Dinesh Palipana

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 lecturer at Griffith University.[12] Dinesh was admitted as a lawyer in September, 2020.[13]

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.[14] This was a previously unaccomplished feat in Queensland. He has consequently openly advocated for training medical students with disabilities in Australia.[15]

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.[16][17] At one point, he was the only Queensland medical graduate without an employment offer for the year 2016 despite testaments to his ability.[18]

He was eventually employed by the Gold Coast University Hospital to become Queensland's first quadriplegic intern.[19] He has worked in the emergency department[20] at the hospital, the second busiest department in Australia in 2017.[21][22] He was nominated for an Intern of the Year award at the Gold Coast University Hospital in 2017.[23]

With an interest in radiology,[24] he is a contributor on Radiopaedia, a radiology education portal designed for medical professionals.[25]

In 2020, Palipana became the team doctor for the Gold Coast Titans Physical Disability Rugby League team.[26] He served as a senior advisor to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.[27]

During medical school, Palipana was involved in a car accident causing a spinal cord injury and quadriplegia.[28][29] He was 25 years old at the time. The 2010 motor vehicle accident occurred on Brisbane's Gateway Motorway.[30] A physician attending the accident scene with emergency services had taught Palipana during medical school.[31] During his recuperation, Palipana experienced complications that included sepsis and pleural effusion.[32]

Palipana subsequently spent seven months at a spinal injuries unit in the Princess Alexandra Hospital.[33][34] He met the boxer Joe Frazier during his admission in hospital.[35]

Dinesh Palipana at TEDxBrisbane 2018

While recuperating from his injury, Palipana spent some time in Sri Lanka.[36] During that time, he was noted for raising awareness[37] and funding[38] for spinal cord injury in the country. In 2013, he gifted a stock of medical supplies for spinal cord injury to the then Minister of Health[39] Maithripala Sirisena.[40] Palipana sits on the council of the Sri Lanka Spinal Cord Network.[41]

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.[42] The guidelines can potentially be used exclude medical students with similar conditions to Palipana. By using his story as an example,[43] Palipana has been a vocal advocate for taking an inclusive approach to medical education in the country instead.[44][45][46] Palipana has been using his story to demonstrate ways in which doctors,[47][48][49] and the wider population,[50][51][52][53] can work effectively with disabilities. In 2018, he was a keynote speaker at Stanford Medicine X at the Stanford University[54][55] and TEDxBrisbane[56] on the topic. Through various capacities, he has been an advocate for inclusive employment generally.[57][58]

He is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia, an advocacy group for physicians with disabilities.[59][60] Through Doctors with Disabilities Australia, Palipana supported some Indian peers in an Indian High Court case during 2019.[61] The case involved a challenge of the Medical Council of India's decisions around medical education and disabilities.[62]

Palipana is a member of the Ambassador Council at the Hopkins Centre, a centre for research in rehabilitation and resilience.[63][64] He has been a member of the Australian Medical Association Queensland's Council of Doctors in Training since 2017.[65] Since gaining employment at the Gold Coast University Hospital, Palipana has promoted inclusion within the organisation.[66][67]

He became an ambassador for Physical Disability Australia in 2020.[68] In 2021, he became an ambassador to the IncludeAbility project of the Australian Human Rights Commission.[69] He was an ambassador for the Racism. It Stops With Me. campaign.[70]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Palipana advocated for the interests of people with disabilities,[71][72] particularly in healthcare.[73][74] Palipana appeared on ABC's Q&A to speak about the issue.[75] He spoke at the 2020 Disability Royal Commission on the topic.[76][77]

In 2023, Palipana was involved in advocating for changes to Queensland's only spinal cord injury unit.[78][79]

Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM being photographed at Griffith University's Advanced Design and Prototyping Technologies Institute, where he co-leads the innovative Biospine project with Dr Claudio Pizzolato.

Palipana has interests in spinal cord injury research.[80][81][82][83][84] He was awarded $2 million in 2019 to pursue research in thought-controlled rehabilitation.[85] He attributes this passion to his own injury. Palipana is a member of the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation's scientific committee.[86]

Palipana's interest includes non-invasive interventions to promote functional improvement in spinal cord injury.[87][88] Some of these interventions have involved electroencephalography (EEG) and electrical stimulation,[89] which was highlighted in Griffith University's Be Remarkable media campaign.[90] He has been encouraged by a mentor at Harvard University, where he was one of the first visiting medical students of this nature.[91] The project received $2 million Australian in 2019 from the Queensland Government.[92]

Palipana has published articles on disability, COVID-19 and medicine.[93]

Palipana was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka to Chithrani and Sanath Palipana. He grew up in Byron Bay and Brisbane, Australia.[94] Palipana attributes much of his success to the support of his mother.[95][96][97]

Palipana's story was featured on the popular ABC radio show Conversations with Richard Fidler,[98] the ABC television show Australian Story,[99] BBC Outlook,[100] Today,[101] and Vice (magazine).[102] He appeared on the cover of Sri Lanka's Pulse [103] Magazine in January 2020. Dinesh has spoken at various events such as TED (conference)[104] and alongside figures such as Kerry O'Brien[105][106] and Deng Thiak Adut[107] regarding his experiences.[108][109][110]

Palipana has written for Ars Technica,[111] ABC News (Australia)[112] and Medscape.[113] He has appeared in ABC's The Drum on various topics.[114][115]

Palipana was a runway model for the Adaptive Fashion Collective at the Australian Fashion Week and appeared in Vogue[116] and Harper's Bazaar.[117]

Palipana's autobiography Stronger was released by Pan MacMillan in 2022.[118]

• 2022: Red Bull Wings for Life World Run Ambassador[119]

• 2022: Australia Day Ambassador[120]

• 2021: Queensland Australian of the Year[121]

• 2021: Griffith University Young Alumnus of the Year[122]

• 2021: International Day of People with Disability Ambassador[123]

• 2020: Aspire Awards: Individual Best Achievement in Medicine[124]

• 2019: Medal of the Order of Australia for service to medicine[125]

• 2019: Junior Doctor of the Year at the Gold Coast University Hospital[126][127]

• 2019: Third Australian to be awarded the Henry Viscardi Achievement Award[128]

• 2019: 'Change Making' in National Awards for Disability Leadership[129]

Coat of arms of Dinesh Palipana

Notes Granted 28 January 2022[130] Crest Upon a helm with a wreath Agent and Sable a demi lion Argent gorged with chain Or pendent therefrom a rose Gules barbed Vert charged with a Maltese cross Argent and holding with the dexter paw a Rod of Aesculapius in bend sinister Sable the serpent Argent. Escutcheon Per bend bevilled Sable and Argent issuant in chief and on the sinister a phoenix Argent enflamed Proper. Motto Invictus Per Aspera