Stern, Carolyn

Believed to be the world's first born-deaf female family physician. Mainstreamed into public schools, she "functioned as a hard of hearing individual until after medical school was over." Graduated Case Western Reserve University and earned her M.D. at Northwestern University Medical School. Learned ASL and began socializing with other deaf people while in medical school. Her first practice was in family medicine in the Chacago area, then became co-partner with a hearing doctor in a Rochester, NY family practice. In 2007, became Gallaudet University's physician-in-residence 3 days a week, commuting from and to Rochester, where she also spent 2 to 4 days each month as medical director at the Rochester School for the Deaf. Has a cochlear implant and her stethoscope was modified to interface with it. She and her husband have a Web site, http://www.deafdoc.org, providing health information in captioned ASL film clips.