiatrist. I am great with people, kind, empathetic, understanding. I don't want to be a surgeon, or perform clinical procedures which I am not competent to do, and I certainly would never put any patients at risk. I know what I can and can't do, and this is key to any doctor being safe. I believe that even with a visual impairment I can be a very successful, inspirational doctor. I just need to be given the opportunity to prove this."
If you support Jemma, and other partially sighted doctors in the future, please add your name to the list below. And thank you so much for your support.
Partially sighted doctor, Jemma Saville, has not been offered a training position as a doctor on the grounds of disability. If you believe this to be unjust and unfair, please sign. If you want more details, see below, or email.
In depth:
In 2002, Jemma Saville started medical school in Southampton. Like any other medical student, she was intelligent, enthusiastic and wanted to make a difference in health care.
During her second year of study her vision deteriorated and in 2005 she was registered partially sighted.
The medical school supported her through her visual loss, and despite some obstacles, she completed her finals and graduated as a doctor in 2008.
In 2008 she was informed that there was no position for her to go to and took some time out from the profession to make some decisions.
By November 2008 the decision was clear: that there was a reason for all that studying and determination to succeed, and it wasn't just for a piece of paper, or the letters "Dr." She gained GMC provisional registration in March 2009: the General Medical Council believe that she poses no danger to patients on the grounds of her visual impairment.
Despite this, she has not yet been offered a training post within a hospital.
This petition is about showing her support, and proving to the sceptics out there, that (with very obvious limits) people with disabilities can be fantastic doctors.
"I want to be a psychiatrist. I am great with people, kind, empathetic, understanding. I don't want to be a surgeon, or perform clinical procedures which I am not competent to do, and I certainly would never put any patients at risk. I know what I can and can't do, and this is key to any doctor being safe. I believe that even with a visual impairment I can be a very successful, inspirational doctor. I just need to be given the opportunity to prove this."
If you support Jemma, and other partially sighted doctors in the future, please add your name to the list below. And thank you so much for your support.
We the undersigned:
- Believe that Dr. Jemma Saville should not be refused a training programme on the grounds of her visual impairment.
- Believe that passing Finals examinations, gaining a BM qualification, and becoming GMC registered indicates that she is competent to practise.
- Feel that doctors with disabilities should not be discriminated against. There are blind and partially sighted doctors practising in the UK, and we do not believe that it is a justifiable reason for refusing anyone a training position.
- Would be happy to be treated by a doctor with a disability, provided that they were competent and working within the limits of their abilities, as we would expect any doctor to be.
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