Two ɬ medical students, Madeline Yaaka and Craig Sky, have been jointly recognized with the Elaine Kilabuk Award. This award honours the legacy of Elaine Kilabuk, MDCM, a Nunavut Inuk graduate of ɬ’s medical school, who has dedicated her career to advancing Northern and Indigenous health. The award is intended to support the training of Inuit or Indigenous medical students and to inspire future generations of physicians to serve their communities and beyond. Yaaka is the first Inuk recipient of the award, which was inaugurated in 2019.
For both recipients, the award – conferred during the last academic year – is not only a recognition of academic dedication, but also a symbol of representation and possibility. Health e-News caught up with both recipients just before they headed back after summer holidays, to find out what winning this award means to them and their plans for the future.
First Inuk recipient
Third-year medical student Madeline Yaaka is an Inuk from Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik, in northern Quebec. “I heard I am the first Inuk to receive the award, but I hope there will be more in the future,” she said. “Just knowing that there’s another [Inuk] physician out there, Dr. Elaine, who is practising in Nunavut, is such an inspiration. This award makes me really proud of where I come from I’m just really happy to have received it.”
When she graduates, Yaaka will be the first Inuk medical doctor from Nunavik. She began to imagine medicine as a career when she was 14, after attending Eagle Spirit Science Futures, a ɬ summer camp for Indigenous students. “They flew me down from my community to visit the campus and attend workshops with some physicians and medical students,” she recalls. “That really showed me I could do it, that this is something that was achievable.”
Her studies are shaped by the gaps she sees in access and continuity of care in the North. “Sometimes people get lost in the system,” she says. “Health literacy is something I think is really needed as well. I feel like it’s very empowering to teach people.” To help address that need, Madeline is taking part in a local radio show to share health information with her community. “Most people here have radios in their homes,” she explains. “They listen to it to hear the news or to learn about different topics.”
Yaaka hopes medical education continues to grow in its attention to Indigenous perspectives. “I feel like ɬ could invest more in teaching their medical students about who Indigenous people are, where they are in Canada, their language, their culture,” she says. “There’s a lot of value in hearing directly from people who are part of those communities.”
Midway through her degree, Yaaka is still exploring specialties. “I definitely know that I want to keep close to my community,” she says. “I don’t know if it will be geographically or just in terms of work, I’m still not sure yet.”
Recognition and responsibility
For fourth-year medical student Craig Sky, who hails from Kahnawà:ke, near Montreal, the Elaine Kilabuk Award feels like both recognition and responsibility.
“Recognition from this award is an acknowledgement for persevering in an academic study which is white predominant, and especially where there’s a lack of diverse cultures and understanding of cultural patients, especially Indigenous patients,” he says. “It’s kind of an acknowledgement to my role as a role model for not only the other Indigenous medical students at ɬ, but also just Indigenous students across Canada.”
Dr. Kilabuk’s example gives Sky motivation to keep going. “She’s setting the way and paving the way to make it easier for other students,” he says. “That’s exactly what I want to do with my career. Not only is she a trailblazer, she is also an inspiration.”
His journey to medicine was guided by a deep sense of empathy that emerged early in life. “Growing up in a small community, not seeing Inuit working in health care professions in your region, it’s really hard to imagine a future and to have these goals in mind”
In Kahnawà:ke, issues like diabetes and substance use remain pressing, and Sky believes solutions need to go deeper than generalized interventions. “I think developing approaches cater not only through community, but to the individual, is something that lacks in my community,” he shares. “I want to figure out what impedes not just a community, but an individual, from getting the care they need.”
Now midway through medical school, Sky is drawn to three specialities: family medicine, anesthesiology, and plastic surgery. Each, in its own way, would allow him to make a difference for Indigenous patients.
Whatever the speciality, Sky intends to stay connected. “My main goal would be to go back and work in my community, or within any other Indigenous community. Even if it’s not always possible to do it full-time, I’d love to stay connected through clinics, advocacy, or education.”
“No dream is too big”
To other Indigenous students who may hesitate to pursue a health professions career, Sky and Yaaka have some advice grounded in their own experiences.
“Don’t be afraid to apply. The first step is applying,” Sky recommends. “And lean on others – You don’t always realize the support you have until you start to use it.”
Yaaka agrees, encouraging younger Indigenous students to give a healthcare career a shot, even if it seems like a very abstract concept right now. “Growing up in a small community, being far from places where you see people working in health care from your region, it’s really hard to see the future and to have these goals in mind. But just know that it’s possible. No dream is too big. It’s not easy, but it’s possible.”