Deaf medical resident on path to becoming ‘an amazing physician’
Deaf medical resident Dr. Jessica Dunkley explains what she loves about medicine.
“What I really appreciate about medicine are the patients that feel like they haven’t got the medical attention from a doctor, and when they feel that they’ve received that, it really inspires them,” Dunkley says during an interview at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
“They really appreciate our time, and when I can make a difference, that really matters.”
Dunkley, 34, is the first deaf doctor trained at the University of Alberta.
She is now in the first year of her residency in the family medicine clinic at the Alex. With four years to go, Dunkley plans to get into the public-health side of medicine once she’s finished her residency.
“I’m really interested in educating related to health for the deaf community because they lack access to that information,” she said. That’s because much medical information is not available in sign language. It’s also easier to communicate directly than through an interpreter.
“I’m really interested in providing that access to them,” she said.
Dunkley can both speak and read lips. She is fluent in American Sign Language and Quebec Sign Language.
When she’s with patients, Dunkley uses a sign language interpreter. This is because while she does have a hearing aid, any background noise makes it difficult to pick up some of the details in a conversation.
“A lot of people have never worked with a resident who uses a sign language interpreter, so it’s not really a challenge, it’s just a new environment,” she said.
Dunkley was born deaf into a deaf family in Toronto and raised in Vancouver. Her interest in medicine began around age 10, when she was given a plastic anatomy toy that she could take apart and reassemble.
“I really enjoyed that and I always loved the surgery part of medicine, but that was more a dream than a reality,” she said.
She first began her path toward medicine with a physiotherapy degree. She realized there would be an opportunity to get into medicine when she saw there was equipment, such as specialized stethoscopes, that would allow her to be a doctor. In 2010 she earned a medical degree and a master’s degree in health science from the University of Ottawa. At the U of A, she is a postgraduate student.
There have been some hurdles for Dunkley along the way, though.
Dr. Melanie Lewis, associate dean of learner affairs in the U of A’s faculty of medicine and dentistry, helped Dunkley navigate the accommodation process once she came to Edmonton.
“A lot of the logistics were new to all of us,” Lewis said.
The use of sign language interpreters posed a bit of a difficulty because neither Alberta Health Services nor the university had ever accommodated a deaf doctor before.
It’s also something Dunkley often has to explain to patients.
“That hasn’t been a problem with patients, they’re very open,” she said.
Lewis said Dunkley has shown “tremendous” resilience in overcoming barriers.
“She has a lot riding on her shoulders. She is Métis and she has a disability, so in terms of the role-modelling responsibility she bears, that’s not insignificant,” Lewis said.
“I just admire her so much, because she is doing very well in her program and yet she has a few extra burdens than the typical resident would have.”
However, Lewis said that Dunkley’s deafness is almost a side note to her skill as a doctor.
“She is going to be such an amazing physician that (her deafness) to me is almost the small print of Jessica because she is incredibly talented and incredibly skilled and she happens to be a deaf physician,” Lewis said.