Role reversal

When the doctor becomes the patient it's an entirely new world. Even though the medical professionals are still familiar, when one's role is changed the person's world changes. Similarly, when on worked in the teaching profession there can be an incredible amount of resistance to becoming a student. We all know the importance of learning on a daily basis. We actually do take in new things every day; we just don't look at it that way. When a person is formally in the role of student there is a stigma, even more so when there's an age difference. As a person with a disability who has been in the patient role and the student role I do not think much of this flip-flop. However, it never occurred to me just how much this difference mattered to the average person. It is sad that there are such vulnerabilities; people lose their identities so quickly.