On September 29, Dr. Elder Roberta Price, and Dr. Rebekah Eatmon, BCCFP ’s Indigenous Physician Lead hosted the third in a series of webinars on Cultural Safety & Humility. Guest speaker Dr. Unjali Malhotra, the Chief Medical Officer for Women’s Health at the First Nations Health Authority, presented on the topic of contraception coercion, and discussed how family physicians can help their Indigenous and other patients, make informed, coercion-free decisions.

“We are all here together to make the system a better one – we didn’t build it, but we can certainly change it,” said Dr. Malhotra, while speaking about the role of family physicians in making the health care system culturally safe.

She referred to different forms of coercion and mentioned the use of medical terminology unfamiliar to most patients, as one example. Dr. Malhotra also encouraged physicians to be mindful of the timing of their consultations with patients, referencing a case of untimely conversation about permanent irreversible birth control to an exhausted, overwhelmed postpartum patient.

Creating allyships with patients leading to shared decision making was the highlight of her presentation. “Respectful engagement involves getting to know your community and the person you are treating.”

Participant feedback on the webinar was excellent. “Amazing people, each one. I loved learning about their backgrounds and how that was woven into who they are now and why cultural humility is so important to them (and should be for us all),” said one attendee.

To watch the webinar, our members can login to our Learning Vault. Once you have logged in, please navigate to Videos and Webinars – Cultural Safety and Humility and you will find recording for this session.

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