Dr. Gigi Osler is an ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) surgeon from Winnipeg, Manitoba and is also the current president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). She is passionate about physician health and wellness, global health and goes on annual volunteer missions to Uganda, speaking out on diversity and inclusion within medicine. We conducted a phone interview with Dr. Osler, to shed light on her role in the CMA and her vision for a better healthcare system.
“I’ve been in practice for 20 years and I’ve continued to be amazed and honoured by the privilege we have as doctors to care for our fellow human beings. Initially, I had worried about how the presidency would affect my patients, due to the time spent away from patients to attend meetings and pursue advocacy roles. However, I’m happy to say that they have consistently been so proud of me, to see that their doctor is stepping up to take this prominent advocacy role. They continue to inspire me. For me, it drives home that special relationship that doctors have with their patients. It’s not something I ever thought I’d be doing一 early on in my practice, I never thought I’d be in this position. I’m just really enjoying this opportunity and this once in a lifetime experience.
When I was thinking about stepping into this role I started thinking about all of the presidents of the CMA to come before me. The CMA has been around for 151 years, and I’m the 8th female president. I am also the first female surgeon and the first woman of colour to hold this position. I’ve come to realize how important this representation means to younger generations and medical students of colour. To see somebody that looks like them in this position. One of my goals moving forward is to use this incredible platform and to use my voice to advocate for better diversity and inclusion in medicine, which can make better healthcare for all of us.
If I had the power to implement one change in the Canadian healthcare system, it would be to better meet the healthcare needs of Canada’s seniors. Our population is aging and right now, people 65 or older make up about 20% of the population. That group requires about 50% of current healthcare costs. Thus, as our population ages, that will continue to drive up the costs of our healthcare system. If you think about it, right now, the cost of healthcare for the average senior is about 12K per year, and compare that to about 2.7K per person if you’re under the age of 65. The percentage of seniors is only going to get larger.
Sometimes when people think about meeting the healthcare needs of seniors, they think: “that doesn’t affect me, I’m not a senior”. But it does affect the rest of us, because not only are we all getting older, but looking after and devoting more federal money to our seniors means providing more homecare, more palliative care programs, more long term care beds and services delivered out of the hospital. This results in a cheaper cost than keeping them in the hospital. This will then have this trickle down effect, wherein less seniors in hospital will leave more beds for other patients, reduce waiting times in the ER and reduce wait times for elective surgery ( which sometimes get cancelled if there’s no bed for you in hospital). Not only is it the right thing to do, but I do think there are these trickle down effects that would ensure better healthcare for all of us.
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