Riya Isuf

230151022

FNST100

Tannis Reynolds

6 December 2022

Aboriginal leader project

Dr. Nadine Caron

First female First Nations surgeon in Canada and a pioneer in the country's medical

education is Dr. Nadine Caron. Dr. Caron was one of four children born to an Italian

immigrant father and an Ojibwe mother in Kamloops, British Columbia, where he was

born and reared (a mason). While participating in varsity basketball at Simon Fraser

University, she finished her Kinesiology degree. The first female member of a First

Nations community to graduate from UBC Medical School was Dr. Caron. The first

female First Nation general surgeon in Canada, she then completed a general surgical

residency at UBC while obtaining a master’s in public health from Harvard University.

After completing an Endocrine Surgical Fellowship at the University of California, San

Francisco, Nadine, and her family moved to Prince George, British Columbia, where her

husband, Dr. Patrick Turner, an emergency physician, and daughter Aliah now reside (a

budding biathlete). Trail running with her dogs, canoeing, cross-country skiing, hiking,

and watching Aliah compete in sports are all activities that Nadine enjoys. She was
named as a member of the Bloomberg School of Public Health's Associate Faculty at

Johns Hopkins University in 2009. Dr. Caron has made a significant impact as a surgeon,

researcher, and Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation member by standing up for the rights

of marginalised and Indigenous peoples. As the first female First Nations student to

graduate from the University of British Columbia’s medical school, she won the Hamber

Gold Medal as the top graduating student and was named one of Maclean’s “One

Hundred Canadians to Watch.” Dr. Caron’s main research focus involves access to equal

health status, health care services and the research that leads to these for our marginalized

populations – including Aboriginal, northern, and rural. He is constantly looking for new

opportunities to address the health disparities experienced by Indigenous populations,

communities, and individuals. Dr. Caron continues to inspire and lead by example as a

friend, colleague, mentor, and role model to many.

As a general and endocrine surgeon, Nadine Caron joined the University Hospital

of Northern British Columbia in January 2005. She continued to work in education,

holding positions as an adjunct professor at the University of Northern British Columbia,

assistant professor of surgery at the University of British Columbia Northern Medical

Program, associate faculty member at the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins

University, assistant professor of population and public health at the University of British

Columbia, and scientist for the BC Cancer Agency at the Genome Sciences Centre.

Caron is a fellow of the Canadian Royal College of Surgeons. Caron has served on

numerous committees throughout her career, including the BC Ministry of Health

Advisory Committee on Provincial Health Goals, the BC Medical Association

Committee on Health Promotion, Native Physicians Association of Canada, BC Medical

Association Committee on Aboriginal Health, and co-director of the UBC Centre for

Excellence in Indigenous Health. She has also participated in several national and

international presentations on Indigenous health, care in rural and northern

locations, cancer care, and health care inequities. Her primary areas of interest are

Indigenous health and Canadian health policy. Caron was appointed the first Nations

Health Authority Chair in Cancer and Wellness at UBC in January 2020. By exploring

the needs and stories of Indigenous cancer patients and their families, this new position

was established with $3 million in funding with the goal of improving cancer outcomes

and wellbeing among Indigenous peoples.

Dr. Nadine Caron, the first female First Nations general surgeon in Canada, says

there is still much to be done to combat institutional racism and inspire Indigenous

students to pursue careers in healthcare. Caron is a physician who works in northern

British Columbia and teaches at the medical school at the University of Northern British

Columbia in Prince George, British Columbia. She claims that she has seen prejudice and

personally experienced it throughout her career. In addition, Caron is tackling the

pervasive issue of healthcare access that affects rural and First Nations populations in the

north. Providing effective services is challenging due to long wait times, high employee

turnover rates, a lack of human resources, and challenging environmental conditions.

Even if they are powerless to control the weather, Caron claimed that new technology,

including telemedicine, have increased access to healthcare for people living in remote

areas. She added that they are training more doctors to boost their team in those locations
and making sure they have the "cultural competency" and "humility" they need to

function well in those communities. Dr. Caron had many difficulties along the way, not

just because she was a woman but also because she was an Indigenous person. She said

that racism was pervasive in the medical community. "I recall this one instance, which

occurred many years ago... A surgeon then entered. And he had recently wrapped up a

complicated case. He then sat down and stated, "Phew, it will be too soon if I never

operate on another Indian," according to Dr. Caron. If everyone, whether they are

Indigenous or of another race, challenges every act of prejudice, she claims, stereotyping

will decrease. She encourages indigenous youth to set and achieve goals for themselves

before assisting others in determining their course in life and careers. She would want to

see more Native Americans practise medicine. Be a trailblazer like her, she exhorts, the

first to move across a field of tall grass, bending and destroying it to form a path.

The Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health at the university, which was

established in 2014 to enhance the recruitment and retention of Indigenous students into

the health professions, develop curricula addressing Indigenous health issues, and carry

out additional research into Indigenous health, will closely collaborate with the chair,

which represents a partnership between the UBC faculty of medicine's school of

population and public health and the FNHA. "The First Nations of British Columbia are

extremely interested in the choice of Dr. Nadine Caron as chair for this ground-breaking

initiative. She is focused on a subject that's also causing more and more worry because

Indigenous peoples are seeing worse outcomes with several cancers. The inclusion of a

wellness focus will significantly improve treatment and care, according to Richard Jock,
the FNHA's acting CEO. The position seeks to address the difference in cancer health

outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous persons in British Columbia. It is

funded by a $1.5 million investment from the FNHA and matching money from UBC.

According to research, First Nations people in British Columbia have much higher rates

of specific cancers, such as colorectal and cervical, and they also have lower survival

rates for practically all cancer types. "The long-held understanding of wellness's

significance, which is a key component of Indigenous traditional learnings, is now a

crucial premise guiding twenty-first century health care, "says Dr. Dermot Kelleher, vice

president for health at UBC and dean of the medical school there. "We are thrilled that

Dr. Caron has been appointed to the first, First Nations Health Authority Chair in Cancer

and Wellness, which is devoted to improving health for all." As chair, Caron will take a

holistic approach to developing strategies to prevent and treat cancer among Indigenous

peoples, acknowledging how colonisation, racism, marginalisation, and poverty have

contributed to the current disparity in health outcomes. Caron is also the co-director of

UBC's Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health (CEIH).

I consider it an honour to hold the first, First Nations Health Authority Chair in

Cancer and Wellness at UBC "says Caron, a surgical oncologist who treats rural BC

residents and lives in Prince George. To better understand where we are and change these

outcomes, it will take time to have the impact that our alliance seeks to achieve

throughout the whole cancer prevention and care spectrum. We may now assert that this

is where our responsibilities and impact begin. Our future is bright as long as we all work

together to promote Indigenous voices and viewpoints."

 References

• Boileau, J. (2021). Nadine Caron. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved

from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nadine-caron

• Caron, Nadine; Pasieka, Janice (2009). “What Symptom Improvement Can Be

Expected After Operation for Primary Hyperparathyroidism?”.World Journal

of Surgery.

• “Nadine Caron: Canada’s 1st Female Indigenous Surgeon”. The National.

December 12, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2019.from https://"Nadine Caron:

Canada’s 1st Female Indigenous Surgeon