When Susan Douglas, MD, JD, was 21 years old, she suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury. This book shares her story of surviving what should have been an unsurvivable accident and learning to thrive as a paraplegic. Then, Dr. Douglas offers her action plan: advice, ideas, tips, and solutions–as both a spinal cord injury survivor and a physician–to help spinal cord injury survivors heal and grow from their injuries.
About the author
Susan Douglas, MD, JD, knows persistence and perseverance. Dr. Douglas was 21 when her car skidded off a road. She returned to Georgetown University School of Medicine a paraplegic in less than six months, where she was a trailblazer. In 1996, she began practicing academic neurology at UCLA, combining lab research, clinical medicine, and teaching. Changes in health care and insights from her own medical experiences, motivated her move toward public policy and she obtained her JD in 2007. She fights barriers wherever she finds them. Her struggles with provisions such as the Medicare Homebound Rule, Community First Choice, and other regulations that essentially block access to genuine independence all drive her passion to change health care policy. She strives to be an effective advocate, thought leader, coalition builder, and solution driver for public and private entities that are affected by health care policy. She focuses on reducing disparities, ending discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity and employment for underrepresented groups, and civil and human rights. Douglas believes that everyone shares essentially the same daily struggles, victories and defeats, regardless of occupation or social status. ‘We all benefit when these struggles and outcomes are acknowledged and validated by people in the same boat, fighting the same fight.’
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