By Rebecca A. Doyle
Donald L. Fisher, professor of anatomy and cell biology, teaches gross anatomy to graduate students pursuing careers in physical anthropology, kinesiology, medical illustration and paleontology.
He stands in front of his class each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, lecturing students on parts of the body, their functions and their relationship to each other. He stands over a dissection table, helping students discover the placement of organs, tissue and nerves.
He has just completed a book about human anatomy that he wrote using the word processor on his computer.
Fisher is an author and a teacher.
He is also a quadriplegic.
He discovered that he had multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1975 when frustration over not being able to do microscopic dissections of four-celled embryos forced him to see a neurologist.
Multiple sclerosis is an incurable progressive disease that strikes people in their late 20s or early 30s, just as they are becoming most productive in their careers.
“I was very discouraged, very depressed,” Fisher says. “I couldn’t do the research that I needed to do to advance in the University—to continue to publish and remain an active professional.”
Instead, Fisher began to take on more teaching duties, which he continues today. He teaches for 12 hours each week, and in 1991 was awarded the Kaiser Permanente Award for excellence in pre-clinical teaching.
Fisher says he became even more despondent when he began to have difficulty walking, about three years later.
“But I remembered something my high school football coach had said. He said, ‘It is almost impossible to knock over someone in a three-point stance.’ So I started to use a cane to walk.”
As the disease progressed, Fisher found a wheelchair necessary, and computer equipment that could respond to voice rather than touch.
He uses a “puff and sip” device connected to his wheelchair that allows him to direct it, and voice-activated computer programs that allow him to dictate and edit his writing, and, with a special device, to answer the telephone.
Visitors to faculty offices in the Medical Science Building I might hear, “Wake up” or “Open document” or “Go to sleep” as Fisher completes a portion of his writing. The voice-activated system is a must, he says, for writing multiple-choice exam questions.
“You can dictate the question and you can dictate the right answer without any trouble,” he says. “It’s finding four or five wrong answers that sound reasonable that is difficult to do when you can’t see what you’ve written.”
With DragonDictate, software that will transform the spoken word into words on the computer screen, Fisher can see what he has said and make changes before printing the final copy at a nearby networked printer.
Whether to continue teaching at the University or to accept disability status was a decision Fisher had to face several years ago when he could no longer stand or use his arms to demonstrate to his students. But the wheelchair he uses is equipped with a hydraulic lift to allow him to be upright when he oversees dissections, and the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology has been willing to foot some of the cost for special equipment in order to keep Fisher as a productive and valued member of the faculty.
“I intend to keep teaching until I can no longer speak so that students understand me,” Fisher says. “ I think they learn not only the anatomy from me, but some measure of compassion and understanding.” Because he cannot demonstrate dissections, students also may learn from him things they would not from another teacher. He tells them how far to measure from one point to another to find a particular nerve bundle, muscle or organ.
“I have to tell them that two centimeters is about the width of one of their fingers, then they can find the right place. They have to do it because I can’t reach out and do it for them. But I also think that it is important that I be here to help medical students realize that the handicapped are not useless.”
Fisher says his determination to continue with his work is strengthened by the support he has received from his family, church, department and students.
