Source: Northern Ontario Medical Journal | 2018/03/22 Written by: Nadine Robinson

“Becoming a doctor can be a sacrifice, but sacrifice pays off. It has opened up so many doors for me to pursue other passions of mine, such as travel. If you’re willing to work for it, you can do anything.”

If you ask Dr. Rebekah (Becky) Neckoway what the hardest part of medical school was, it was deciding to apply: “I battled negative thoughts, wondering ‘Am I good enough? Can I do this?’ And even once I got in, I had to overcome those feelings. I did this by showing up, and doing the work. I know firsthand that self-doubt has the power to kill a dream faster than failure will.”

Each passing year and clinical rotation helped confirm that she was good enough, and Dr. Neckoway now practices rural family medicine in Sioux Lookout, spending one week a month in a remote First Nation community.

Hailing from Thunder Bay, Dr. Neckoway enjoys the interesting and challenging work of caring for patients, and she hopes to be a role model and affect the lives of First Nations’ youth. This goal was crystallized for her while she was a resident, training in her mother’s home community of Eabametoong First Nation. She remembers charting in the office and seeing a young boy staring at her from the doorway: “When I turned to say ‘Hi,’ his mom behind him said: ‘See, I told you your cousin is a doctor!’ He smiled and waved and they left. I was touched, and knew that I wanted to be caring for and hopefully inspiring people like him. After all, I didn’t know that being a doctor was a career path even open to me as a child. I’d only ever seen white doctors. So I started my career in nursing.”

Graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Lakehead University in 2009, Neckoway wanted more. “I wanted to understand the patient’s illness completely and lead them through their health journey…but also I wanted to become a doctor to show the people who put me down that First Nations’ people can do anything. But I knew that bitterness and resentment wasn’t the answer. By learning to forgive the people who hurt me in the past I am able to focus my attention on what matters most to me: First Nations People.”

Dr. Neckoway’s parents instilled the importance of education in her. Her father of Fox Lake First Nation in Manitoba holds a PhD in Social Work and her mother has her Masters in Education. Yet both grew up in First Nation communities without electricity, living off the land, hauling water, trapping, fishing, and hunting. Her mother and father are residential school survivors.

“They supported me, in everything, helping me set my sights on goals and achieve them. They taught me that life is beautiful and it is what you make it… and that the only thing that stands in our way is our thoughts…and some hard work. They are the reason I am who I am today.”

Dr. Neckoway graduated from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine in 2013 and completed the Rural Family Medicine residency program at the University of Alberta’s Red Deer site in 2015.

Source: Northern Ontario Medical Journal | 2018/03/20 Written by: Nadine Robinson 

“Tânte kekî iši-wîcihitân anohc?” is something Kevin Brousseau is getting used to repeating. Translated from Moose Cree to English, it means “How may I help you today?”

Kevin Brousseau is a medical student at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) in his third year, who speaks Cree, English, and French. His love for language runs deep as he also holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics from the Université du Québec à Montreal. He also maintains a blog on the Cree language online.

“All three languages have been helpful in clinical encounters thus far,” said Brousseau. “I definitely plan on using the Cree language in my future practice because I want to practice family medicine in a Cree community.”

Hailing from Waswanipi in northern Quebec, Brousseau credits his studies in Linguistics for the opportunity to get to know many elders who speak only Cree. Through their stories, he learned key virtues and values that have helped prepare him for medicine. “These elders lived out on the land fending for themselves and their families, sometimes for decades before their modern communities were even built. I am constantly in awe of their stories and have come to appreciate how they epitomize the virtues of kindness, humility, perseverance, hard work, and faith. These values, I try to embody.”

Brousseau always had a career of medicine on his mind, but didn’t take the proper courses to prepare him for the traditional route to medical school. He was influenced to study medicine by Dr. Darlene Kitty and Dr. Elaine Innes, two Cree doctors from the James Bay region. “I admire them not only for their work in our communities, but for leading the way for the next generation. Their encouragement and advice went a long way towards calming my nerves and preparing me for the road ahead in medical school.”

He began applying to medical school in earnest and chose NOSM in 2015.

“The road to medical school definitely required a sustained effort, hard work, and dedication…but things that are worthwhile in life often do,” said Brousseau. “I can honestly vouch for the timeless wisdom of taking things one day at a time now as well… I was diagnosed with a brain tumour last year, but thanks to my family, friends, community, NOSM staff, and an amazing neurosurgeon, I managed to stay in the program and even catch up to the rest of my classmates.”

When asked what he’d say to the next generation of Indigenous youth, Brousseau said: “Believe in your own potential for success. Yes, the odds are often stacked against you. But those who hold fast to their dreams often notice that the universe has its ways of making things work in their favour.”

Kevin Brousseau’s list of ten things that have helped lead him to where he is today:

1. Stay away from drugs and alcohol
2. Read, read, read, and read some more
3. Always have a goal – if you reach your goal, make a new one!
4. Always offer to help
5. Put effort into anything you do – any task worth doing is worth doing well!
6. Choose your friends wisely
7. Always stay humble
8. Never be afraid to ask for advice
9. Never forget where you come from
10. Basic money management skills go a long way – learn how to budget and save!