Dr. Ritika Goel is a family doctor and activist based in Toronto, Ontario. She works primarily with people from various marginalized communities, including people experiencing poverty and homelessness, struggling with mental health issues or addictions, or uninsured and precarious migrants. Many of the people Dr. Goel works with have experienced violence and trauma in their lives, and face incredible structural barriers to success. Her clinical work goes hand in hand with organizing and activism, as both are driven by a commitment to social justice. She works with Canadian Doctors for Medicare to advocate for a publicly funded healthcare system that includes a national pharmacare program, and OHIP for All to push for access to healthcare for all people in Ontario regardless of immigration status. All of this feeds into her interest in medical education, hoping to contribute to creating socially conscious physicians who engage in anti-oppressive practice and understanding the importance of social accountability and advocacy in the work they do.
“A few years ago, I saw a young woman who was living in Canada without immigration status and was clearly suffering from severe mental illness. She had come to me to seek care for something that turned out to be cancer, and I quickly discovered the barriers in place in our system for someone in her position. We had a lot of difficulty getting her to the type of specialized care she needed, as she was turned away because of her inability to pay cash upfront, despite her life-threatening illness. She did not return to see me, due to her mental health issues, after many attempts were made to try to obtain care for her, and I've never known what happened to her. Reflecting on this experience reminds me that as physicians, we have to go beyond the clinic walls, and push for systemic change if we really want to improve the health of our patients. So much of what that woman needed was denied to her because of the system we live and work in - and we have the power to work to change that system.
I feel strongly about the need for all people to have access to what they need to live and thrive一 whether that is good jobs, living wages, safe and affordable housing, access to medication coverage, affordable childcare, or just an existence free of interpersonal and structural discrimination on the basis of their identities. My goal is to do what I can with my position of privilege to help build that just world. I will continue to work towards this vision, whether through pushing for policy change, shifting social consciousness, educating the future generation of healthcare providers, or through one-on-one interactions where people feel dignified, respected and cared for.
Going forward, I would like to see Canada decouple health insurance from immigration status. It is our duty and responsibility under international humanitarian law to care for those within our borders, and currently we allow a whole host of people in various situations of precarious immigration status to delay seeking care, go without care, be asked for cash at the door, receive large unmanageable bills and more. We know that people who are uninsured are more likely to die in the emergency room, and less likely to be admitted to hospital. This has to stop. We must provide healthcare to all people in Canada, regardless of immigration status.
In terms of the culture of healthcare, I would like to see us move towards a culture that stops retraumatizing people who have already been traumatized. This means creating a system that removes barriers, instead of creating them, and shifting the culture of providers towards an understanding of our power, and how best to use that to support, care for and advocate for our patients, both in the clinical setting and beyond.”
