Brave Advocacy
Physicians are at the forefront of advocacy on a daily basis. Not only do we have to advocate for our patients within the health system to ensure they receive the best and equitable care, but we often have to advocate for one another. We are stronger when we stand together. Now, more than ever we see the need to work together to ensure the needs of the profession and our patients are met, especially in political climates like present day Alberta which have become hostile and adversarial. Brave advocacy means having vulnerability to bring issues forward that require attention and support. Sometimes it can require a unique approach to stand beside and with people and populations who have been misunderstood. Brave advocacy involves reaching into the hearts of people to help change their minds and bring them on side to achieve a common goal, it involves building bridges and relationships. Through my time on the Amazing Race Canada, I was able to see the importance of this, which helped lead to our success.
Being Well Ourselves
Physicians and learners need to be well themselves if they are to create a healing and caring environment for the people they serve. The culture of medicine is shifting with newer generations of physicians recognizing the need for a healthy work-life balance and we need to support this if our colleagues are going to stay in the profession and have a long, satisfying career. Medical learners enter into the profession with a sense of eagerness, optimism and altruism that all too often is trained out of them by rigid expectations, unrealistic, and non-supportive work environments. I strongly support programs that encourage learner and physician wellness and empathy based practice. I support the shift in medical culture which fosters unapologetic happiness, healthy boundaries to practicing medicine, and an environment where all colleagues can feel safe to be who they authentically are. In this way, we can feel fulflled to provide high quality medical care that our population deserves.
Embracing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion across the profession
Each physician that enters into the profession is gifted with talents, attributes, and skills that allow them to provide exceptional care. Despite the fact that physicians graduate with the same degrees in their respective specialties and areas of expertise, they may not be given the same opportunities due to the limitations we allow to occur in institutions that govern us. Physicians from diverse backgrounds are often excluded from participating in the decision making processes that effect change within the health care system. When this happens we inhibit our ability to create an inclusive and diverse profession which fosters growth, development and innovation.We need to ensure that all physicians and learners are represented equitably if we are to grow as a profession which values the uniqueness of each and every member. In doing so, we start to break down the walls of institutional and systemic racism which have led to substandard patient care and health outcomes.