Share Your Story: Victoria Chou

Health disparities are a perpetual matter that adversely affect socially disadvantaged populations to achieve optimal health, on a global scale. Unfortunately, this inequity is a complication my family and I had to face regularly. Before our immigration to Canada, we lived in Hong Kong, a developed city with resources and technologies that provide essential health services, however, they are limited to those with a low or middle socioeconomic status. As a family with middle income, and my father being a cancer patient who require life-saving medicines and treatments, we struggled with financial distress daily. And to speak for those individuals with a lower socioeconomic status, access to such critical medicines is not an option. Upon my family settlement in Canada, my dad has received numerous high quality and free healthcare treatments, which we hold sincere gratitude for. As a student planning to pursue a career in the medical field, I am passionate about making a difference in the health and wellness of others, particularly, I acknowledge the health care privilege I have as a Canadian citizen and eager to take measures for populations who are disproportionally affected - which UAEM presents me the opportunity to do on an even greater scale. Not only does UAEM promote medical innovations and improvise university policies of accessing medicines and health-related technologies developed in university laboratories, but they also advocate for low- and middle-income countries to improve access to and affordability to essential medicine. These principals are important to me because just like every member of this club, I believe in social justice and health equity, that any means of stratification should not limit anyone from gaining a fair opportunity to attain their fullest health potential. ​By being a committee member in this club, I can help to make a lasting impact, to promote access to medical innovations, advocate for accessibility to medicine especially for those are disproportionately affected, empower students to respond to biomedical access; all of which are goals I would have the ability to achieve being part of the UAEM team.

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