Around the world, medical school vary in the nature of medical programs.
Martha 's Vineyard Sign Language -LRB- MVSL -RRB- was a village sign language that was once widely used on the island of Martha 's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts , U.S. , from the early 18th century to 1952 .. Massachusetts. Massachusetts. village sign language. village sign language. It was used by both deaf and hearing people in the community ; consequently , deafness did not become a barrier to participation in public life .. deaf. deaf. hearing. Hearing ( person ). Deaf people who spoke Martha 's Vineyard Sign Language were extremely independent .. They participated in society as normal citizens , although there were discrimination and language barriers .. The language was able to thrive on Martha 's Vineyard because of the unusually high percentage of deaf islanders and because deafness was a recessive trait , which meant that almost anyone might have both deaf and hearing siblings .. deaf. deaf. hearing. Hearing ( person ). recessive. Dominance ( genetics ). trait. hereditary trait. In 1854 , when the island 's deaf population peaked , the United States national average was one deaf person in 5,728 , while on Martha 's Vineyard it was one in 155 .. deaf. deaf. In the town of Chilmark , which had the highest concentration of deaf people on the island , the average was 1 in 25 ; in a section of Chilmark called Squibnocket , as much as a quarter of the population of 60 was deaf .. deaf. deaf. Chilmark. Chilmark, Massachusetts. Sign language on the island declined when the population migrated to the mainland .. There are no fluent signers of MVSL today .. The last deaf person born into the island 's sign language tradition , Eva West , died in 1950 , though there were a few elderly residents still able to recall MVSL when researchers started examining the language in the 1980s .. deaf. deaf. Linguists are working to save the rare language , but the task is difficult because they do not and can not experience MVSL firsthand .