Interview with deaf U.K. doctor Dr. Justine Durno
Three weeks ago a deaf doctor from the U.K., Dr. Justine Durno, spoke before an U.N. assembly in New York City about how deaf women and deaf people in general often face barriers to enter the medical and STEM fields. Check out this clip.
[Image of Dr. Justine Durno with text that says, “Born in Scotland, currently works and lives in London. Completed 5 years of medical school, currently training in histopathology (human tissue). Was asked by Princess Nisreen El-Hashemite of Iraq to write and present about deaf women in science for the U.N.]
[Video clip of Dr. Durno at the U.N. with burned-in captions]
Dr. Durno:
The current education system is failing deaf children right from the very beginning. Deaf children are increasingly being integrated into mainstream education, many with no specialised Teachers of the Deaf and deaf schools are being shut down. Where there (are) Teachers of the Deaf, the UK government has mandated that they have level one competency in British Sign Language, BSL. At level one, you can communicate in simple words and phrases. You can have simple, everyday conversations in BSL. These are the people who are educating our future generation of deaf doctors and scientists. Is it any wonder that deaf children are underachieving? Once the deaf person has navigated their way to medical school, they’re faced with even more hurdles. The UK standards of medical fitness to train mandates hearing fitness to train mandates hearing and speech to be at a certain standard. This is phonocentric, archaic and immediately deaf individuals who use sign language as their first language are set up to fail. The standards fail to acknowledge that there are many ways to overcome perceived or actual barriers. I use sign language interpreters and assistive technology at work, for instance. We need to move with the times.
Alex:
“The Daily Moth” reporter Renca Dunn was able to sit down with her for an interview.
Dr. Durno:
I want deaf people to see this video and see that they can become doctors. This information can be passed on to deaf children to inspire them that they can be doctors in the future. For hearing people, well we experience a lot of oppression from the hearing communities. So, they need to know about this video because it can change their perspective on the Deaf community. Maybe it can also change their language use in the future, change their approach, change what they do.
Dr. Durno:
Also, I want to add that the Deaf community needs to be given tools for how to fight for their rights. It is pointless to post only on your own social media to your Deaf community. No. You need to pick the right people to approach, pick the right words to say, debate, and fight for your rights in the right way. I think that is something that the Deaf community needs to develop more. The Deaf community needs to know how to fight against the people who are in top positions.
Renca:
Yes, very true. It is a big world with hearing people as the majority. We Deaf people are the minority. It is hard to fight against them. So, we need to play smart and get through cracks to the right people. If we keep our information to each other, the Deaf community only, nothing will change. We need to stand up to the hearing people so they see that we are here.
Dr. Durno:
Yes, exactly!
Dr. Durno:
That’s why I took this opportunity because this was a great platform. I hope this will give the Deaf community more confidence, strength, and new motivation to push for what they believe in.
Renca:
Definitely.
Alex:
Thank you Renca and Dr. Durno for your time. She made a great point that we need to fight for change by taking it up with those in power rather than just talk about issues on social media. Here’s hoping we’ll continue to fight to remove barriers so more deaf women and deaf people can enter the medical and STEM fields.
https://www.facebook.com/justine.durno/videos/10158093562383466/https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/envision2030.html
https://eca.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/02/in-the-words-of-dr-nisreen-el-hashemite