Nicolas Cadet grew up in a family committed to helping others 鈥� an example he clearly took to heart.
His parents have been involved in community service for decades, including teaching disease prevention and healthy lifestyle habits at Montreal churches with Haitian congregations.
From the age of 11, Cadet would volunteer to prepare his physician mother鈥檚 PowerPoint presentations.聽
鈥淰ery early on, I felt that medicine was something that spoke to me,鈥� says Cadet, MDCM鈥�12, an ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon. 鈥淥ne of the things that I was most passionate about was that community outreach because I could see it making a real difference in people鈥檚 lives.鈥�
Another preoccupation for Cadet and his family: to help support and train more Black physicians. To that end, the聽聽established a bursary in 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2021.
Cadet hopes word spreads about the Cadet Foundation Bursary 鈥渂ecause one of the things I鈥檝e noticed is that many people from Black and marginalized communities don鈥檛 really feel as if they鈥檙e welcome in medicine necessarily or that medicine is an option for them.
鈥淚 just want them to know that if it鈥檚 their dream and they give it their all, that it鈥檚 possible to be a physician.鈥�
The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences is working to increase the number of Black students in medicine through the new聽Black Candidate Pathway, which Anita Brown-Johnson, MDCM鈥�88, PGME鈥�90, Chief of Family Medicine at the 黑料不打烊 University Health Centre, helped develop. 鈥淚鈥檓 really inspired by her great leadership,鈥� Cadet says.
鈥榃hat could we do to try and have a bigger impact鈥�
The Cadet Foundation launched in 2020 shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the Black Lives Matter movement attracted support around the globe following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Cadet set up the Foundation with his wife, Ji Wei Yang, MDCM鈥�12, MedResident鈥�17, and his parents 鈥� Sylvie, a family physician from Montreal鈥檚 South Shore, and Robespierre, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor who emigrated from Haiti as a young man.
鈥淲e were asking ourselves, what could we do to try and have a bigger impact in the community,鈥� recalls Cadet. The idea was to promote a holistic approach to health care 鈥� physical, mental, and spiritual 鈥� domestically and in Haiti, especially among Black and marginalized populations.
Cadet says he鈥檚 been shaped by his parents鈥� experience. His mother has taken care of people鈥檚 physical health and also dealt with their mental health. 鈥淔or my father, it was a lot of spiritual and also mental, psychological health because he had done a bachelor鈥檚 in Psychology on top of a master鈥檚 in Theology.鈥�
The Cadet Foundation鈥檚 first initiative is the endowed bursary for Black students. The family鈥檚 generous contribution has been amplified by matching funds from the Chancellor鈥檚 Third Century Challenge Fund. Former 黑料不打烊 Chancellor Michael Meighen, BA鈥�60, LLD鈥�12, created the Fund in 2019. It includes $2 million in matching funds to encourage donors to make gifts to create new entrance bursaries.
A network of support for Black medical students
The Cadet Foundation Bursary is expected to be awarded for the first time in 2022. Cadet and his family hope the bursary helps connect recipients to networks of support with other physicians.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that I feel is one of the significant challenges that Black health care professionals face because often times there are either very few of us in a specialty or sometimes there鈥檚 no one else, especially in one given city.鈥�
Over the years, Cadet has helped mentor Black students who reached out to him about their interest in medicine. He hopes to do the same with the bursary recipients and envisions Cadet fellows forming a supportive network before, during and after medical school.
The bursary will place special importance on people giving back to Black communities and aims to help recipients reach their full potential. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to try to empower them and to help them think outside the box,鈥� says Cadet, so that once they become physicians, they can also connect things they鈥檙e passionate about with medicine to have a greater impact.鈥�
Community outreach in Montreal and Haiti
Cadet and Ji Wei Yang met at 黑料不打烊 medical school. She鈥檚 now an endocrinologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and Cadet credits her invaluable organizational help on the projects he has undertaken. Their first medical mission was to Haiti in 2014 as part of the Universit茅 de Montr茅al Haiti glaucoma group. Cadet founded the community outreach group during his ophthalmology residency at U de M. Its work includes an annual free glaucoma screening day in the Montr茅al-Nord borough, home of many in Montreal鈥檚 Haitian community.
Cadet has taken part in several missions with the group. In the 2014 trip, a team of 15 saw 730 patients over two weeks in rural areas and slums in Port-au-Prince. They focussed on medical ophthalmology, such as glaucoma screening, while Yang did health screens, checking for high blood pressure and other conditions.
The Cadet Foundation has also pledged a generous amount to build a medical complex in Haiti as part of the La Cit茅 du savoir project. Led by a Universit茅 de Montr茅al professor, the initiative involves the Haitian diaspora and local leaders. 鈥淭he idea is to come together putting politics aside and just do something positive for the country,鈥� Cadet says.
The Foundation is also working on an initiative to try to set up Black community health centres in the Montreal area. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be personalized care in the for-us, by-us fashion. And I think it鈥檚 going to be easier to connect with people because there won鈥檛 be those cultural or linguistic barriers that are often present within health care now,鈥� Cadet says.
The efforts all fall under Cadet鈥檚 personal motto: Love, serve and empower.