Emmanuel Perrodin-Njoku on making it to medical school as a Deaf Black man

When Emmanuel Perrodin-Njoku was 10 years old, he needed to have surgery to correct a congenital heart condition. He had been learning about the human body in science class at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, so when he went to the hospital, he was full of questions about ventricles and arteries. By a stroke of good luck, he ended up in a room with Dr. Rachel St. John, G-'04, a hearing doctor who knows American Sign Language, which meant he was able to sign about everything he was wondering.

"She said, 'Wow, you're a smart young man. Have you ever thought of being a doctor?

I was taken back a bit," says Perrodin-Njoku, who didn't know that was a career option for Deaf kids like him. "Could I?"

Flash forward 17 years later, and the answer is yes: Perrodin-Njoku will start at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health this fall. It's a trailblazing accomplishment for Perrodin-Njoku, who is unaware of any Deaf Black students ever attending medical school before. "I don't know if there are others with hearing loss, but as a capital D signer, I think I'm first," he says.

But he hasn't done it alone. "So many people have helped," says Perrodin-Njoku, who is deeply grateful for the support he has received from family, friends, teachers, and mentors along the way. They have nurtured his interests and encouraged him to build up the skills and experiences necessary to get where he is today.

Even before high school, Perrodin-Njoku volunteered at a surgical clinic in Clinton, MD. "I saw them sew up an Achilles tendon, and replace the lens on a patient's eye," says Perrodin-Njoku, who loved having the chance to watch and learn. "I didn't have an interpreter, but I would write back and forth and it made me feel hopeful for future work environments."

He graduated as salutatorian of the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, and continued on at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he majored in biomedical science. Everything was on track until a difficult meeting with his pre-med advisor. "We weren't connecting," Perrodin-Njoku says. "He had some doubts about my ability to go to medical school and he asked if I had considered other opportunities. I said I want to do this and I've wanted to do it for half of my life."

The discussion left him discouraged, and when he applied to medical schools in 2018, he landed one spot on a waitlist, but had no acceptances. Perrodin-Njoku vowed to try again, but he was unsure of his next steps - or where to turn for advice. That is when he ended up at an event featuring Dr. Caroline Solomon, who is now Gallaudet's Dean of the Faculty. "She came to present about her journey," says Perrodin-Njoku, who found himself telling her about his. She explained that Gallaudet has connections with the National Institutes of Health, and put him in touch with Dr. Kent Hunter of the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics. Within months, Perrodin-Njoku had started a job in Hunter's lab.

When he wrapped up that three-year position in 2022, Perrodin-Njoku jumped over to Gallaudet to work with Dr. Poorna Kushalnagar at the Center for Deaf Health Equity. He had interned with her during his undergraduate years, and was excited to gain more research training.

"I have been mentoring him since 2017, and have witnessed many hurdles he had to go through to get to the medical school acceptance stage," says Kushalnagar, who was able to fund his post-baccalaureate role through a diversity supplement to her NIH grant addressing cancer health equity in deaf and hard of hearing populations. So she is eager to see what is in store for Perrodin-Njoku at the University of Wisconsin.

"I think I have been well prepared," adds Perrodin-Njoku, who has also been mentored by Dr. Christopher Moreland, a professor of internal medicine at Dell Medical School at UT Austin and a past president of the Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Loss (AMPHL). "I asked him what to expect in medical school, and many other doctors involved in AMPHL have been able to give me advice."

Perrodin-Njoku recognizes it will likely be different for him because of who he is and how he communicates. "This career path is hard, but I have to persevere," he says. "If I can be a role model for anybody else, that is a reason to keep doing it." He has already shared his story with several groups of kids, including students at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, to inspire them to think big - the way he did after meeting Dr. St. John.

Now that he is on his way to earning an MD, Perrodin-Njoku will have to choose what kind of medicine to practice. He had originally wanted to be a pediatrician, but more recently, he has been considering family medicine, so he can work with a wider range of ages. "In the last five years, I have touched on cancer a lot, so I might also want to pursue oncology," he says. "So many people have to go into the healthcare system. I am hoping to find ways to reduce barriers to care."