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Learning to Slow Down in a Career That Never Stops
There’s a strange experience that comes with being both a doctor and someone who gets migraines often. Today, I’m not the resident trying to diagnose, make a plan, or help a patient feel better. I’ve lived with migraines for years. At this point, I know them pretty well. I know what they usually feel like, what medications to reach for, when I need darkness and quiet, and when I can probably push through. But this one feels different. I’ve had the same migraine for two days n
Embracing the Journey: My First Two Months in Residency
Reflecting on My Experience in Family Medicine It’s hard to believe that I’m already two months into residency. Time has flown by, and I’ve had the opportunity to immerse myself in my family medicine clinic. This experience has taught me what it truly means to transition from being a medical student to becoming a resident physician. A Journey of Firsts There have been many “firsts” during these past two months. I’ve written prescriptions with my own name attached to them. I’v
Learning Cree: Reclaiming Language, One Word at a Time
When I was little, I heard Cree in the background: in the kitchen with my kokum, whispered in prayers at funerals, or in the laughter of aunties teasing each other. I didn’t realize then that I was hearing something sacred. Something stolen, silenced, and now being revived. As a medical student from a small Indigenous community in Northern Alberta, I’ve spent years learning Latin-based medical terms. But now, I’m making space in my brain and heart for Cree words. Because our
Learning to Take Up Space: From Wabasca to White Coat
When I walk into academic settings, I often feel the weight of silence before I even sit down. It’s not the silence of a room waiting for a professor but the silence of being the only one. The only one from a rural reserve. The only visibly Indigenous woman. The only person who grew up knowing what dry meat tastes like and what the cabin smells like on a fall morning. Growing up in Wabasca, I didn’t see doctors who looked like me and definitely none who spoke Cree or knew the
Why I'm Starting This Blog
My name is Chyna. I am an Indigenous woman studying medicine and I'm here to share this journey out loud. This blog, Cedar + Scrubs, is about more than surviving medical school. It’s about reclaiming space. It’s about walking between worlds: one rooted in the teachings of my ancestors, the other filled with stethoscopes, white coats, and endless textbooks. Cedar is sacred. In my culture, it's medicine: cleansing, grounding, protecting. And scrubs? They represent this new worl
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