BY DR. LIANA HWANG On March 11 2021, we hope you will join us in celebrating the first ever Canadian Women Physicians Day. Currently, more than 40% of our country's physicians are women, and although that proportion is growing, we continue to face gender-based issues like income disparity and discrimination. March 11 was the date of licensure of Dr Jennie Trout, the first woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada. Dr Trout was born in Scotland on April 21, 1841. She taught public school until a bout of illness inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. As Canadian medical schools did not ..read more

NOMINATE A PHENOMENAL WOMAN FOR CWIM’S INSPIRING WOMAN PHYSICIAN AWARD! Canadian Women in Medicine is honoured and excited to be the recipient of an anonymous donation which has led to the creation of the CWIM Inspiring Woman Physician Award. Inspired herself by the outstanding patient care, vision, and passion of Dr. Setareh Ziai, co-founder and Past President of CWIM, our generous donor wishes to acknowledge the work of other dedicated, skilled, trailblazing women physicians in Canada. Do you know someone who should be recognized for her inspiring efforts to support her community, workplace ..read more

It is time to go on the walk. Like many others who find themselves owned by a dog, as I lace up my shoes Indi bounds about excitedly. Her enthusiasm is both energizing and exasperating as I turn my head to avoid a French kiss. Here, we can just head out, leaving the leash behind, down the cottage road. Going off leash is dog freedom at its absolute finest. As a well-behaved dog, she will never leave our property unaccompanied yet once we are on the road, she is diving into leaf filled ditches and kicking up dirt like it’s nobody’s business. As Indi follows her nose, periodically perking up to ..read more

Moderator Introduction, by Dr. Sara Ahronheim October 15 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, and in fact the whole month of October traditionally is the time to remember children who have died. US President Ronald Reagan proclaimed October Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, in 1988, and Canada followed suit in 2005. Each October 15, at 7 pm, the Global Wave of Light traverses the earth with candles being lit in remembrance of all babies who passed away too soon. You are invited to take part in this by lighting a candle in your window, and thus joining hands in support with all ..read more

Originally posted on Dr. Sprague's personal blog, Life on Abram Lake, https://lifeonabramlake.com/ Trigger warning: Child non-accidental trauma In the end, it was her eyelashes that broke me. Impossibly long, feathered midnight against pale skin. The tips, crescendoed upwards with perfection. Those eyelashes, masking the horror of what lay beneath. As the solo physician covering our local ER overnight, I was called to her bedside by the triage nurse. “The on-call worker brought her in,” reported the nurse. “She said she’s been sleeping the whole time she’s been in care since last evening.” The ..read more

1. Dad is angry he yells and tells me how it is; stridently informs me what is wrong with society and consequently, with me We part, having never met 2. she told me what happened, years ago Today the room smells thickly, and potently, of sweat; fetid excretions of anxiety she cries after the exam (at first, I don’t notice, I’m busy charting) I long to hold her and tell her, I know, my love, I know 3. chronic abdominal pain deteriorating mental health substance use contraception pelvic exam poverty suspect abuse fifteen minutes medical student at least the chest pressure is mine alone 4. Abrupt ..read more

The system is me too... 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" somewhere hanging 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 ..read more

We’re so excited to welcome CWIM Partners on November 9th in Toronto for our first-ever PRN (Peer Resource Network) Social. We’ve put together a can’t-miss evening focused on mentorship and we hope to see you there! Thinking about attending? Below we’ve shared 10 reasons why you should join us. Kick-start your mentorship journey. Have you wanted to get connected with a mentor but aren't sure where to start? We’re thrilled to have Dr. Mamta Gautum, President and CEO of PEAK MD Inc., as our guest speaker. She’ll be sharing all about when and where to find a mentor and how to create and sustain ..read more

CWIM joins calls to Memorial University Medical School to protect students who report racism. CWIM is joining with multiple organizations and hundreds of signatories to call on Memorial University Medical School to clearly state that they won't allow retribution against a group of students who raised concerns about racism. You can read more about this case here and read our original letter here Dear Dean Dr. Margaret Steele, We are deeply concerned by reports of retaliation against medical students by the Memorial University Faculty of Medicine for reporting potentially racist and unprofession ..read more

I originally posted this in a Facebook group for physicians after a thread took a pretty worrisome left turn on the topic of obesity – specifically, sex while fat. This happens a lot, because the culture of medicine is fat-phobic and literally killing people. I think this is a subject that needs frequent re-iteration. I think it’s important for me to say that the word ‘fat’ is being used here for a reason. It is a word many of us are reclaiming, a word not associated with doctor’s offices and humiliating lectures, a word once used to harm us that we are taking back. That said, if you’re readin ..read more