A Doctor's Journey | Dr. Sajida Afridi | Surviving Addiction | Episode 2

WARNING - This video series discusses mental health, addiction, substance use and suicide among other challenging topics. Some viewers may find the content emotionally distressing. Viewer discretion is advised.
Surviving Addiction:
Surviving Addiction is an interview series that highlights the real people who are impacted by addiction and the lenses which they experience it through. Whether it's the healthcare professional, community leader, family member or the person who has lived with a substance use disorder, addiction impacts the lives of everyone it touches. In this series, we learn of the humanity of those that addiction has touched and the profound lessons learned through their experiences.
Story:
Episode 2 shares the journey of Dr Sajida Afridi who is a physician who specializes in addiction medicine. Growing up in Pakistan, her exposure to seeing preventable deaths inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. During her residency in Canada, a chance encounter with someone struggling with a substance use disorder and the stigma she observed towards them led her to focus her career in addiction medicine.
In this episode, Dr. Afridi shares her lived experience as a addiction medicine physician and the hard earned lessons she has learned on stigma, coping with the loss of a patient, harm reduction, combating burnout and how addiction is a chronic brain disease amongst other topics.
Dr. Afridi is a Public Health Preventive Medicine and Addiction Medicine Specialist. After completing her residency at University of Ottawa, she has provided addiction medicine treatment services first in Alberta for 7 years and now serving Ontario.She has worked across all health care settings in Ontario & remains determined for the provision of timely and equitable substance use disorder services across the continuum of care. Currently, she is providing addiction medicine services in Oshawa, ON for a broad range of substance use disorders. She is an assistant professor at Queens University and actively teaches residents/medical students. Additionally she provides expertise for the improvement of substance use disorder services to Durham Region Opioid task force and Ontario Health Team. Lastly, she is a passionate advocate for harm reduction, equitable and non-stigmatized care for people who use substances.
Resources:
Canada wide suicide hotline: Dial 9-8-8
Canada wide Non-Emergency Medical Line: Dial 8-1-1
Partners:
Inspire By Example: inspirebyexamp...
Inspire By Example shares the stories of lived experience related to addiction with the goal of reducing stigma and providing hope to those in need.
Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine: csam-smca.org/
CSAM is a national society of medical professionals and scientists committed to helping Canadians understand and recover with dignity from substance use disorders.
Durham College Social Impact Hub: durhamcollege....
The Social Impact Hub at Durham College builds community collaborations needed to undertake socially innovative applied research activities informed by those with lived experience. A key activity is supporting knowledge mobilization within the walls of the college, our region, and beyond.

[@4salecowpoke]

This woman is brilliant, kind , empathetic , selfless . I owe my sobriety of 8 years to this woman .

[@ruthtirado2750]

Thank you for sharing! Praying that your testimony will help many others!

[@4salecowpoke]

I truly hope she knows how many lives she has saved

[@alec6840]

💃 'Promo SM'