Putting the kindness in medicine
Dr. Huma Ali : Physician, Emergency Medicine
Dr. Huma Ali, a physician in Emergency Medicine, led the institution of Schwartz Rounds at South Health Campus. These rounds promote healthcare worker wellness and allow healthcare teams to better care for themselves, patients and their families.
That’s what makes Dr. Huma Ali our Hero in Health!
The Heroes in Health initiative encourages patients and their families to give back in thanks for the extraordinary care they’ve received. To donate and nominate your health hero, visit our website.
There were a number of factors that went into Dr. Ali pursuing medicine, but the main one was that she wanted to be in a profession where she was helping others. When deciding which path within medicine was best, she chose what excited her the most which also happened to be a field that intimidated her the most.
“I chose emergency medicine for so many reasons. One of those reasons was because I wanted to turn towards the thing that made me the most uncomfortable. Leading resuscitation of critically ill patients frightened me. I felt like that was the space within which I needed to grow. Practicing care for the extremely ill and then ultimately leading effectively brought me such joy,” Dr. Ali recalls.
For the last 10 years, she’s been an attending physician and has grown both professionally and personally. She continues to love how different every day is in the Emergency Department.
Dr. Ali spearheaded an initiative to institute Schwartz Rounds at South Health Campus, the first in Alberta to hold these rounds, which now has expanded to other sites in Alberta. These rounds have been shown to reduce burnout and improve resilience in healthcare workers, translating to better and more compassionate care for patients and their families. Schwartz Rounds allows healthcare workers to have a dedicated safe space to talk about the ethical and social aspects of providing healthcare and engage in dialogue about difficult feelings that arise when caring for others.
“It allows healthcare workers to then return back to the bedside with more space to manage complex emotions that arise when providing healthcare. It’s been a passion project of mine along with my organizing colleagues.”
The feedback has been nothing but positive on how healthcare workers appreciate the safe space the rounds provide, as well as the development of community and understanding of different perspectives from a variety of disciplines.
Dr. Ali attended medical school and did a five-year residency at McGill University in Montreal, completing the Royal College of Physicians of Canada Emergency Medicine training program. In 2014, she moved to Calgary and has worked at South Health Campus ever since.
Working in the fast-paced environment of an Emergency Department comes with its challenges, and one of the most challenging things for Dr. Ali is seeing patients, especially the elderly having to endure long wait times.
“In the emergency department, we frequently see the consequences of a health system that is struggling. My heart breaks for so many, but especially when I see an 85-year-old whose waited nine hours overnight to see a doctor. When I see this, I think to myself: I wish you had slept, had a bed, or were able to eat a normal meal while waiting.”
In these instances, Dr. Ali tends to their needs to get them out of the hospital as soon as she can. Her hope is that she can bring the humanity to medicine, and show that there’s always time for kindness.
“Medicine has historically had a culture to manage patients as pathologies. We can forget that there’s actually a human who is suffering with the disease. Spending an extra moment to talk about something that is not their diagnosis or to share a joke allows for human connection. It’s like saying – I see you.”
Dr. Ali recounted a story that made an indelible impact on her, involving a patient who had suffered a drowning. They rendered care to the patient in the emergency department and he was then sent to the Intensive Care Unit. Often, her stories end there – where a patient is incredibly sick, she cares for them and then she doesn’t know what happens afterwards.
Coincidently, Dr. Ali was attending swimming lessons, and by chance, her swimming instructor told her about how they had a terrifying drowning recently and a number of young adult lifeguards had helped pull the person out of the water.
Learning this information, she made an effort to connect with the patient she had cared for and organized a time for him to meet the people that helped save his life including the young lifeguards, respiratory therapists, nurses, and emergency doctors. They all gathered together to celebrate him being alive. Dr. Ali had the director of the hospital sign certificates of accomplishments for the lifeguards who helped save this person’s life to recognize their incredible achievement.
“I wanted everyone to know that there are strangers who will, without hesitation, step up to care for you and save your life. It’s exactly what these people did. I hope this meeting changed their lives for the better and that they know how important they are.”
Dr. Ali, we’re proud to call you a Hero in Health, and to have you as part of our extended family. Heroes in Health is part of our Grateful Patient initiative. Patients and their families can make a gift to Calgary Health Foundation and recognize their healthcare heroes. To donate and nominate your hero in health, visit our website.
