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A Piece of Our History

A piece of our history: a Chinese translation of the Hippocratic Oath from the late 1980s

We recently discovered a piece of art created by one of our society’s founding members – a beautiful artwork of Chinese calligraphy which signifies the representation of Chinese Canadian medical doctors in Canadian medical society of the late 1980s. We give our thanks to Gladys Tong, who has researched the events around the creation of this artwork and written an introduction as follows.

In the early 1980s, several local Vancouver physicians including Dr.  Cheung C. Wong (late), Dr. Daniel Y. Tong, Dr. Howan Koo, Dr. Jay Cheng (late), Dr. Kai S. Chan, & Dr. Gilbert Ma met to discuss the formation of the Chinese Medical Society here in Vancouver. They were instrumental in starting the society and nominated Dr. Jay Cheng (late) to serve as the first president. By May 1985, the CCMS (BC) was legally constituted under the leadership of the late Dr. Jay Cheng (psychiatrist).

In 1988 Dr. Daniel Y. Tong had the idea to translate the Hippocratic oath into Chinese so that there would be Chinese representation in the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in Ottawa. He did the translation and his father Wing Po Tong wrote the Chinese calligraphy. The finished work was presented to the CMA on Aug 24, 1988 by the CCMS (BC) at the Annual Meeting of the CMA at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver. It now resides in the CMA building in Ottawa.

In Memory of Dr. Madeline Chung

Dr. Madeline Huang Chung, the first female Chinese Obstetrician in Canada, passed away peacefully at her home in Vancouver at the age of 96 on August 22nd, 2021. Dr. Chung was born in Shanghai China in 1925 and graduated from Yale in China in 1948. She received a 4 year residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and moved to Vancouver to practice in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Vancouver General Hospital and the old Grace Hospital. She was popular among medical students and residents because of her dedication to teaching, in spite of initially being denied an academic appointment. Over a long career from 1956-1992 she delivered 7,226 babies.

Dr. Chung was equally involved in the community as a volunteer. She also helped to found the Chinese language True Light School which is still exists today. For her dedication, she was made an Honorary Life Member of the Canadian Medical Association in 1993 and a received a Civic Merit Award from the City of Vancouver in 2013. Dr. Madeline Chung had attended quite a few of our CCMSBC galas. She and her husband Dr. Wallace Chun are pioneers in medicine. Their son Dr. Stephen Chung is the leading liver surgeon in BC. Her professionalism, dedication and love will be remembered.

Dr. Charles Jiang CCMSBC President

Dr. Madeline Chung with one of her ‘Chung babies,’ one of thousands she delivered in Vancouver through the decades. Photo by PNG files

Anti-Asian Racism: A Call to Action

The linked file below is an anti-Asian racism statement that was recently sent out by Fiona Dalton (CEO of PHC) and Victor Leung (President of Medical Staff Association). In the statement, there are some useful links about educating others about racism, as well as links to donate to organizations to fight anti-Asian racism. It may be a useful statement to post on the website as well.

file: 
PDF icon 2021-04-19 Anti-Asian Racism Statement.pdf

Fighting All Forms of Racism!

A well written Op-Ed article worth reading:

"Promoting multiculturalism as Canada’s national identity has allowed Canadians to ignore the harsh lived reality of many minorities, and to refute the claim that racism is alive and well in Canada. Denying its existence allows racism to fester and persist."

Read full article

President's Message

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic was hard for everyone in 2020. We still remembered how our

members were actively donating their savings and PPEs to the medical frontline of Wuhan China

fighting against Coronavirus in the beginning of 2020; then we had our first wave of COVID-19

pandemic crisis across Canada starting in March 2020. We faced lockdowns and a vast majority

of our group activities were canceled, including our traditional Gala dinner and Chinese New

Year celebration events. Some of us may have experienced difficulties in our clinic practices. We

are still struggling with the second wave of hardship and the uncertainty of virus variants. The

COVID-19 pandemic is the most serious public health crisis we have ever experienced.

With such an unprecedented change in the way we live and work, we were pushed to be more

resilient and creative. We had a successful online Health Fair in 2020. We saw the booming of

Tele-CMEs. We entered a new age of social interaction and professional practice including Tele-

Medicine. We also saw the beginning of the end of this historical unprecedented pandemic

crisis.

This year, we will continue to maintain and strengthen our members' connections. We will

continue to support CMEs and health education events. We are also planning to create a platform

for all of our members to share, exchange practice-related information, so we can connect and

help each other more closely. I believe the challenges and the opportunities always co-exist. At

this special beginning of the Chinese New Year 2021, may the lucky Ox bring everyone the luck,

prosperity, health and peace!

Sincerely,

Charles Jiang

President of CCMSBC

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