This series explores challenges faced by international students in Canada.

For decades, the scholarship focused on the health issues immigrants ‘brought’ with them. The burden of infectious diseases is too often placed on the backs of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. Justice and health walk hand in hand, after all, healthcare delayed is healthcare denied.

It was 4 AM when I let six paramedics into my apartment for my roommate. ‘Do not panic,’ she
reassured me, at her worst. Now, Natasha is a healthy young adult who has recently undergone back surgery. The process of having surgery wasn’t easy. Between dealing with dismissive doctors due to her high pain tolerance and not being able to walk for a good week, Natasha’s herniated disc surgery was delayed by at least two weeks. What was the breaking point? ChatGPT. That’s right, it was AI that suggested she re-visit the ER for a consultation.

The internet has given me solace and stimulation, attention and inattention. It helped me foster
some bonds while severing other ties. It is this process of realizing and de-realizing realities
while growing up on the internet that catalyzed a sense of reliance. Hearing my roommate’s story furthered my own belief that this is the decade of self-advocacy.

As an international student, some days all one can do is bear witness. The healthcare system is filled with flaws. The politicization of health, a human right naturally continues to cost lives.
Emergency departments are often designated safety nets for the healthcare system. However, due to a lack of access to primary caretakers and after-hour clinics ERs have emerged as the default route for those unable to access healthcare anywhere else. The result? A melange of
non-emergency and emergency cases leaves patients dissatisfied and demoralized.

Bailey Young/The Baron

“Do you have your passport with you?” Asked the ER nurse. My first time in the ER was less
than friendly. Leaving essential documents at home, all I truly sought out was urgent emergency care. That day, I left my passport at home. Thankfully, I was able to receive the care I needed due to other supportive documents. On the way back home I stared at my foot with a thought running through my mind: what about the healthcare of international students?

Most international students are insured. We pay for international students' insurance, those who choose to opt out on the other hand are presented with the option of relying on Medicare. It is the waiting period when applying for Medicare that scares some students away. Some wait for nine months, while others wait for three just to get rejected.

“The rejection letter was overwhelming, it was a shock to my system. Because I am almost
certain I provided all the necessary documents. Now I have to delay getting emergency care for my pinched sciatic nerve that reduced my quality of life considerably. I am in pain every day,” wrote an international student.

Getting access to the ER for a mere consultation can cost students a fortune. Healthcare is a
human right, yet now and then stories of international students being denied healthcare because of international students' insurance being a hassle emerge. “When T* broke his hand, I took him to Horizon’s Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton. Even though it was an emergency, we waited five long hours to get through the door. The staff hesitated to admit him, saying it was a hassle to deal with international insurance. Watching him suffer in pain and agony while being overlooked was frustrating. No one should feel ignored when they need urgent care," wrote an international student from Bangladesh.

Having insurance as an international student sometimes does not promise coverage. International student S* was hit by a car and broke his legs. On top of his physical injuries, he was left with $2,000 in medical expenses because Guard Me refused to cover the costs. They suggested that the car’s insurance should handle it, as it was a hit-and-run case, and the sum could not be recovered.

We all have loved ones we have watched suffer in silence. We delay seeking healthcare due to it being a hassle. Yes, a bigger clinic helps. Yes, having extra nurses on campus helps. But what we truly need to do is take a look at the system as a whole, rather than fragments. The pandemic did an incredible job of shredding apart our illusions regarding the health of the collective, revealing that we are just as healthy as our sickest neighbor.