By: Roopneet Panesar
Diversity in STEM disciplines remains a challenge and many individuals have gained a privilege in these fields simply because of the colour of their skin, or their sex. Some of the highest-earning individuals in STEM are predominantly white men, who outnumber women, and any other race including Black, Indigenous, etc. Due to this trend, it is comparatively extremely difficult for an individual of any minority group to become successful in a STEM profession; however, Dr. Alexandra Bastiany disproves this notion by holding the title of Canada’s first Black Female Interventional Cardiologist.
Dr. Bastiany, who was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, currently practices as an interventional cardiologist in Thunder Bay, Canada at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, providing her patients with phenomenal cardiac care. She graduated in 2020 after completing 15 years of schooling. After obtaining her MD degree from the University of Montreal, she completed her fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at the University of Alberta.
Dr. Bastiany was introduced to medicine from an early age as her parents were pursuing careers in STEM. Her mother, who was from Haiti, started studying to become a nurse when she was in elementary school and her dad was a chemist. As such, Dr. Bastiany was greatly influenced by her parents’ aspirations, and decided that she wanted to launch innovations in the healthcare system as well, specifically in the field of cardiology. As the cardiovascular system is always evolving and the heart is a simple, yet complicated organ, she was fascinated and intrigued by the way the human body works.
As a Black female, Dr. Bastiany found it difficult to enter a field that lacked representation. Her bosses did not understand microaggressions that she faced and overcame as a black student. Her relationships with her patients were severely affected due to her skin colour. For instance, some patients would ask for a senior cardiologist, which she believes was either because she was a woman or black. As such, Dr. Bastiany is fighting for more people of colour as well as women to become interventional cardiologists. She works with the Canadian Heart Health Alliance to advocate for better cardiovascular care for women. She is also a part of the committee of Canadian Cardiology Society which started an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee last year to raise awareness about the domination of white men in interventional cardiology and find solutions around it. All in all, Dr. Bastiany is working on embracing her role as a mentor and someone to look up to for young girls.
You may be wondering, what is interventional cardiology? Interventional cardiology is a service that includes minimally invasive procedures to identify issues with blood flow to the heart and body, and improve these issues. The field utilizes small flexible tubes called catheters to treat heart related diseases and involves a variety of procedures such as cardiac angiogram, angioplasty, alcohol septal ablation, balloon mitral valvuplasty, and many more. As these procedures require minimal and small incisions, interventional cardiologists guide the catheters’ movement inside the human body through live x-rays and sometimes ultrasounds.
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