There was a time when several of B.C.’s leading transplant surgeons would not have been allowed to practise medicine, simply because of their ethnicity.
From the 1850s to the 1950s, Asians were regarded as alien and inferior in B.C. and across Canada. They were paid less than other workers. Discrimination was written into law. Asian Canadians living in B.C. were forbidden to work on Crown lands, roads or in mines. They weren’t allowed to vote, which meant they also couldn’t practise in licensed professions such as law, engineering and medicine.
Dr. John Yee, medical director of the provincial lung transplant program, recalls growing up in Montreal as one of just a few Chinese kids in the neighbourhood and community.
“The only Chinese person you might see in the hospital was likely the person pushing the broom or cart,” comments Dr. Yee.
Dr. Yee's father came to Canada in 1956 from a farm in China with no money, no education and no English. He worked in a restaurant in Chinatown for $18 a day, chopping the barbecue meat. Dr. Yee’s mother worked in a factory.
“I was a waiter in the restaurant at night and during the daytime I was a surgical resident,” adds Dr. Yee. “My parents wanted a better life for us. All they wanted was to make sure we had a good education, had a good moral compass and give back to Canada.”
That same drive for a better life was what brought Dr. Christopher Nguan’s parents to Canada from Hong Kong. Recently, his 107-year-old grandfather fell ill, prompting the surgical director of the kidney transplant program at Vancouver General Hospital to reflect on his upbringing.
He remarks, “My grandfather dedicated his life to community and raising a family. My parents brought that same idea and cultural influence with them when they immigrated to Canada, so the idea of community and philanthropy, service, and generosity was instilled in me early.”
For Dr. Peter Kim, his inspiration to pursue transplant medicine, and stay in Canada to practise medicine, came from his father. His dad received a liver transplant at Vancouver General Hospital 27 years ago as Dr. Kim was about to enter medical school.
“My family didn’t have a lot growing up and for someone like my dad to receive a transplant and be cared for without prejudice, that is the beauty of our system. You don’t have to be someone important to receive the best care,” says Dr. Kim, medical director of the provincial liver transplant program. “I want to continue to be part of the system that provides the best care for everyone without prejudice.”
Dr. Kim also never forgets it was the generosity of an organ donor and their family who saved his father’s life and shaped his career. Every time he performs a transplant, his first thoughts are for the donor and the donor’s family.
“Transplant is not possible without donor organs. It really is the pinnacle of altruism,” explains Dr. Kim. “Donors come to the hospital in tragic circumstances and the family, in the midst of that tragedy, can find room in their hearts to donate and help someone else. It is truly incredible.”
Growing up in Canada provided many new opportunities, according to Dr. Anson Cheung. The surgical director of B.C.’s cardiac transplant program left Hong Kong on a student visa when he was in high school. Eventually, his whole family immigrated to Winnipeg.
“Publicly funded education allowed me to be the first one on both sides of the family to go to university,” says Dr. Cheung. “I hope that I have become a bridge between society and cultures, allowing us to live in more harmony. I was able to benefit from the system and now I am giving back.”
“I don’t think it’s an accident that all four of us are from immigrant backgrounds,” adds Dr. Yee. “The weight of the generations that come before you means you are not going to drop the baton. You are going to work as hard as you can. That drive to prove yourself has driven us all to do what we do. Transplant is hard work, it’s physically demanding, it’s gruelling, and it takes a long time to be good at it. I’m really proud of the world-leading care we deliver here in B.C.”
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Learn more about the lives and careers of Dr. Anson Cheung, Dr. Peter Kim, Dr. Christopher Nguan and Dr. John Yee by watching the entire Transplant Titans conversation, available on YouTube. You can also see more on the Knowledge Network docuseries ‘Transplant Stories’, streaming for free online.
