Health Care Has A Problem. As Doctors, It’s On Us To Be Part Of The Solution Too. – HuffPost Canada

The circumstances of Joyce Echaquan’s death say as much about the state of health care as society at large.

I am a doctor.

I grew up without ever seeing a single Indigenous person in my daily life. I did not see their arts, rarely heard their music or language, I did not play with their children. Yet, I knew there was an “us” that looked like me, and a “them” hanging somewhere in old-fashioned images of longhouses, teepees and feathers. Like many, I watched dozens of news reports on “problems of Aboriginals” (when it wasn’t the “Aboriginal problem”). My sister was born during the Oka Crisis, I paid attention to grown-ups’ conversations, saw the cartoons and listened to Kashtin.

I am a doctor. In fact, I am now the family doctor of 550 people who live in the Atikamekw community of Manawan. I had the chance and privilege to train here with them.

Read More: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/indigenous-racism-health-care-canada_ca_5f8f30b7c5b67da85d22041e