Chronic Illness

Barbie has an insulin pump and CGM too: Why representation in chronic illness education matters

I never had a Barbie with dark hair, brown eyes and an insulin pump when I was growing up. But today’s girls can. And that is progress worth celebrating.

Knit one, purl two on the way to mental health

Addressing rising mental health rates will undoubtedly require a range of different tools, both pharmacological and non-pharmaceutical.

Beyond pink and teal: Patient advocacy is not a morality play

Patient advocacy at its best is not about purity. It’s about presence. It’s about showing up, with all our raw, unpolished language and stories, to demand dignity for people whose lives are already heavy with suffering.

Was my wife’s hospital care an anomaly or the new normal in Ontario?

I had hoped my wife would get timely and dignified care like I'd received in the past. She did not. Was her care an anomaly or is it the way of the future? I don't know but I sure as hell hope it is not the future.

Expanding access to disability supports: the case for impact investing

Thanks to limited access to interventions and income thresholds that fail to account for the cost of caregiving, families with children with neurodevelopmental disabilities are often left to pay out-of-pocket for services.

Black mistrust is logical and rational: What public health policymakers must learn from Black communities

Black communities are not hesitant just for the sake of it. They are hesitant because of memory. They need structural change built from trust, not just crisis.

Obesity and food insecurity in Canada: Two sides of the same coin

Addressing food insecurity and obesity together requires a multi-layered, long-term strategy.

The forgotten patients of brain health: Why Functional Neurological Disorder needs a clinical home

Patients with FND are not puzzles to be passed around. They are Ontarians living with genuine and debilitating symptoms; many of whom have been ignored, invalidated and left to navigate recovery alone.

Patient Perspectives: Telling our stories is critical to improving care

As a physician, nothing will tell you more than simply asking someone how their illness impacts their lives and listening closely to their answers.

Rethinking mental health and substance use health solutions

What if you or someone you know needs mental health and substance use health care right now? Do you know exactly where to go to get what you need?

‘And the dead cannot recover’: The fatal consequences of closing Supervised Consumption Sites

Bill 223 ordered the closure of more than half of Ontario’s 17 supervised consumption sites with no equivalent replacement. For many medical students like me, this is personal.

The Non-Suturable Wounds

A poem inspired by University of Toronto medical student Ye-Jean Park's clerkship rotation.

The MS treatment gap: How costs and outdated policies limit care in Canada

Early, aggressive treatment can significantly improve outcomes for people living with MS. But provinces have yet to implement coverage policies that would ensure patients receive optimal care.

Doing right by the law, and doing right by our patients: The ‘means available to relieve suffering’ safeguards in MAiD

Canadians deserve access to robust and timely responses to their MAiD inquiries. Most important among these are conversations and supports intended to relieve suffering, that may ease or address the person’s desire to die.

Aspiration alone is not adequate: Breast screening task force missing the mark

When it comes to the Canadian Task Force, health advocacy is an integral role for any medical professional. There is no desire to generate more “business.”

Health care’s domino effect: Turning challenges into building blocks

The very system meant to save our lives is quietly collapsing. This isn’t just a slow-motion crisis. It’s a domino chain already falling.

Ontario is getting $7B from the tobacco settlement. Why the silence on where it’s going?

After an Ontario court approved a $32.5 billion big tobacco settlement, one question looms large – why has Ontario been silent on its plans for its share of this money?

Approved but denied: Canadians with neuromuscular diseases face unequal access to treatment

We are told health care in Canada is equal for everyone. But it is not. Particularly for patients with neuromuscular diseases, what you get depends on where you live.

Accessibility: The overlooked competency in medical school

The topic of disability is taught, albeit in a limited way, in our medical schools. Yet, one essential element remains glaringly underrepresented: accessibility.

‘Disability’ glaringly absent from federal cabinet portfolios

On May 13, Prime Minister Carney announced his new cabinet of 28 cabinet ministers and 10 secretaries of states, yet incredibly left Canadians with disabilities without any overt representation.