Dr. Chad Victor Ruffin, MD

I am a physician/surgeon with single-sided hearing loss and recently consulted with Dr. Ruffin about a cochlear implant. I do not live in Washington but had seen articles and videos of Dr. Ruffin and was very eager to get his professional opinion on my condition. The two hour flight from my home was well-worth the effort. Dr. Ruffin is a rare kind of physician. Yes, his personal experience with hearing loss gives him a unique perspective when counseling hearing-impaired patients but the reason for his excellence goes far beyond this. Dr. Ruffin’s gift is rooted in his consideration of each patient in the full context of their lives and in his goal to not simply “improve hearing” but to “make lives better”. This may seem like a subtle point but, as I have found through consultations with other less proficient ENTs and audiologists, is critical in helping patients with hearing loss. In my case, “making life better” meant Dr. Ruffin considered not only my hearing test but the… hearing environments in which I live and work, the increased cognitive load I was experiencing with my hearing loss, and the emotional component of my hearing loss. Care this complete and nuanced is fine-tuned with exceptional training to be sure but, in my observation, cannot fully develop without a personal mission to help people and a deep commitment to being of service to humanity. Not all doctors possess such qualities. I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Ruffin. He is the kind of doctor I strive to be every day with my patients and he is a great gift for all patients that struggle with hearing loss.