by
Dr. Ryan Thomas
In medical school, students routinely examine one another to practice clinical skills before applying them in real-world settings. So, when a classmate noticed small lumps in my neck, I made sure to get it checked, thinking there must be something wrong. However, the examination and imaging did not reveal anything concerning and I moved on.
by
Jai Shah
Srividya N Iyer
In the midst of polycrises such as the COVID pandemic, climate change, financial precarity and the rise of artificial intelligence, there has been growing global momentum for early intervention in the mental health of young people.
by
Sumeet Talwar
The insulin pen had been sitting on his kitchen table for months. The 46‑year‑old man, a retired Sri Lanka born chef living in the Toronto area, had survived oral cancer, pancreatitis and a lifetime of hard work. But nothing frightened him more than the small plastic pen meant to save his life. On a June morning, during a routine check after his jaw surgery, he finally confessed his fears.
by
Mubariz Maqsood
For years, we talked about health misinformation as if it were mainly a knowledge problem: patients encountering false claims online, doctors correcting them and the better information winning.
by
Gurjit Kaur Toor
Valerie Grdisa
Bill C-30 represents a paradox: its immediate and long-term health and economic consequences are severe and far-reaching, and undermine the logic used to justify it.
by
Julia Burnier
Cara MacInnis
...
Beneath the progressive rhetoric extolling the virtues of patient partnership in health research lies an uncomfortable truth: patient partnership is largely unpaid volunteer work.
by
Nisha Malhotra
When I miscarried in Canada, the clinical encounter that followed felt like I was being handed a form when what I needed was a human being.
by
Margaret McGregor
As a physician advocating for planetary health and environmental health researcher, I find Prime Minister Mark Carney’s persistence in referring to liquified natural gas (LNG) as a “transition fuel” deeply distressing. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
by
Lara McLachlan
In June, Parliament’s Special Joint Committee on MAiD recommended that Canada indefinitely exclude people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness. Some disability organizations frame this as necessary to preserve the exclusion so we can keep pressure on governments to improve supports or permit eligibility and risk that pressure disappearing.
by
Laura Targownik
Providing gender-affirming medical care to adolescents has become one of the most heavily debated medical topics in the public sphere. Medical interventions once widely presented by most major medical groups as unequivocally beneficial and even lifesaving for young people with gender dysphoria have come under sustained scrutiny as emerging evidence has called the certainty of these claims into question and trans issues have become more politically polarizing and salient.
by
Wesley Lodder
On July 31, 2020, my wife, Emily, took her last breath after a long battle with cancer. In that moment, the role that had consumed my life for years came to an abrupt end.
by
Hanan Hammad
Peripheral neuropathy, the chronic nerve illness caused by conditions such as diabetes, cancer, infections and autoimmune diseases, was thought to be completely irreversible. But recent case studies suggest early onset of neuropathy has a chance to be reversed using something everyone can afford: exercise.
by
Alykhan Abdulla
The “dog days of summer” offer Canadians time to disconnect from a harried life and an opportunity to reflect before reacting. Parliament is quiet, our attachment to the frenetic news cycle is unshackled and, for a few precious weeks, the yoyoing of outrage and frustration becomes a distant call of the lake loon.
by
Tara Kiran
Just over a year ago, the government of Ontario passed landmark legislation that puts primary care – the care most often delivered by family doctors – at the foundation of the health-care system.
by
Michelle Cohen
The word “cancer” strikes a particular kind of fear in people’s hearts and creates a thriving market for cancer scams. If you search “cancer treatments” on Facebook (one of the first prompts that appear if you type “cancer” into the search bar), you’re immediately fed videos on alternative therapies and recommended groups discussing “natural” versus conventional cancer care.
by
Kelly Cobey
When my mom moved across the province to be closer to her grandkids (and I like to think, me), she faced a challenge many Canadians know all too well: finding a family doctor. But once she did, she faced another problem. It turned out that some of her medical history hadn’t made the trip with her.
by
Nkechi Ikeaba
During a rural posting in West Africa, I once saw people at a religious centre locked up, chained to poles and subjected to harsh conditions because they were “addicted to drugs,” brought by their family members who believed they were “demon possessed” or needed “spiritual deliverance.” I remember being shocked and moved to tears at these attempts to detoxify or rehabilitate – but without evidence-based care, compassion, dignity or an understanding of the illness itself.
by
Fallan Curtis
Alberta does not have to choose between recovery and harm reduction. A serious recovery-oriented system would protect both, investing in treatment beds and recovery communities, but also in the low-barrier services that keep people alive long enough to use them.
by
Mohamed Elsayed Elghobashy
Kanish Baskaran
Edwin Wong
We have mapped the stars, descended into the ocean depths, yet the human brain remains one of the greatest mysteries humans have encountered.
by
Lana Cho
If we are serious about improving health outcomes, particularly for populations navigating systemic barriers, creative expression should not be treated as an add-on. It should be recognized as a practical, accessible component of care.
by
Christen Kong
Imagine a world where creativity is prescribed alongside medicine – where artists collaborate with doctors to heal body, mind and spirit.
by
Jasmine Kaur Sidhu
For newcomer survivors of gender-based domestic violence, expressive arts are not decorative. They are a practical, culturally responsive component of recovery.
by
Christen Kong
Community artists help humanize both health care and settlement experiences by creating accessible, relational entry points.
by
Esty-Jo Asare
Andrea Charise
For newcomers to Canada, creativity isn’t just a pastime – it can be a lifeline.
This series is a deep dive into the lives and working conditions of health-care professionals across Canada. It includes six profiles that explore the challenges, triumphs and priorities not only of our the health-care system as a whole, but of the workers who support it.
In partnership with AMS Healthcare, Healthy Debate is publishing a series of solutions-focused articles on emerging technologies and their potential for transformational change in our health-care system.
"Togethering" is the term for how we live out our vision of how we care for our families together. "Family" can mean the traditional nuclear family across generations, modern-day chosen families, friends and neighbours. This series explores how modern families are navigating their own version of "Togethering." These three articles are the first instalments of a 10-part series examining the intersection of housing, aging and caregiving.
In partnership with AMS Healthcare, Healthy Debate is publishing a series of solutions-focused articles examining gaps in our health-care system.
ICYMI Editor's Picks