What if all health sciences students were educated together?

By Erna Snelgrove-Clarke and Jane Philpott

Six months ago, Joyce Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw woman, died in a Quebec hospital. Her cries for help were ignored by hospital staff but have now resounded across Canada. They served as a wake-up call for health systems, health professionals, and the institutions that train nurses, doctors, and rehabilitation therapists. When systemic racism is so grievous that it causes death, no one should turn a blind eye.

But we did not get here suddenly. This did not happen in isolation.

This blogpost was co-written by Jane Philpott, Tony Sanfilippo and Karen Schultz 

I gave a talk on ‘daring leadership’ recently, and my thesis was this: if you’re going to be a daring leader, you must know your purpose. You must know what you’re trying to accomplish.  

This applies to organizations too. In fact, when you have hundreds - or thousands - of people working together, a common purpose is essential.