Sanjay Gulati
What inspires or motivates you in your role at HMS/HSDM?
I first planned to be a physicist. Then I went deaf, an experience that was both catastrophic and transformative. Among the many surprising discoveries I made then was how helpful others can be in seeing further than you see yourself. That motivates me in helping patients and students make their own futures.
In what ways do you feel you contribute to the Harvard community?
As a functioning deaf professional, I embody the concept of difference as simply different, rather than better or worse. I can serve as a voice for a Deaf Community that sometimes rightly feels misunderstood.
And I can sensitize students to the sometimes awkward process of connecting authentically with those who are different, challenging the "healthy us" versus "sick them" dichotomy, questioning what "normality" and "cure" mean.
What are you most proud of about your work at HMS/HSDM?
I'm most proud of filling a gap - the Deaf Community is woefully underserved. The gratitude I receive in this role is simply wonderful, as is the sense of belonging. I'm equally proud of bringing psychiatry to life for medical students - I think the field is a hidden gem,
unglamorous perhaps, but a delightful and richly meaningful way to live.
What unique skills and/or talents do you bring to your job?
I most enjoy the multidisciplinary nature of my work: weaving and weighing the aspects of medicine, audiology, linguistics, cognitive science, personal psychology, family dynamics, and cultural constructs that play parts in every deaf case.
Are there activities outside of your job at Harvard that you feel enrich or inform who you are as an individual at Harvard?
While losing hearing represented the premature "death" of a part of my body, sports represent the body's untapped potential. I'm currently training for the Mount Washington road race, hoping simply to finish.
What is the significance of the object you brought with you to the photo shoot?
Plato is my hearing dog, who listens for my name and brings me to anyone who calls. He's ears when I need them, and always good company. He is intuitive with patients too, hiding from fearful phobic or autistic patients, playing with children, and nuzzling those with anxiety or depression.