Cross-Pollinations Panel and Reflection

Описание: On February 25, 2026, Cross-Pollinations presented a panel discussion about the impact of Health Humanities programming on practice, research, and communities, as well as reflect on the ways that Cross-Pollinations has sought to create connections between art and medicine.

This event was curated jointly by the League of Canadian Poets, The Canadian Association for Health Humanities, and the Health Arts Research Centre.

Hosted by: Mic Jones

Panelists:

Zamina Aziz (neé Zamina Mithani) (she/her), MD MBE HEC-C is a current resident physician, clinical bioethicist and writer born born on unceded Coast Salish territories (Vancouver, British Columbia), and currently completing her residency in New York. Prior to beginning her Doctor of Medicine training at the University of British Columbia, she completed her Masters of Bioethics at Harvard, where her love for narrative ethics melded with her love for poetry, comedy, and understanding our identities in the world. For Zamina, poetry is both an art and a tool that can be used to navigate medical relationships, geographical attachments, and our connections to spirituality. Zamina has given workshops and lectures on poetry and narrative medicine to physicians, nurses, and ethicists across the US, Canada, and internationally. Her own work can be found in medical journals and crumpled in the pockets of her scrubs.

Ronna Bloom is a Toronto-based poet and the author of eight books of poetry. She has led initiatives to bring poetry into health care settings, specifically developing the Poet-in-Residence program at Sinai Health. Her work has appeared several times in Best Canadian Poetry and been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her most recent book is In a Riptide (Brick Books, 2025.)

Rhiannon Ng Cheng Hin's poetry and essays have appeared in Brick, The Walrus, Grain, The Malahat Review, Best Canadian Poetry 2024, and elsewhere. Her poetry collection Fire Cider Rain (Coach House Books, 2022) was shortlisted for the Archibald Lampman Award. She is currently a third year medical student at McGill University.

Dr. Jacqueline Hui is a Palliative Care physician and medical educator at the University of Calgary, where she leads Teacher Development and Faculty Development. Her clinical work in palliative care deeply informs her passion for helping learners and clinicians navigate difficult conversations with patients and families with compassion.

Maryam Golafshani (she/her) is a resident physician in psychiatry at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Prior to medical school, she completed a BA in English literature and MA in critical theory. She has nearly a decade of experience in research and initiatives bridging the arts and humanities with medicine and psychiatry.