The anatomy of hope

18 February 2020

After sixteen seasons, Grey’s Anatomy is still breaking new ground. On the 13th February the episode ‘Save the last dance for me’ featured a deaf doctor. Actress Shoshannah Stern guest stars as Dr Riley, a diagnostic expert who is flown to Seattle from San Francisco to examine a patient with a mysterious set of symptoms.

Despite having never watched the television series, I follow the story closely via social media. Through the week I refresh my twitter feed for updates. Dozens of news stories pop up, this is, after all, a historic moment in pop culture. Stern is playing the first deaf doctor on prime-time television. As I read the articles and tweets, I feel a bittersweet mixture of excitement and sadness. It is rare to see disabled television characters in a position of power and authority, let alone in in my workplace.

Over a decade ago, when applying to study physiotherapy, I carefully read through the application form. It contained a brief but troubling caveat: all students must be physically able to participate in the coursework. I felt nervous, even scared. The answer seemed clear cut to me, but would the university agree? I’m profoundly deaf in one ear and moderately deaf in the other. Would my hearing limit me in some way? I didn’t think so.

Just to be sure, I got a summer job as a physiotherapy aide to observe how physiotherapists work. After weeks of working alongside a group of health professionals in a small rehabilitation hospital, I felt confident that with training I would be able to do the job. Even so, when I submitted my application, I chose not to disclose my disability. The risk of rejection felt too high. Instead, for the next four years, I pretended to be hearing.

This is not an uncommon experience. In a position statement released in 2019, the Australian Medical Student Association (AMSA), called for medical schools to ‘have clear guidelines’ for admission to ‘help avoid confusion and potential discrimination’ regarding what the ‘inherent requirements’ are of a health care professional.

The statement acknowledges that ‘although there are no national statistics on the number of people with a disability applying to or being accepted to medical school, or on the number of doctors with disabilities, anecdotal evidence suggests there is a significant number who face discrimination.’

'Grey's was the most collaborative experience I've ever had on a show that was not mine,’ Stern

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The anatomy of hope

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