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‘Just because I’m colourful doesn’t mean I’m not competent’
Should doctors look a certain way? Dr Sarah Gray believes people’s attitudes towards her extensive body art are changing.
Intern Dr Sarah Gray is hoping to shatter the stigma around heavily tattooed people.
There was a time when doctors were expected to wear white coats and have a certain ‘look’.
Dr Sarah Gray told newsGP she is relieved those days are behind us.
The Adelaide intern is heavily tattooed, sports coloured hair and has multiple facial piercings.
‘I have definitely seen the pendulum shift in the views of everybody in the health industry over the last few years or so,’ she said.
‘I think a lot of the older generation of patients still expect you to look more like an old-school medical professional in their eyes, but it’s definitely changing.’
As doctors’ appearances have become less stringent, they have in turn become more relatable, Dr Gray said. She believes this has had a positive impact on the doctor–patient relationship.
‘With [doctors’ appearances] being a bit more relaxed, patients are more likely to be open and honest with them and talk to them a bit more about how they’re feeling,’ she said.
Not only does Dr Gray say her body art makes her more relatable to patients, but it is a talking point.
‘A lot of the times it will be, “Oh wow, you’re really colourful”,’ she said.
‘Or they’ll compliment me on my hair, or my eyebrows, or my tattoos.
‘A lot of the younger patients as well tend to talk about it, especially if they’ve got tattoos themselves. They often want to talk about body art, which I’m more than happy to talk about.’
Dr Gray has never had anyone comment negatively on how she looks, or had patients refuse treatment because of her appearance.
‘I’ve never really had anything brought up in a negative light – not to my face, anyway,’ she said.
‘I’m sure there are people that don’t like the way that I look because I’m not as conservative in appearance as some people think a doctor should look like.’
Dr Gray will not let such attitudes affect her. Nor will she let them influence her future plans for her body art.
She cannot put a number on how many tattoos she currently has, saying it is now more of a ‘cohesive collection’. She instead prefers to measure it in terms of the number of hours she has spent being tattooed, which currently stands at around the ‘350–400 hours’ mark.
And she is not finished.
‘I do want to complete a bodysuit and I’m on the way to doing so,’ she said.
‘So, basically covering the entirety of my body [with tattoos], excluding my face.’
Dr Gray is in the last rotation of her internship. She plans to undertake a surgical residency next year, with the long-term goal of becoming an orthopaedic surgeon.
Dr Gray’s love of body art started when she got her first tattoo eight years ago.
Soon after, she began ‘collecting’ different body art from tattooists she admired.
‘I just found it was a good way to show your creative self-expression through wearing your selection on your skin, instead of hanging it on your walls at home,’ she said.
Dr Gray met her husband through the body art industry, and the pair now own their own tattoo studio.
While she acknowledges she is likely one of the most heavily inked doctors, Dr Gray says many of the clients at her studio are also in the field.
‘We’ve got quite a lot of people that are medical professionals, that you might not traditionally think collect body art but do, so it’s definitely a lot bigger than people may think,’ she said.
Dr Gray laments the fact there is still a stigma surrounding people with tattoos.
‘So many people get stigmatised for being heavily tattooed and as being a “bad person”,’ she said.
But, she is keen to note, having tattoos is not a reflection of your values.
While she wants to shatter that image associated with having body art, Dr Gray says her main message is that a doctor’s appearance should have no bearing on their work.
‘I just think people focus on appearance too much and it shouldn’t really make a difference to what you can do in your life,’ she said.
‘I don’t think your appearance should be a hurdle.
‘If you work hard, and you want something bad enough, you should be able to achieve that, and I don’t think that just because you look differently that should get in the way.’
For Dr Gray, who is in the last rotation of her internship, those plans include doing a surgical residency next year, with a long-term goal of becoming an orthopaedic surgeon.
Her message for other doctors regarding appearance is simple.
‘You don’t have to be muted in appearance or fly under the radar to fit a certain preconceived mould,’ she said.
‘I am really passionate about wanting people to realise that just because I’m colourful doesn’t mean I’m not competent.’
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