Psychiatrist Dr. Saadia Sediqzadah is passionate about advocating for social justice in medicine, both in her leadership positions at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital and beyond.
The daughter of refugees, she joined a national movement to advocate for the reinstatement of refugee health services in 2012. In July 2019, Dr. Sediqzadah published a personal essay about her experience as a caregiver to her family member with schizophrenia, shedding light on the difficulties balancing her roles as a loving and knowledgeable caregiver.
Dr. Sediqzadah’s personal experience informs her compassionate clinical care. She provides psychiatric outreach to young adults experiencing their first episode of psychosis at St. Michael’s, where most of her patients are racialized and newcomers. In addition, Dr. Sediqzadah provides psychiatric services to a Toronto youth shelter.
In 2022, Dr. Sediqzadah became St. Michael’s department of psychiatry’s Continuing Medical Education (CME) lead, where she diversified the learning opportunities to include more service users and grassroots mental health organizations, and expanded the audience to include community members.
“Dr. Sediqzadah’s career is off to an extraordinarily promising start, and there is little doubt she will be a key leader in psychiatry — and health care more broadly — for decades to come.” — Dr. Irfan Dhalla, vice-president of physician quality at the University of Toronto department of medicine
Dr. Saadia Sediqzadah is receiving the CMA Award for Young Leaders (early career) for her thoughtful and unrelenting dedication to equitable care for all.