Like most graduates, David Moores just wanted to walk across the stage without falling flat on his face.
If the rigors of graduating from the University Veterinary School of Medicine were not difficult enough, Moores did it without the ability to hear.
“It makes it a struggle in some ways, mainly with phone calls to clients and colleagues and using a stethoscope, but otherwise I don’t really think about it too much,” Moores said about his disability.
Moores is completely deaf in his right ear and can hear only 15 percent of sound in his left ear.
Coming to the University after four years at Mississippi State University, where he studied dairy sciences, Moores knew exactly what he wanted to do.
Moores said his dream of becoming a vet came in junior high school when he worked for a Covington veterinarian. He worked with veterinarians all through high school and found he really enjoyed the work.
However, the process of becoming a vet was not an easy road for Moores.
While other students took notes during class in the conventional way, Moores needed the assistance of a disability services transcriber.
The transcriber used a stenograph, a keyboard that reproduces words in shorthand, to transcribe lectures for Moores in real time. The notes were then projected onto Moores’ laptop.
Moores said although he could read the instructor’s lips, he still missed a lot and had to spend time out of class making sure he had adequate notes.
Reading lips became a problem when the class wore masks while performing common surgical procedures, Moores said.
In the surgery room, a transcriber typed the class conversation that displayed on a television monitor so Moores could see what was going on, Moores said.
Friends and classmates sometimes forgot Moores was deaf.
Karen Romagosa, a vet school graduate and close friend of Moores’, said because of Moores’ outstanding ability to read lips, it never even crossed her mind that David couldn’t hear.
Now Moores works as a veterinarian at the Metairie Small Animal Hospital.
Moores said his experience at LSU was fun and it will be difficult to leave.
“I had a great time during my four years in veterinary school and met so many great people,” Moores said. “It was hard when it was over, but they’ve prepared me so well that it is time to move on.”