Portland, Oregon

In a few months, the newest doctor – and one of the first doctors of her kind in the nation – will hang her shingle in the Portland, Oregon area. Chris L. Cooke will become one of the first totally blind doctors in the US with a specialty in naturopathic medicine.

The new Dr. Cooke, blind since birth, will carry the usual medical instruments in her black bag, including a blood pressure cuff, a thermometer, and a Pocket PC crammed with medical references – a tool most modern doctors rely on to help with diagnosis, prescribing the right medicine, and ordering and interpreting lab work. The difference is her tools of the trade will talk. In fact, in large part, she credits her ability to be a good doctor to a PAC Mate™ accessible Pocket PC for the blind and two Oregon men who made medical reference software accessible to the visually impaired, using the PAC Mate.