SCI Superstar: Dr. Glen House

Dr. J. Glen House is a doctor unlike any other. The first person with a spinal cord injury to graduate with a medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine to founding several companies to becoming a healthy diet expert, Dr. Glen House is a quadriplegic unlike any other.

Why He’s Fearless

Injured when he was just 20 years old in a skiing accident, becoming a C7 quad, he had to shift his career dreams. He at first wanted to be a dentist, but then decided to become a medical doctor due to having partially paralyzed hands.

After graduating from the University of Washington, he completed a fellowship in spinal cord injury medicine at the Kessler institute for Rehabilitation. Dr. House landed his first job as in 2001 when he joined the medical team at Penrose-St. Francis Rehabilitation Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and by 2003, he had assumed the role of Medical Director. He’s held the position for nearly 20 years.

Dr. House is known as the regional expert on spinal cord injury and brain injury rehabilitation. But practicing medicine weren’t the only goals he wanted to achieve in life. The art of business is another area he’s interested in. In 2010, he graduated with an MBA from the University of Colorado. He founded the medical device company FlexLife and he founded Disaboom.com, a once highly popular disability information site. He’s helped design catheters for those with limited dexterity.

What’s Next?

Dr. Glen House’s personal life has been just as successful. He has two daughters, and he and his wife have been married for decades. He is also a certified adrenaline junkie. He climbed the famous Pikes Peak, a 14,110 foot summit located in Colorado, 5 times since his injury. He is also an avid sit-skier and loves to go skiing with his daughters. 

As he has grown older, healthy eating and researching ways to help people with SCI be healthy and live as long as possible has been his new passion. He discovered the ketogenic diet and it has transformed his health, helping him lose weight and regulate his cholesterol. He regularly speaks on the subject of healthy eating on his podcast, the Diet Doctor. 

— Diet Doctor Podcast with Dr. Glen House