Dr. Katharine Smart, President, Canadian medical Association & Pediatrician, Whitehorse, Yukon was the speaker at the 2022 Houston Lecture entitled: Learning from the Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities for Canada's Healthcare System
Join us for the 2022 Houston Lecture as Dr. Katharine Smart leads us through a conversation looking at her clinical and leadership journey; including her start in Swift Current, her experience in clinical pediatrics in Whitehorse, and becoming a voice for physicians as President of the Canadian Medical Association. As CMA President, Dr. Smart has been vocal throughout the COVID Pandemic, addressing issues of the politicization of health communication, access to healthcare, and more. Dr. Smart will also share her thoughts on the physician’s role in politics and policy, her experience in small scale healthcare innovation, her vision for the future of Canada’s healthcare system and the role of physicians in Canada.
About Dr. Katharine Smart
Dr. Katharine Smart is the president of the Canadian Medical Association, the 10th woman to access the role in 154 years. Dr. Smart works as a pediatrician in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Her work is centred on developing collaborative partnerships with community and government services to serve marginalized children using a model of social pediatrics. She works primarily with children who have experienced trauma and adverse childhood events, and witnesses the broad and lasting impact these events have on children and their development daily. She is passionate about improving services for marginalized children in an effort to change their life trajectory.
In addition to her community-based work, Dr. Smart enjoys acute care and provides on-call services to the hospital. Before moving to the Yukon, she was a pediatric emergency medicine physician at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. She is the past president of the Yukon Medical Association.
About Dr. Stuart and Mary Houston
Stuart and Mary Houston grew up in Saskatchewan and spent their lives and raised their family here. Through his practice of medicine and his deep involvement in Saskatchewan history, including books about Tommy Douglas and Saskatchewan’s achievements in health, Stuart developed an insight into the intersection of politics and health, the critical importance of the “social determinants of health” and the vital need for policies impacting health to be based on the best possible evidence. Stuart and Mary were pleased that the Johnson Shoyama School has provided the means through which they can contribute to the development and dissemination of this evidence here in Saskatchewan.
As a reflection of their lifelong commitment to social justice particularly as it involves health and income inequalities, the Houstons, along with their family, established the Houston Family Trust for Evidence-Based Public Policy at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.
The Houston Lecture is one of the activities made possible by the Houstons’ support.
