When patients visit a clinic or hospital, they bring stories of the everyday life conditions that made them sick in the first place – stories about where they work, live, and play; stories about income, food security, and housing. Doctors today are listening. Personal stories and patient encounters illuminate the social determinants of health, that is, the upstream source of what too often become complex, painful, and expensive downstream problems. Upstream Medicine features interviews by medical students and residents with leading physicians whose practices bring evidence-based, upstream ideas to life. They show how we can change the practice of medicine to build a healthier society.

Andrew Bresnahan's profile page

Mahli Brindamour's profile page

Christopher Charles' profile page

Ryan Meili is a family doctor at the West Side Community Clinic in Saskatoon. He also works for the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan as head of the Division of Social Accountability, where he’s responsible for helping ensure that Saskatchewan’s future doctors are equipped to meet the health needs of the diverse communities they will serve. Ryan is vice-chair of the national advocacy organization, Canadian Doctors for Medicare. From its inception, Ryan has been involved in SWITCH, the Student Wellness Initiative Toward Community Health, a student-run, interdisciplinary, inner-city clinic whose mandate is to bring students from nursing, medicine, social work, physiotherapy, pharmacy, nutrition, and numerous other disciplines together to serve the residents of Saskatoon’s core communities. Ryan also runs the College of Medicine’s Making the Links program, which gives medical students the opportunity to work in Northern Saskatchewan (Île à-la-Crosse, Pinehouse, and Buffalo River Dene Nation), at SWITCH, and in the rural communities of Mozambique in southeast Africa. One of the program’s goals is for students to gain firsthand knowledge of the social factors influencing health by living among and working with diverse peoples. Ryan lives in Saskatoon with his wife, Mahli, who is training to be a pediatrician, and their son, Abraham.

Ryan Meili's profile page

It is hard not to be inspired by the depth of first-hand knowledge and the dedication of the impressive roster of physicians interviewed in Upstream Medicine.

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