Black History Month: Dr. Hadal El-Hadi & Dr. Teresa Semalulu

Black History Month: Dr. Hadal El-Hadi & Dr. Teresa Semalulu

Dr. Hadal El-Hadi and Dr. Teresa Semalulu are the co-founders of the Black Physicians of Canada organization established in 2020 with a mission to build a community of Black physicians and physicians-in-training, and educate the Canadian health care system about the obstacles that Black physicians frequently encounter.

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Black History Month: Dr. Douglas Salmon

Black History Month: Dr. Douglas Salmon

As one of only four Black students at the University of Toronto’s medical school, in 1955 Dr. J Douglas Salmon graduated and would go on to become president of Scarborough Centenary Hospital’s medical staff, and chief of general surgery – the first black person in Canada to hold these positions. He also became one of the first surgeons in Canada to treat people who were morbidly obese with the then life-changing treatment, gastric bypass surgery.

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Black History Month: Clotilda Douglas-Yakimchuk

Black History Month: Clotilda Douglas-Yakimchuk

Born and raised in Whitney Pier, Nova Scotia, Clotilda Douglas-Yakimchuk became the first Black graduate of the Nova Scotia Hospital School of Nursing in 1954. She also went on to earn a postgraduate midwifery diploma and psychiatric nursing certificate, and diploma in adult education. Clotilda is also the only Black President in the history of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Nova Scotia (now known as The College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia) to date. 

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Black History Month: Dr. June Marion James

Black History Month: Dr. June Marion James

Inspired by her grandmother and spurred on by her family’s experience with typhoid, Dr. June Marion James attended the University of Manitoba with the intention of pursuing a career in medicine. She was the first Black woman to attend the university, and only Black woman of the six women in its medical program in 1963.

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The Story of Tommy Douglas and Hospital Insurance

The Story of Tommy Douglas and Hospital Insurance

ommy Douglas implemented the Hospital Services Plan which made hospital services free and available to all. It was the first health care plan of its kind in Canada. This plan inspired the federal government to create one that helped fund hospital-operating costs and diagnostic services all throughout Canada.

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Dr. Hercules Sanche and the Gas-Pipe Fraud

Dr. Hercules Sanche and the Gas-Pipe Fraud

One of America's most notorious quacks, Dr. Sanche apparently moved around a lot, keeping one step ahead of the authorities. Dr. Hercules Sanche was an itinerant businessman who pretended to be a doctor. He used this scheme to sell to people a type of product known as the Oxydonor Victor

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The Story of Dr. Kenneth Fenwick and His Complex Legacy

The Story of Dr. Kenneth Fenwick and His Complex Legacy

Today, we’re looking at a story that may not be as inspiring as many that could be told. It is an important story nonetheless. This is the story of Dr. Kenneth Neander Fenwick (1852-1896), and the women from whom he sought to deprive a medical education.

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