A Physician Perspective on Diversity

Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, Head of the Critical Care Department at The Ottawa Hospital, talks about his experiences as a Black physician in Canada at the 16th Annual NPC (1,380 words, 6.5 minutes)

Jan 10

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A highlight of the 16th Annual National Pharmaceutical Congress (NPC), held in Mississauga, Ont. on Nov. 2, was the session on 'Diverse Voices' regarding the importance of an inclusive approach in the pharma industry. The session was presented by Specialty Health Network by Shoppers. During the first six weeks of 2023, starting today, NPC Healthbiz Weekly will summarize each of the presentations by the "Diverse Voices" panel.

Racism in the medical profession is nothing new, and BIPOC physicians have been dealing with it for as long as they’ve been in healthcare. However, recent events have brought up this subject back to the surface.

During his keynote presentation “A Physician Perspective,” Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, described how, in the post-George Floyd era, many organizations claimed they were anti-racist and pro-diversity, but the terms did not really hold any meaning. He also said that if it wasn't for Floyd’s murder in May 2020, people would not be discussing inclusion, diversity and anti-racism as they are today. He pointed out that these events make him think about his own experiences with racism.

“I don't know how many people have watched the full nine minutes of this event. I’ve got to tell you there's nothing so viscerally difficult and hurtful to see than a grown man treated worse than an animal,” he said. “A grown man was asking for his mom and, in broad daylight, was allowed to die. As a Black individual, this takes you back to all the previous incidents of police violence. You can't help thinking about your own experiences when you've encountered racism.”

Dr. Kyeremanteng described how growing up as one of a few Black kids in Edmonton exposed him to racism at an early age. He recalls being called the N-word while playing hockey or walking down the street. Later on, when he attended medical school, racism wasn't as blatant but it was always present, he said. Racism is still present now, sometimes as micro-aggression, and sometimes it is much more explicit.

“In medical school, [I was] asked if there was an affirmative action or a quota and why [I was] in the building. And even as recently as a few weeks ago, when I was introduced as chief of the department, a patient was questioning, saying, 'chief of what department?' Like, that's not possible.”

Dr. Kyeremanteng mentioned how having difficult conversations with his sons about race has been challenging but necessary. His children are starting to have their own experiences with racism, and while he cannot fully protect them from the real world, he can teach them how to be prepared and face these situations when they arise.

Dr. Kyeremanteng also pointed out that patient outcomes are affected by how the patients look and if they are racialized. He mentioned an anecdote in which, years ago, a Black patient saw him walking through the ICU wearing his white coat and got excited to see a Black physician. At first, Dr. Kyeremanteng said this remark “fed his ego,” and he felt good to be a role model, but later realized it wasn't as great as he initially thought.

“I realized I'm living in a city of a million plus people, and it's ‘cool’ to see a black physician? Then you reflect, and I'm one of maybe half a dozen black physicians, once again, in a city of a million.”

Dr. Kyeremanteng says that the industry should think of diversity as a superpower. He mentioned how diversity gives added perspective to tech organizations like Google or Amazon and how it can make a difference in patient care.

“I'll give you an example where, in patient care, [diversity] made a difference. I'm also a palliative care doctor, and I was told about this 77-year-old woman who was dying from cancer, and she was thought to be quite a curmudgeon,” he said. “She was very edgy and difficult to approach, and everybody was having a hard time with her. She had African heritage. So, I walked into her room expecting the same, but when I met her, she recognized that we were from similar areas, and her whole demeanour changed.”

Dr. Kyeremanteng added that the patient was instantly more relaxed and even grateful. They were able to bond over memories of food and culture, which drastically changed her dying experience. The patient opened up to the team and her family because of that added perspective and that diverse angle in patient care.

THIS WEEK 01/10/23

The JAMP Pharma Group and Sandoz Canada have launched PrJAMP Sitagliptin, PrSandoz Sitagliptin and PrSandoz Sitagliptin-Metformin, generic alternatives to Januvia, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adult patients.
Eisai Co and Biogen Inc announced the U.S. FDA has approved lecanemab-irmb (sold in the U.S. as Leqembi) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, under the Accelerated Approval Pathway.
AbbVie announced that Health Canada has approved Qulipta (atogepant) for the prevention of episodic migraines in adult patients.
The U.S. FDA has granted approval to MediWound’s NexoBrid (anacaulase-bcdb) for the removal of eschar in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns.

LISTEN NOW

In season eight of the NPC Podcast, Angelina Brathwaite, Senior Client Partner, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Leader for the Americas at Brunel, talks about women's leadership in the pharma industry, community advocacy, and the true takeaways of formal education. Hear her in conversation with podcast hosts Mitch Shannon, Jim Shea and Mark McElwain.

CANADIAN HEALTHCARE MARKETING HALL OF FAME

The Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame awards were established in 2002 to honour healthcare marketers who have contributed to our vocation and inspire others.

More than 100 honourees have been selected during the past 18 years. In the selection committee’s view, they represent a cross-section of the qualities that make our business unique and fulfilling. NPC Healthbiz Weekly will acknowledge one past Hall of Fame Honoree each week.

2002 Inductee
Ted Wise
Montreal

This is the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame, and for the next few issues, we will be revisiting the inaugural class of inductees.

Editor’s note: Ted Wise died in 2013.

Ted Wise had planned on being a pharmacist, but the British Columbia native was cut out for bigger and better things. “I wanted that license but I never really used it,” says Wise who eventually settled in Montreal in the 1950s working part-time in the pharmacy on nights and weekends “while I decided what I wanted to do.”

One summer, however, Wise discovered he could make more money as a Fuller Brush man than he did the whole year in pharmacy. Once bitten by the sales bug, he was soon looking farther afield, joining Ayerst where he worked his way up from sales rep to head of the anesthetic division over a period of 10 years. By the mid-sixties, Wise took a job in product development and sales with Winley Morris, a company making a foray into generics. “That was a wonderful experience,” says Wise, whose specialty, tuberculosis, took him to Frobisher Bay to visit the Eskimo. “The Eskimo never liked a white pill you had to take so many of them in those days. [So] we made them in yellow, brown, and red. We would package them in strip packs-that was the beginning of niche marketing,” he adds.

International Chemical and Nuclear's (ICN) takeover of Winley in 1971 saw Wise involved in product development and marketing, eventually becoming executive vice president. “We were the first to bring L-dopa to Canada and the first to develop morphine (MOS) oral syrup,” he recalls. By 1982 Wise was ready for a new challenge and one day decided, “If I can do it for them I can do it for myself. Working initially from home, Wise and former Winley chief Morris Goodman merged efforts to create their own privately held company, Pharmascience. I had a tough time paying bills because I had no money coming in,” says Wise who soon developed two new products, Rhinaris spray and Secaris gel, which he detailed while overseeing manufacturing and development.

By now established, the partners then waded into the lucrative fertility market, forming agreements with some of the key players in the pharmaceutical industry. It’s an achievement that Wise considers to be one of his most important. When the decision was made to spin off pharma sciences specialty products into a separate company, Paladin Labs Inc, Wise assumed the role of Chairman of the Board. Looking back, he maintains that the “international end” of the business, particularly the opening of a company branch in the Ukraine, was most exciting. I’ve travelled all over the world," says Wise. “I don't think there's a country that I haven’t been to.”

NEXT WEEK

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