Dr. Aislynn Torfason was born in Churchill, a small remote town in Manitoba. Calling Manitoba “a beautiful place to grow up,” she says Churchill’s claim to fame is the polar bear and the beluga whale. Her mother was Métis and her father Manitoba Icelandic, and she was inspired by her father—a nurse—to attend medical school.
Dr. Torfason describes gaps in the healthcare system that have impacted people close to her. She describes instances where this lack of access has led to the tragic loss of life. It’s this experience that lit a fire under her to work in medicine.
“My entire family has experienced gaps in the health care system and couldn’t receive basic lifesaving care,” says Torfason. “These are just stories of my family, and there are so many more of these experienced by those in northern, rural and Indigenous communities.”
[No text in field]