Crohn's and Colitis. Dr. Hillary Steinhart

you may need to take a leave or drop some courses and make them up the following term. You can ask your doctor to write a supporting letter. Although it may take you longer to complete your degree or diploma requirements, you will be less stressed and get more rest.

       No Reason to Despair

      While IBD can pose challenges for students, they can be managed in cooperation with the school. There is no reason to despair or set your goals lower just because you have IBD.

       Discrimination

      You may fear that prospective employers will disqualify you for a job once they learn about your condition. However, you are not required to disclose illnesses or disabilities to a prospective employer, nor can the employer discriminate against someone based on a disability. In the province of Ontario, for example, the Ontario Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination in employment based on disability. In the United States, the federal disability laws forbid most employers from asking about the medical conditions of an applicant, although the United States Supreme Court has ruled that an employer can refuse to hire someone who has a chronic condition that may be made worse by the job. Precise laws and rulings vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, so it is best to check with human resources specialists, career or hiring coaches, or lawyers when deciding on whether to disclose your condition to a prospective employer.

      A minority of students have symptoms that are severe enough or persistent enough to cause them to have to change their educational objectives. It is the unpredictability of the disease that causes IBD patients to change their school plans. Frequent disease flares in people with more severe disease can require relatively long absences from school, which can, in turn, have a negative effect on grades.

Can I Get and Keep a Job?

      There are many IBD sufferers who have successfully completed their education and gone on to a variety of successful careers as teachers, executives, entrepreneurs, lawyers, professors, engineers, police officers, farmers, doctors, nurses, authors, artists, and professional athletes. IBD does not necessarily mean that you will be limited in your choice of careers or that you cannot excel at your job.

       Disclosure

      Employers may feel deceived if the condition is not disclosed to them during the interview process and the applicant then becomes ill or incapacitated shortly after hiring. You can take this opportunity to educate your employers about your condition, though you don’t need to give the details of all of your symptoms. In the end, you have to decide for yourself how much to disclose to the employer during the job interview process.

      Keep in mind the perspective of your employers. They may not know much about the condition and may wonder if it will affect your work performance, if the disease is likely to progress, if the job will impact upon your condition, and if any modification in schedule or duties is required. Be prepared to answer these questions honestly. In addition to developing a more trusting relationship with the employer, disclosure may result in a more flexible work schedule or work conditions. Alternatively, you can make it clear that you don’t expect any special treatment.

       More Understanding

      Even if disclosure is not required by law, some people with chronic medical conditions prefer to disclose their condition to the employer during the interview process. If you disclose your illness to your employers, you may find that they are more understanding when you do have to take the occasional day or two off work because of your condition.

       Disability

      Although the majority of IBD sufferers are able to get and keep good jobs, there is a small proportion who have flares so frequently, or who have some degree of symptoms almost continuously, that they are not able to work. Eventually, they may need to go on short-term or long-term disability. Sometimes they are able to resume working on a limited basis if the disease can be controlled through medical or surgical management. Some people with severe symptoms gravitate to jobs where the employer is more sympathetic to their special needs or to jobs where there may be more flexibility in work hours. Many large companies have disability counselors who help people make the transition back into the workplace on a gradual basis by finding appropriate positions and work schedules that fit with their chronic symptoms.