Latest news with #AinslieMihalchuk
Winnipeg Free Press
21-06-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba's MDs mandate steps to end anti-Indigenous racism
Manitoba's doctors are embarking on a path the profession's regulator hopes will eliminate anti-Indigenous racism in medical care. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba is mandating that MDs complete a course of anti-racism training before November 2027. Two other initiatives go into effect as of today — National Indigenous Peoples Day. The first, a standard of practice, requires that doctors report racist behaviour. The other is a restorative practices program to provide education and support to physicians who cause harm to First Nations, Métis or Inuit patients, either intentionally or unintentionally. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS The college is moving toward a restorative justice standard, says registrar Ainslie Mihalchuk. 'It is very difficult to practise medicine in Manitoba in any context without interacting with, supporting, caring for people who have Indigenous ancestry or who are from our First Nations and Inuit population and who have had suffered the health effects of colonialism,' Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk, registrar of the college, said Friday. 'That is part of why we feel it's important that, to practise in Manitoba, you need a baseline understanding of how colonialism impacts health. If you can have that understanding, then you inherently will be a better provider for the people here.' A report on race, ethnicity and Indigenous identity released Tuesday by Shared Health and the University of Manitoba's Ongomiizwin Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing revealed issues in seeking and receiving health care in the province. It showed that Indigenous patients in hospital emergency departments were most likely to leave without being seen and against medical advice, including higher-acuity patients. 'The data supports that we have opportunity to do better,' Mihalchuk said. 'This is about understanding needs of humans and that the needs of certain groups of humans are different than others, and that it's on us as leaders and providers in the health system to recognize that this data points to the fact that our systems are not serving these people in the best way. 'That should lead us to collectively try and say, 'What do we need to do differently?'' She pointed to other examples of anti-Indigenous racism in Canadian health care — from the death of Brian Sinclair, who died after waiting 34 hours without being seen at the Health Sciences Centre ER in 2008 to Joyce Echaquan, a mother of seven, who died in 2020 at a hospital north of Montreal moments after recording health-care staff hurl racist remarks at her, to experiments performed on residential school students. 'We were part of that. The medical profession, the healing profession has participated in that,' Mihalchuk said. 'I think we need to understand how, although we might see ourselves as nice people, there's a lack of trust — that's not on individuals. It's on systems and societies and structures that are older and bigger than we are,' Mihalchuk said. The college self-regulates 3,500 physicians in Manitoba. The 30 per cent of internationally trained doctors in the province may have had no exposure 'to the stories of how Manitoba came to be and who lived here before,' Mihalchuk said. The province often relies on foreign-trained doctors to work in rural and remote communities and areas with large Indigenous populations, she said. 'Asking for people to have a common understanding of the human beings that they're serving in the practise of medicine doesn't feel like a big ask, because we believe that it's a good investment.' There are four college-approved courses — three for those in active practice and the fourth is the Indigenous health program that's part of undergraduate or post-graduate medical training at the University of Manitoba. Mihalchuk said the college received advice from an Indigenous advisory circle about the training and how to discipline those who don't meet the new standard. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. Rather than the traditional rigid, 'blame, shame, punish' approach, the college is moving toward a restorative justice approach, she said. 'It's more about healing the harm and going through a process that keeps both parties — the complainant and the person complained about — intact and whole at the end of a process that's not about blame, shame and punish. 'We are leaders,' she continued, 'in the country who are doing this work and really it's about creating a safe space to work on this together as a profession and to contribute to 'better.'' Doctors Manitoba said in an email it is providing professional development funding for the training that counts toward the hours of continuing education doctors have to complete every year to improve their practice and maintain their licence. Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
02-05-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba regulator proposes fast-track for U.S. physicians
Facing the second-largest doctor shortage in Canada, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba has launched a review to make it easier for American-certified physicians to become licensed in Manitoba. 'We understand the pressures in Manitoba to get more physicians into practice. So we are constantly looking for ways that we can cut down on red tape or facilitate safe changes to a process that might have worked historically, but doesn't meet our modern demand,' said Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk, registrar for the Manitoba physician watchdog. The proposed changes would allow physicians from the U.S. to apply for Manitoba licences if they have completed an accredited residency program and hold certification from the American Board of Medical Specialists and have an independent or full licence to practice with a U.S. state medical board. NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS FILES Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk said the restrictions are costly, time-consuming and a disincentive to doctors applying to practise in Manitoba. NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS FILES Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk said the restrictions are costly, time-consuming and a disincentive to doctors applying to practise in Manitoba. If all goes to plan, internationally trained doctors could be working in Manitoba by June. Similar policies are in place in several other Canadian provinces, including British Columbia, which changed regulations in February. Mihalchuk and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba looked east and west of Manitoba and, to remain competitive in the market, began the process to loosen regulations. 'If Manitoba is an outlier, that's not good for us,' Mihalchuk said. Current regulations dictate that individuals must first apply for provisional registration, which places limitations on their ability to practise medicine (such as requiring supervisors, assessments, and practice location restrictions). Mihalchuk said the restrictions are costly, time-consuming and a disincentive to doctors applying to practise in Manitoba. 'We went to them and said we think that this is a safe thing to do (and) it would make us attractive to physicians from the States that we know are interested in potentially practising in Manitoba,' Mihalchuk said. The regulator said it is generally accepted among Canadian medical boards that American physicians are as competent and safe as their Canadian counterparts. Doctors Manitoba applauds the proposed changes. After launching recruitment efforts late last year, the doctor advocacy organization said there was interest from physicians south of the border but Manitoba's restrictive licensing requirements for internationally trained doctors was a barrier. 'We want to make sure that every physician practising in Manitoba is practising of the highest standard,' said Doctors Manitoba CEO Theresa Oswald. 'But there are ways to do this that have proven to be more accessible and more rapid than has been the case in Manitoba.' Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. In December, the group took the unusual step of launching its own campaign to target health-care providers in North Dakota, Florida and other states where providers could find their practice in jeopardy under U.S. President Donald Trump's policies targeting the health-care system. Since taking office, Trump has signed off on ending federal support for gender-affirming care, exiting the World Health Organization and no longer recognizing transgender and non-binary identities. 'We know here in Manitoba that that (doctor-patient) sanctity is respected and that evidence and science have to be at the forefront,' Oswald said. Oswald estimates between 40 and 50 doctors have expressed interest in coming to Manitoba, which the organization has referred to the province's recruitment and retention office. Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Thursday the province is actively engaged with about a dozen foreign doctors to receive their Manitoba certification. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES The province has hired more than 1,600 net-new health-care workers since April 2024, including 600 nurses, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES The province has hired more than 1,600 net-new health-care workers since April 2024, including 600 nurses, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said. Asagwara accused the previous Progressive Conservative government of not taking the necessary steps to improve patient care or use a patient-centred approach. 'Our government is laser-focused on making health care better for Manitobans, and that means making sure that we have the health-care professionals and experts in our province to provide that care,' the minister said. In March, Shared Health launched a similar recruitment campaign south of the border in an effort to bring American nurses to Manitoba. The initiative was to offer asylum to working nurses worried about their ability to care for patients, while addressing the province's nurse shortage. At the time, Asagwara said the recruitment and retention office had worked to make transferring U.S. nursing licences to Manitoba easier. The province has hired more than 1,600 net-new health-care workers since April 2024, including 600 nurses, Asagwara said. Provincial figures on nurses hired through the recruitment campaign were not made available before press time. The NDP campaigned on a promise to hire 400 new doctors within five years prior to winning the 2023 election. No update was provided Thursday on the status of that objective. Nicole BuffieMultimedia producer Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College's Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole. Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
