The Wayne State University School of Medicine takes great pride in its co-curricular activities and student organizations. Students may choose from more than 50 standing programs, with goals that range from sharing an appreciation of the arts and cultural activities with fellow students to teaching young school children about the dangers of substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases.

Far from overwhelmed by the broad range of outreach activities available to him upon his arrival at WSU last fall, first-year medical student Joshua Dilworth saw that a distinct portion of the community was missing out on the important messages his classmates were trying to convey.

“We had a ton of programs here,” said Dilworth, “all of which had great messages, but not a single one of them was accessible to the deaf and hearingimpaired community.”

Rather than lament the absence of such a program, Dilworth, who began taking basic sign language courses as a kid in California, decided to start one himself. After several discussions with WSU counselors and administrators at the Detroit School for the Deaf, the Deaf Outreach and Community Service Program for Medical Students (DOCS) was officially born at the School of Medicine last October.

DOCS is an anomaly among its peer organizations in that it does not take its own original message into the community. Rather, it takes the important messages of existing co-curricular organizations, such as the STD/AIDS Taskforce and Students for Healthy Communities, to a previously untapped audience.

Although still in its infancy, the program has the potential to do a great deal of good. Dilworth believes that the program’s biggest impact may be on the medical students who participate, even more than on the members of the deaf community. In fact, Dilworth sees DOCS as a vital link between the future physician and a commonly misunderstood portion of society.

“WSU prides itself on exposing its students to a high level of diversity,” he said. “Well, there’s more diversity out there than just ethnic diversity. We really need to build an appreciation and awareness of the needs of the deaf community among medical students.”

DOCS welcomes School of Medicine students who wish to participate in its activities. The organization also seeks health-care professionals who sign or otherwise work with deaf or hearingimpaired populations. Interested parties are asked to email Josh Dilworth at jdilwort@med.wayne.edu.