Category: Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario

BPAO: Ontario Drops Age for Breast Cancer Screening and One Doctor Says About Time!

by milespollock

Women aged 40 years and older can now get breast cancer screening without a referral from a doctor in Ontario. In a recent interview, Dr. Mojola Omole, president of the Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario (BPAO) and a surgical oncologist with the Scarborough Health Network, says this change for Black and racialized women in particular couldn’t have come soon enough.

The BPAO has been advocating for this change for years. Back in May 2024, Dr. Omole said the onset of breast cancer is earlier for racialized women. In response to a national task force’s draft decision not to lower the recommended routine breast cancer screening age to 40, she said, “Data shows that this group has a decreased mortality than other groups with early screening. This is attributed to the genetic variation that leads to more aggressive cancers in Black women despite similar treatment. They have the most to benefit from early screening.”

Furthermore, she said, “A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. We have targeted treatment for different subtypes of breast cancer, why do we not use the same approach for screening?”

Listen to her thoughts about the new rule in Ontario in this interview on CBC – Here and Now Toronto with Ramraajh Sharvendiran.

Mental Health for Black Canadians and Black Youth

by milespollock

In the last six months, we have worked with both the Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario (BPAO) and Black Mental Health Canada (BMHC) to raise awareness about the distinctive mental health needs of Black youth and Black Canadians.

In December 2023, we worked with CBC and the BMHC to provide commentary around Black Health Alliance (BHA)’s Pathways to Care research project: ‘Stuck in a cycle’: Providers say disjointed mental health care failing to meet needs of Black youth

We also dug deep into BMHC’s Self Care Through Hair program with the Globe and Mail. The program, which launched last summer, is the first of its kind to utilize barbers and hairdressers to help tackle the stigma and struggle of mental health in the Black community. Read the Globe article here: New program trains barbers as mental-health first responders for Black communities

To continue the very important dialogue of mental health support for Black youth, the BPAO recently hosted a hybrid mental health conference aimed at providing insights for healthcare providers looking to improve their support for, and deliver culturally safe and affirming care to, Black youth patients experiencing mental health issues. We worked with reporters, producers and writers from the Canadian Press, Toronto Star, Medical Post and CBC and to set up interviews with physicians/researchers from the BPAO, BHA, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) to share their insights.

Read more below:

The Canadian Press (also on CP24, CTV, CBC, Global News, CityNews, the Globe and Mail, and more): Black youth face multiple barriers in accessing mental health care, experts say

The Toronto Star: Black youth face unique barriers to mental health care. Some doctors are trying to do something about it

Medical Post: Why effective suicide-risk assessment might look different for Black children and How to be more effective at helping youth prevent illicit drug overdose

BPAO Initiatives to Support Black Physicians and Medical Learners

by milespollock

BPAO Initiatives to Support Black Physicians and Medical Learners

The Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario (BPAO) continues its mission to support Black physicians, improve health outcomes of the Black healthcare community and set students up for success with the goal of increasing the number of much-needed Black physicians working within communities. Since the last Symposium, the BPAO has launched many significant initiatives. We worked with national and regional media outlets to amplify these programs to help drive awareness, registration and attendance:

Stay tuned for BPAO’s remote hub launch in Kingston and Hamilton in the next few months.

Black-led Groups Act to Move Asylum Seekers to Shelter in Toronto

by milespollock

Chenai Kadungure, executive director of Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario (BPAO), took action when a group of asylum seekers slept on the street in Toronto, directly helping support a 35-year-old woman in dire straits. In addition, BPAO provided health kits and health checks at Black Creek Community Health Centre with volunteer assistance from BPAO’s medical residents and international medical graduates.

We reached out to independent journalist Olivia Bowden for her to speak with Chenai and the woman to share her harrowing experience, perhaps helping others in need.

“We’re a community that’s always going to have to stand up for each other,” Kadungure said. “Because one night sleeping on the street is one night too many. We need to do something, now.”

Read the article here on CBC News and Chenai’s post on LinkedIn.

Raising Awareness of Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario

by milespollock

We recently worked with the Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario (BPAO) to raise awareness of their mandate, the work they have done and their Annual Health Symposium in Toronto.

The BPAO works for equitable representation of the Black population in medicine and to ensure racialized health disparities are eliminated.

Read in NOW Toronto why Ontario Black doctors continue to call for more representation in the health-care system. Watch the discussion with BPAO’s president Dr. Andrew Thomas and executive director Chenai Kadungure on The Dr. Vibe Show to find out why it is important to have more Black physicians in the province. Dr. Thomas also talked about the need for more Black Canadians in health care on CP24 Breakfast.