Williams named university section chair

Dr. Kona Williams, the first Indigenous person in Canada to be a forensic pathologist, will be tackling a new challenge - this time in the field of education, being named the new section chair in pathology at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) on June 27.

“It’s a huge honour,” said Williams.

“The section chair in pathology has been around for a little bit, but it’s been held by non-pathologists, because there really isn’t a residency program in pathology at the university yet.”

Pathology, the study of disease itself, is a huge part of the process of medical diagnosis, as a pathologist will be the one to study a blood test or a biopsy.

She said that the possibility of having medical students in pathology not just do their studies in northern Ontario, but keep them in the area by developing a pathology residency program is what motivated her to apply for the position, and one of the things she plans on developing during her stay.

“I’ve never met an unhappy pathologist, I find that a lot of students that come through, once they get that exposure, are actually pretty interested. So, we’ve had a number of medical students over the past few years applying for pathology residency because of the exposure to pathology that they got here, and the experience that they have,” said Williams.

Many who live or come to NOSM to study find that they enjoy living in northern Ontario as well and would like to live there long-term if residency was on the table.

“So rather than sending them down to southern Ontario, why not have them here and work with them and train them right here?” said Williams.

Northern Ontario, like many regions and communities in the country further away from big city centres, has had issues finding and retaining medical staff.

“It’s really hard to attract physicians in northern Ontario. The same applies for basically all specialties across the board in medicine,” said Williams.

The same is true in Quebec in northern communities, but also here in Kahnawake, where the Kateri Memorial Hospital Center has had its own problems finding and retaining medical staff.

For Williams, the possibility of having pathologists in northern Ontario to stay close to the communities there - which includes many Indigenous communities - would be a net positive for those communities.

“Given the work that I do, I serve all people, and a good number of patients in northern Ontario are First Nations. If we can get their diagnosis and their treatment, and in my case, get their autopsy done here in northern Ontario, as opposed to southern Ontario, it’s just better overall,” said Williams.

Her new role as section chair will mean taking on a reduced role in her everyday practice, but with the help of a newly hired forensic pathologist, things will stay covered.

“I will have a little bit of help, which is great, and this is like perfect timing, so now I can kind of pull back. Now, there’ll be a second person who can help with that, and I’ll be able to sort of focus on how to get the residency program started, how to support research, and how to support teaching in the pathology department,” said Williams.

The new forensic pathologist is also interested in helping on the educational side when possible.

“He is very keen on teaching, very keen on academia. So, he’s going to be a huge asset, a huge benefit to northern Ontario and to NOSM,” she said.

NOSM is celebrating Williams as a huge benefit to both as well.

“Her leadership and advocacy in Indigenous health, combined with her clinical excellence and experience working across multiple healthcare systems, will be a tremendous asset to NOSM University and our faculty,” reads the statement.

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