2021 – ACAM 330 (fmr. 320B) student submissions

May 11, 2021July 18, 2025

It’s a lifestyle

It doesn’t really feel like taking medicine to me

Hosts:
Cynthia Chen 陳霈詠 (they/them)
Claudia Fu 符藴楓

Guest:
Andre Shih (Taiwanese heritage; TCM Herbalist, Accupuncturist)

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is widely practiced among people from East Asia; but using TCM is often seem as being in opposition to Western medicine. When does one use TCM, and when does that same person use Western medicine? The most difficult part of this question is the fact that TCM encompasses so many facets of one’s life – it’s not just about being sick, but more about being healthy in general. It also creates a lot of identity clashes, and for many Asian Canadians, it brings up issues of the Model Minority Myth and having to choose one culture to abide by. And how do these things get wrapped up in racism? And does it have to be a zero-sum choice? Listen to Chen and Fu as they unpack their own experiences. They also interview Andre Shih, a TCM Herbalist and Accupuncturist operating out of Vancouver, who answers questions about the challenges of being a TCM practitioner in Canada. Ultimately, knowing how important TCM is to vast numbers of diaspora in Canada, how can we re-envision the landscape of healthcare regarding TCM’s relationship with Western medicine?

May 11, 2021July 18, 2025

Con người có tổ có tông – Humans have origins

Như cây có cội như sông có nguồn – Like trees have roots, like rivers have headwater

Hosts:
YoungJi Kim 김영지
Tommy Nguyễn 阮武風

Guest:
Tiêu Kiến Vinh (Vietnamese heritage)

Surprise! Not all Asians are the same! (As if that even needed highlighting). As Kim and Nguyen discuss with their guest, it becomes abundantly clear that there is direso much heterogeneity among Asian commnities. North vs. South Korea, North vs. South Vietnam, heritage individuals vs. diasporic individuals, first generation settlers vs. multigenerational settlers, those who settled directly from the homeland to Canada vs. those who settled elsewhere first. All of these distinctions undoubtedly have an impact one’s identity formation and experiences of cultural adaptation. Take a listen as to how the different identities and experiences of the podcast’s discussants are brought to bear in this frank and interesting discussion. More importantly, the discussants challenged each other on disagreements, yielding an hour of conversation that covers so much ground. This certainly leads to a much broader question – with all this complexity inherent in cultural identities, how should we talk about and represent identities in a way that is inclusive, but not tokenizing?

May 11, 2021July 18, 2025

不能喝涼水 – Don’t drink cold water

Chatting With 陳 – Our Journey With TCM

Hosts:
Richie Chan 陳俊亨
Daniel Chen 陈丹宁 (he/him)

Guests:
Lisa Chai 齊麗霞 (Chinese heritage)
Wendy Chen 陈晓柔 (Chinese heritage)

One of the biggest areas of tension diasporic individuals experience in Canada is between adherence to traditional heritage medicine (e.g. Traditional Chinese Medicine [TCM], Ayurvedic medicine) versus Western medicine. Because of the holistic nature of traditional medicines, this tension not only impacts moments of illness, but pervades all aspects of life – from physical behaviours, to the temperature of food and drinks throughout one’s day. In this podcast, Chan and Chen (united by their shared family name 陳), explore their own respective journeys as they grew up grappling (and continue to grapple) with this medical tension. In particular, they discuss important questions such as how to reconcile when one’s own real experiences are so at odds with prevailing arguments and assumptions behind Western medicine? And how are TCM principles transmitted across generations?

May 11, 2021July 18, 2025

Suck on an egg

I think the Western system can go and suck on an egg

Host:
Sameen Niazi ثمين نیازی (she/hers)

Guests:
Nami Azizi نامى ءزيزي (Afghan heritage, medical laboratory assistant)
Charmain Laride (Filipina-Latinx heritage, doula)
Dr. Nazia Niazi نازیہ نیازی (Pakistani heritage, family physician)

In this podcast submission, Niazi interviews three Asian Canadians who interface with various facets of the medical system in Canada. They all express different levels of frustration in their experiences with the Canadian medical system, centring on their identities as Asian diaspora in Canada. The guests speak of systemic issues like the lack of language-accessible services, insufficient representation of diverse cultural identities in childbirth support service providers (e.g. midwives and doulas), and the problematic stereotypes and cultural assumptions healthcare providers have that are harmful for racialized communities. Niazi and her guests also talk about the difficulties of discussing about racism in Canada when the predominant conceptualization of racism requires that it be clear and explicit, making more implicit behaviours like biases and microagressions more difficult to critique despite the negative impact they have on the receiver. What steps are needed to tackle the racism and discrimination that’s built into the healthcare system in Canada?