Janet Silvera 
Dr. Vaz.
HE failed his examination in medical school not once, not twice, but three times.
Dr. Garth Vaz and all the male members of his family suffer from the condition dyslexia. For several years he was unable to read or write, so he lived in fear of examinations.
He was a high school drop-out, but as fate would have it, he became a "dyslexia doctor". His condition kept him at a disadvantage throughout his school life; his teachers flogged him for being lazy, stupid and slow. His parents resigned themselves to the thought he was a dunce.
Born in the little district of Bonitto, Westmoreland, the former student of West Indies College (now Northern Caribbean University) says the pressure was too much. And even though he worked at school in order to subsidise his school fees, he just couldn't keep to the pace.
He told Flair, "I dropped out of school because I didn't want to fail, I was scared of taking exams and even when I did a number of courses at St. George's College, I never sat an exam".
It was after he emigrated to the United States in 1967 and was drafted in the military, that his confidence grew enough to make him try the General Education Diploma (GED). "After GED I finally submitted myself and passed the test".
Completely ignorant of his condition and with a heart filled with ambition, he entertained the idea of becoming a medical doctor. He enrolled in undergraduate school and did non-college credit courses and was accepted at the University of Florida.
Still unable to read and write very well, he says he passed most of the exams because they were multiple choice. He got mostly A's which got him into medical school in 1983. "I was dismissed three times", he said.
An article written in the Southern Medical Journal by a Barbara Guyer titled, "Dyslexic Physician, a treasure to be discovered" saved Dr. Vaz. "I sent copies to all my professors and I started working with professors I could work with on a one on one basis", he said.
"I wanted them to work with me to see if I could be a physician or not", he said. The tables turned and the professors who were most adamant about getting him out of medical school became the ones most forceful in helping him through.He failed part one of the National Board Exams twice, because he hid his condition from the board, when they found out about his condition, they gave him the opportunity to re-sit the examination at twice the allotted time given to other students.
"I was given a private room and a reader and I passed it", he said. He took part two of the examination under the same conditions and was just as successful.
Dr. Vaz received his degree in 1988, six years after enrolling in medical school, he now works at the Seivers Medical School in Gonzales, Texas.
In recognition of his achievement his brother A. McDonald Vaz, who is also dyslexic, wrote a 226-page book titled, The Doctor He Begged To Be.
A Rotarian, Dr Vaz was in Jamaica on a project with the Rotary Clubs of Montego Bay East, West and Savanna-la-Mar, where he gave lectures to teachers, parents, law enforcement officers and persons with disabilities.
NEXT WEEK we will present part two of this feature in which experts in the field as well as parents and teachers of students with dyslexia, talk about the condition.
Contributed
