Resuming employment helps complete the recovery process and restores both emotional and financial well-being. The program is directed by Joanne Ball, a Certified Vocational Evaluator and a Fellow of the American Board of Vocational Experts. Joanne has more than twenty years' experience in the field of vocational rehabilitation. Functional limitations and the side effects of medications often prevent patients from returning to the same jobs they held prior to their illness.
Services range from career interest testing to job retraining.
All services are offered to patients at no charge. Others have become involved in career retraining through the Tennessee State Division of Rehabilitation Services. The program also renewed a grant from the Tennessee State Division of Rehabilitation, thus strengthening our ties with the state. Under this new funding agreement, increasing numbers of state sponsored Tennessee residents from both Vanderbilt and St. Thomas Hospital have participated in the program. The success of the program reflects the Vanderbilt Transplant Center's dedication to helping patients to return to the enhanced quality of life associated with satisfying work.