Interview - OmiSoore Dryden on Racism in Healthcare

The Body of Evidence

Jonathan and Chris discuss the impact of racism within the Canadian healthcare system with Dr. OmiSoore Dryden, an associate professor at Dalhousie University and the current holder of the James R. Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies. They talk about the effect of the pandemic on minorities and racialized groups, and why there’s more to Africa than elephants.

1:58 A Chair in Black Canadian Studies

4:40 Black medical students

11:14 The pandemic’s effect on minorities

17:08 The grey economy

18:07 Biological versus socioeconomic risk factors

28:48 How to have conversations about systemic racism

32:53 Canada’s “universal healthcare”

38:00 The meaning of anti-racism

43:00 #GotBlood2Give and the barriers to donating blood

53:23 The tainted blood scandal

55:42 Racism is impacting your patients’ lives

* Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl.

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Links:

1) OmiSoore Dryden’s personal website: https://omisooredryden.com/

2) OmiSoore Dryden’s profile at Dalhousie University: https://medicine.dal.ca/departments/department-sites/community-health/our-people/our-faculty/omisoore-dryden-.html

3) OmiSoore Dryden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JRJCHAIR

4) Her article in The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-discriminates-against-black-lives-through-surveillance-policing-and-the-absence-of-health-data-135906

5) Jonathan’s article about race and biology: https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-general-science/are-you-there-race-its-me-dna