Behind the Doctor: Dr.Philip Zazove on Medicine, Deafness, and a Mother’s Advocacy

What happens when a mother refuses to accept limitations placed on her child?In this powerful episode of The Heart Next Door Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Philip Zazove, one of the first Deaf physicians in the United States and a lifelong advocate for equity in healthcare. Dr. Zazove has been Deaf for most of his life, yet he went on to graduate from Washington University, becoming the third Deaf American physician, and later the Department Chair of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan. He primarily served Deaf and hard-of-hearing patients, bringing lived experience, compassion, and accessibility into clinical care.In this conversation, Dr. Zazove shares how his mother’s fierce advocacy when he was a baby shaped everything—from his confidence to his career—and why maternal advocacy in the earliest moments of life can quite literally change the future. He also speaks about The Louise Tumarkin Zazove Foundation, his nonprofit scholarship fund honoring his mother, and why listening to mothers is essential to better health outcomes. This episode is a reminder: when we advocate for mothers, we advocate for generations.🎧 Topics include:Maternal advocacy and early interventionDisability justice in healthcareDeaf-accessible medicineWhy believing in a child changes everythingThe long-term impact of maternal supportTo learn more about The Louise Tumarkin Zazove foundation visit https://www.ltzfoundation.org/. To learn more about The Heart Heart Next Door visit https://heartnextdoor.com/.