Dinesh Palipana was a 25-year-old medical student when he suffered a horrific car crash that would change his life.
He was driving along Brisbane’s Gateway Motorway one rainy night in 2010 when he careened out of control – crashing his car, severing his spinal cord and becoming a quadriplegic within a matter of seconds.
Now, eight years later, Palipana is Queensland’s first wheelchair-bound quadriplegic doctor, and the second in Australia.
Dinesh Palipana has defied the odds to become Australia’s second wheelchair-bound quadriplegic doctor
Dr Palipana was a 25-year-old medical student when he was involved in a horrific crash (pictured) that snapped his spine and left him disabled from the chest down
Dr Palipana’s incredible story reveals some of the challenges faced by physically disabled aspirants – stigmas and bias that often prevent them from integrating into professional life.
‘A lot of people were saying things behind the scenes,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I remember getting feedback from one of the doctors saying patients wouldn’t take me seriously… but I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t give it a try.’
It was through sheer tenacity that he managed to graduate from medical school before eventually being offered a position at Gold Coast University Hospital.
After the crash, Palipana went back to medical school to fulfil of his dream of becoming a doctor
He says medical professionals didn’t believe he could do it, with one doctor saying that patients wouldn’t take him seriously
But Palipana reflects on certain barriers and ceilings that still exist for people with debilitating conditions like his.
‘Medicine seems to be [an industry] that’s been very quick to not be inclusive,’ he says. ‘We’re trying to change things around the world, but we face a huge amount of problems with administrators if you have some sort of impairment.
But I just wanted to prove myself.’
Dr Palipana goes on to point out that most of his colleagues take no issue with his disability.
As for patients, he says he’s yet to treat anyone that hasn’t taken him completely seriously as a doctor.
‘Medicine is largely a cognitive activity,’ he says. ‘If you can use your head you can still contribute quite a lot.’
Palipana says ‘Medicine is largely a cognitive activity… If you can use your head you can still contribute quite a lot.’