MELBOURNE: When Anna Dang, who is legally blind, tells people she is studying to become a doctor – not everyone understands why.
But after spending 18 months in hospital and overhearing her family being told, “you might need to say goodbye”, Ms Dang, 21, promised herself she would never be held back by her health and instead – she would become just like the doctors who helped save her life.
Ms Dang has been blind her entire life, with just two per cent vision in her left eye and no vision in her right.
She is defying all odds in her second year of university, studying a Bachelor of biomedical science at Deakin.
“I always wanted to do medicine but I’m blind, I come from a low socio-economic background and I thought – how can you be blind and a doctor at the same time?”, she said.
“But I had an epiphany – I was given another chance to live and after witnessing all the care I received throughout those two years, I really want to study medicine.
“I thought, I’m going to take a stab in the dark – regardless if no one’s done it before. I want to give it my all.”
Ms Dang was given a one per cent chance of survival after being hospitalised with a severe gut infection, directly after she recovered from anorexia nervosa.
She missed out on her peak high school years and therefore did not graduate with an ATAR – which forced her to complete complex bridging courses in order to even apply for university.
When Ms Dang applied for the course, she told Deakin University, “I know it’s not the same but I cook, I clean, I do a lot of things like use a knife and cut with scissors and I have a lot of assisted technology to help”.
Now, with the help of her seeing eye dog, Kylie, Ms Dang travels from Preston to Burwood for all of her classes and practical assignments – becoming the only blind person in Australia to study biomedicine.
To manage her work, she uses AI technology to reformat course materials, while a camera attached to her microscope sends live images to a computer that describes the slides for her.
“I have to accept that I’m not going to be the doctor that does procedural things, I’m just going to do a lot of consultations and I’m okay with that.
“I am real with my peers, I know I’m never going to be able to insert a cannula, for example. That’s just not safe for the patient.
“As long as I get to be a doctor and I get to deliver medical care to patients, I don’t mind that.”
Vision Australia chief mission officer Chris Edwards said students with a disability are often forced to navigate inaccessible systems before they even enter the classroom.
“Accessible enrolment processes, course materials and digital platforms are essential to ensuring students with disability can participate equally,” Mr Edwards said.
“Anna’s story is a powerful reminder that talent and ambition are not limited by disability.”
After completing her undergraduate degree, Anna plans to complete an honours year before pursuing postgraduate medicine with a focus on congenital heart disease.
“People with disabilities are capable of so much more than society often expects,” she said.