Discovering a love for animals
From a young age, Xiang Ji was captivated by animals. Her fascination began one day when an orange tabby cat curled up and fell asleep at her feet while she played outside. Watching cats engage in what she considered “people stuff” — eating, sleeping, and even fighting — sparked her curiosity. “I wanted to learn how other creatures lived and what they did every day,” Xiang recalled. “I wanted to know how animals ‘worked.’”
Researching deaf animals, specifically horses
Now a first-year veterinary student, Xiang is dedicated to becoming a laboratory animal veterinarian. Her current research focuses on deafness in horses, where she is developing protocols for restraint, sedation, and placing electrodes to measure hearing loss across different age groups and breeds.
An advocate for the Deaf community
This project is deeply personal for Xiang. Diagnosed with sensorineural deafness at age 14, her mother feared she would be denied opportunities if she shared her diagnosis. Xiang disagreed. She decided to become a Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing (HoH) advocate.
"I felt that if I did enough advocacy work, I could demonstrate that I and other Deaf/HoH students can achieve the same performances as our hearing (non-Deaf) peers."
“I felt that if I did enough advocacy work, I could demonstrate that I and other Deaf/HoH students can achieve the same performances as our hearing (non-Deaf) peers,” she said. “Maybe future parents would be less worried about their child being treated poorly due to their disabilities.”
Throughout college and graduate school, Xiang taught American Sign Language (ASL) and recently led a lecture on ASL and Deaf culture for her classmates. Her goal is to dismantle stereotypes and show how small accommodations can create a more inclusive community.
Overcoming stereotypes & challenges
Xiang has encountered stereotyping because she uses hearing aids. “Some people assume that Deaf/HoH people are less intelligent," she shared. In one instance, a teacher began re-explaining concepts instead of simply repeating a phrase she had missed. "It feels like being spoken down to and it wastes more time than simply repeating the phrase.”
Finding a game-changing veterinary stethoscope
During her graduate studies, while observing a veterinarian’s surgical procedure, Xiang was invited to auscultate the patient’s lung sounds with an analog stethoscope. The experience was eye-opening.
“I realized I didn’t have much experience with auscultating because of the inconvenience,” she said. “I had listened to my own heart with an analog stethoscope at home, but I hadn’t auscultated while being gloved, with my hearing aids in, and a mask on my face — all while the patient was wriggling away.”
When Xiang was accepted to veterinary school, her grandparents gifted her a 3M™ Littmann® CORE Digital Stethoscope. The difference it made was transformational.
"I didn’t have to work on distinguishing heart beats from murmurs and fur rubbing on the diaphragm. I could just listen."
“The Littmann® CORE amplified the heart and lung sounds, which took off some of the cognitive load for me,” she said. “I didn’t have to work on distinguishing heart beats from murmurs and fur rubbing on the diaphragm. I could just listen. I could also connect my hearing aids to the stethoscope by Bluetooth through the Eko App, so I didn’t have to take out my hearing aids to auscultate.”
"My digital stethoscopes help make up for my Deafness"
Xiang received a grant to buy the Eko CORE 500™ Digital Stethoscope but continues to use both stethoscopes for their unique advantages.
The CORE 500™ allows her to see beats per minute and respiratory rate on the stethoscope’s screen and has a longer headphone cord, which is beneficial when working with larger animals. The 3M™ Littmann® CORE, with its smaller bell, is her go-to for small animals like guinea pigs, puppies, or newborn piglets.
Both digital stethoscopes are essential in her journey to help animals. “My digital stethoscopes provide me with more information that helps make up for my Deafness,” Xiang said. “The quality of sound — volume, clarity, and texture — provides diagnostic information in addition to the tempo. Having that other information helps me make better judgments on the health status of my patients.”
Xiang Ji’s dedication to her goals, combined with her compassion and advocacy, not only advances veterinary medicine but also paves the way for a more inclusive world where Deaf/HoH individuals can achieve their dreams.
Learn how Eko's digital stethoscope technology reduces background noise and delivers precise sound to help with patient care.
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