Ralph Hsiao
Program: Masters in Global Health
As someone who has an interest in health inequities, I started my master’s degree in Global Health this year at McMaster University. I believe Indigenous health issues to be especially pertinent within our healthcare system. Despite Universality being one of the five main principles in the Canada Health Act, Indigenous Communities still face poorer health outcomes across the board. I believe that one way of remedying this problem is to capitalize on the Indigenous knowledge and to generate new ideas from a more comprehensive and unified understanding of health. I joined IHM because I feel both a responsibility to learn about the challenges that are faced by the Indigenous people who have lived on these lands thousands of years before the first settlers, as well as a unique opportunity to learn from an expansive reservoir of knowledge. I hope that I share this journey with other as the Speaker Coordinator of IHM’s annual conference in 2019, and I look forward to seeing you all there!