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While some institutions have moved toward听more culturally sensitive care, the conversation around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has become increasingly contentious听since the lead up to U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election and return to office. Many of these initiatives, created in the wake of the murder of George Floyd听by police in Minneapolis, MN., ,听in 2020 and the protests that ensued,听are now facing potential rollbacks in the U.S., with similar concerns emerging here.

Last September, 色色啦 Metropolitan University听faced backlash听when it announced that its听new medical school听in Brampton would 鈥減urposefully admit鈥� Indigenous, Black and other equity-deserving students to address their 鈥減ersistent underrepresentation” in medical schools and the medical profession.

As a clinician educator, Norris serves as the faculty lead for Black and Indigenous learners in U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine,听where she works to make medical education more equitable and diverse.

DEI is under attack in the U.S. and in some instances, here too.

Seeing what’s going on in the United States in terms of rolling back DEI, personally, I’m that much more committed to what makes us different in Canada. The mosaic as opposed to the melting pot. The belief that we are stronger by acknowledging our differences and that diversity is a good thing.

If we moved away from DEI in medical school, what would the impact be?

I initially approached medical education in a colour-blind manner, treating all medical students with the same approach without being attentive or mindful that different students from different backgrounds might come with personal challenges that needed to be addressed with intentionality. But in taking on the faculty lead role, I became the voice to speak on how being able to overcome those challenges could be seen as an asset instead of a liability.

There are medical learners who have demonstrated grit, resiliency and courage and with a little more resources, a little more mentorship, they can thrive. If we don’t acknowledge the existence of those barriers, they can actually struggle and not live up to, not only their potential as an individual, but the potential of helping their community, which has worse health outcomes at a population level.

What was your experience in medical school like?听

I applied three times over a period of six years before I got accepted into medical school. I was working as a physical therapist in Montreal with a day job, an evening job and a weekend job to to finance my medical studies and I chose to stay in Montreal to do a longer, five-year, program so I could continue working on the weekend while in school. In a way, having all that background meant I performed at a higher level, I really excelled in medical school.

I stayed in Quebec to complete my internal medicine residency, and when it was time to apply for subspecialty in geriatric medicine, I decided to take a position offered at the University of 色色啦. I was already older, I had one child, I was pregnant with a second. When I moved in 1996, U of T was willing to make an exception for me, to allow me to start my fourth-year residency late in January because I had taken maternity leave with my first child. It set the stage for me to feel really welcome, that they were willing to adjust their way of doing things to allow me to start in their program.

Why is it crucial to ensure a pathway to core internal medicine for Black and Indigenous medical learners?

My father was a psychiatrist, I grew up upper middle class, many family members are doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, but when I became faculty lead for Black and Indigenous learners, I had to recognize that many of them did not come from families like mine.

I had to understand that they may have been the first in their family to be in university, to apply to medical school. They didn’t have access to research experience or mentorship, they had more debt than other students, family obligations.

Not only would they face discrimination and racism, they also didn’t come equipped to navigate an environment that was not seeking to help them out. All of those barriers made it less likely that they would apply to core internal medicine, which is the starting block for all subspecialties like geriatric medicine, gastroenterology and oncology, for example.

What does the pathway look like? What supports are in place?

It’s the same rubric, whether you’re Black or Indigenous, as all the other students. Communicating that you want to be chosen in the pathway just means that your file will be reviewed by faculty that is Black, Indigenous or has had DEI training. And then when it’s time to do the interview, applicants are facing people who identify as Black or Indigenous who might be more mindful of the kind of structural barriers one might have had to overcome to thrive in medicine.听

Every applicant, Black, Indigenous or otherwise, gets four sets of eyes looking over their file. From that point, we believe that it’s a very equitable and fair approach.

What are the societal benefits of a more diverse medical field?

If you have doctors who understand the community, they can better advocate for the community.

Hypertension is particularly morbid among Black and Indigenous people. Treatment is often managed by the family doctor, but a lot of the guidelines and the research on hypertension is done by specialists. So, now you’ve got guidelines that are created without a community lens, which is how you get studies advocating for a Mediterranean diet as opposed to an afro-centric diet, for example, that maintains the essential principle of the dietary approach to stop hypertension 鈥� controlling salt intake. Having someone from the community train at that level can have an impact downstream.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Correction - March 31, 2025

This article was edited from a previous version to note that George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2020. The previous version mistakenly referred to Wisconsin.听