The Medicine Chest

Jarol Boan is a Canadian physician of settler background and is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine, Regina Campus. Boan grew up in Regina and spent 20 years in academic institutions in the U.S. before returning to Saskatchewan and learning about Indigenous health. Her focus on community engagement and listening to ways of knowing allows her to integrate appropriate cultural responsiveness between the settler community and Indigenous partners.
Jarol Boan is a Canadian physician of settler background and is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine, Regina Campus. Boan grew up in Regina and spent 20 years in academic institutions in the U.S. before returning to Saskatchewan and learning about Indigenous health. Her focus on community engagement and listening to ways of knowing allows her to integrate appropriate cultural responsiveness between the settler community and Indigenous partners.

“As a country that prides itself in providing equitable care, Canada needs a 'whole health system redesign.' The Medicine Chest is Boan’s call for—and commitment to—exactly that.”—Literary Review of Canada

“A heart-breaking, heart-warming story of damage and caring. I couldn’t stop reading.” —Gary Geddes, Medicine Unbundled

“Canada’s national sense of self is rooted in the myth of a fair, open, and public health care system. But all too often the medical system is a nightmare journey for Indigenous patients and their families. The Medicine Chest is a frontline diary of the struggle to address the inequities and colonial legacy, and the urgency to find a new way to healing and reconciliation.” —Charlie Angus, Cobalt and Children of the Broken Treaty

“Dr. Boan confronts the traps and assumptions she unearths, both in herself and in the health care system, as she journeys, and sometimes stumbles, along the messy path toward self-awareness and reconciliation.” —Karen Palmer, Policy Advisor to Canadian Doctors for Medicare

“An important effort at reaching out and tackling the challenges presented by Indigenous health disparities and jurisdictional obstacles.” —Blair Stonechild, First Nations University of Canada