Dinesh Palipana

Dinesh Palipana OAM (born 1984) is an Australian doctor, legal professional and disability advocate. He is the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland, Australia.[1][2][3][4] He is the second person with quadriplegia to graduate as a doctor in Australia and the first with spinal cord injury.[5]

Dinesh Palipana
Born1984 (age 35–36)
Kandy, Sri Lanka
NationalityAustralian
Alma mater
OccupationDoctor

Palipana has been an advocate for medical students with disabilities in Australia, where significant barriers exist.[6][7]

Career

Dinesh Palipana obtained a degree in law from the Queensland University of Technology.[8] He then commenced a Doctor of Medicine at the Griffith University, graduating in 2016 as the first quadriplegic medical graduate in the state of Queensland, the second in Australia. He graduated with several awards[9] and was featured in the Griffith University video Dinesh Palipana is remarkable.[10] He completed a medical clerkship at Harvard Medical School.[11] Palipana holds the title of associate lecturer at Griffith University.[12]

Following a spinal cord injury, Palipana found adapted ways to be trained as a quadriplegic doctor in partnership with Griffith University and the Gold Coast University Hospital.[13] This was a previously unaccomplished feat in Queensland. He has consequently openly advocated for training medical students with disabilities in Australia.[14]

Despite spending two years in clinical training as a medical student at the Gold Coast University Hospital, Palipana faced challenges in securing initial employment in his home state of Queensland under Queensland Health.[15][16] At one point, he was the only Queensland medical graduate without an employment offer for the year 2016 despite testaments to his ability.[17]

He was eventually employed by the Gold Coast University Hospital to become Queensland's first quadriplegic intern.[18] He has worked in the emergency department[19] at the hospital, the second busiest department in Australia in 2017.[20][21] He was nominated for an Intern of the Year award at the Gold Coast University Hospital in 2017.[22]

With an interest in radiology,[23] he is a contributor on Radiopaedia, a radiology education portal designed for medical professionals.[24]

In 2020, Palipana became the team doctor for the Gold Coast Titans Physical Disability Rugby League team.[25]

Injury

During medical school, Palipana was involved in a car accident causing a spinal cord injury and quadriplegia.[26][27] He was 25 years old at the time. The 2010 motor vehicle accident occurred on Brisbane's Gateway Motorway.[28] A physician attending the accident scene with emergency services had taught Palipana during medical school.[29] During his recuperation, Palipana experienced complications that included sepsis and pleural effusion.[30]

Palipana subsequently spent seven months at a spinal injuries unit in the Princess Alexandra Hospital.[31][32] He met the boxer Joe Frazier during his admission in hospital.[33]

Advocacy

While recuperating from his injury, Palipana spent some time in Sri Lanka.[34] During that time, he was noted for raising awareness[35] and funding[36] for spinal cord injury in the country. In 2013, he gifted a stock of medical supplies for spinal cord injury to the now President Maithripala Sirisena.[37] Palipana sits on the council of the Sri Lanka Spinal Cord Network.[38]

Dinesh Palipana at TEDxBrisbane 2018

In 2015, the Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand issued a set of guidelines providing Australian medical schools the power to exclude students with a range of disabilities.[39] The guidelines can potentially be used exclude medical students with similar conditions to Palipana. By using his story as an example,[40] Palipana has been a vocal advocate for taking an inclusive approach to medical education in the country instead.[41][42][43] Palipana has been using his story to demonstrate ways in which doctors,[44][45][46] and the wider population,[47][48][49][50] can work effectively with disabilities. In 2018, he was a keynote speaker at Stanford Medicine X at the Stanford University[51][52] and TEDxBrisbane[53] on the topic. Through various capacities, he has been an advocate for inclusive employment generally.[54][55]

He is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia, an advocacy group for physicians with disabilities.[56][57] Through Doctors with Disabilities Australia, Palipana supported some Indian peers in an Indian High Court case during 2019.[58] The case involved a challenge of the Medical Council of India's decisions around medical education and disabilities.[59]

Palipana is a member of the Ambassador Council at the Hopkins Centre, a centre for research in rehabilitation and resilience.[60][61] He has been a member of the Australian Medical Association Queensland's Council of Doctors in Training since 2017.[62] Since gaining employment at the Gold Coast University Hospital, Palipana has promoted inclusion within the organisation.[63][64]

He became an ambassador for Physical Disability Australia in 2020.[65]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Palipana advocated for the interests of people with disabilities,[66][67] particularly in healthcare.[68][69]

Research

Palipana has interests in spinal cord injury research.[70][71][72][73][74] He was awarded $2 million in 2019 to pursue research in thought-controlled rehabilitation.[75] He attributes this passion to his own injury. Palipana is a member of the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation's scientific committee.[76]

Palipana's interest includes non-invasive interventions to promote functional improvement in spinal cord injury.[77][78] Some of these interventions have involved electroencephalography (EEG) and electrical stimulation,[79] which was highlighted in Griffith University's Be Remarkable media campaign.[80] He has been encouraged by a mentor at Harvard University, where he was one of the first visiting medical students of this nature.[81] The project received $2 million Australian in 2019 from the Queensland Government.[82]

Palipana also has research interests in radiology.[83]

Personal life

Palipana was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka to Chithrani and Sanath Palipana. He grew up in Byron Bay and Brisbane, Australia.[84] Palipana attributes much of his success to the support of his mother.[85][86][87]

In 2019, Palipana proposed to his now fiancé Rachael Antonie.[88] The couple met while working together in the Gold Coast University Hospital emergency department.

Media

Palipana's story was featured on the popular ABC radio show Conversations with Richard Fidler,[89] the ABC television show Australian Story,[90] BBC Outlook,[91] Today,[92] and Vice (magazine).[93] He appeared on the cover of Sri Lanka's Pulse [94] Magazine in January 2020. Dinesh has spoken at various events such as TED (conference)[95] and alongside speakers such as Deng Thiak Adut[96] regarding his experiences.[97][98][99]

Palipana has written for Ars Technica,[100] ABC News (Australia)[101] and Medscape.[102]

Awards and honours

2019: Medal of the Order of Australia for service to medicine[103]

2019: Junior Doctor of the Year at the Gold Coast University Hospital[104][105]

2019: Third Australian to be awarded the Henry Viscardi Achievement Award[106]

2019: 'Change Making' in National Awards for Disability Leadership[107]

gollark: I just did maintenance on osmarks.net's primary server for MULTIPLE minutes and nobody noticed the downtime. Muahahaha.
gollark: Apply accursed CSS filters?
gollark: Utilise KaTeX?
gollark: Just try and make it boot and do console IO first.
gollark: A GUI involves 86 trillion apiform.

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