The year 2024 was a big one for Dr. Hussein Wissanji, a pediatric surgeon, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatric Surgery, and the director of the Colorectal Centre of Excellence (COCOE) at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. In addition to opening the clinical and research centre in January, the 38-year-old surgeon served as spokesperson for a national drowning prevention campaign and launched a radio talk show with information and advice on medical matters—all while working to develop telemedicine in Cree and Inuit communities.
“Everything is connected,” explains Wissanji. “I chose medicine because I want to be useful and help children and their families. But we need to reach as many people as possible. There’s no time to lose.” He believes it is critical to combine highly specialized surgery, public health information, and popular communication strategies. “Overall, our health system is very equitable but there are significant inequalities within it that need to be corrected, and that often starts with better knowledge.”
Helping at the right time
Wissanji says he inherited his social mission from his parents, who are of Indian descent but were born in Kisangani and left the Democratic Republic of the Congo to settle in Granby, Quebec, in 1974. His father, who ran a small photography business, and his mother, a psychotherapist, insisted that he and his two sisters get involved in different causes through volunteer work.
His older sister, Alisha (PhD’13), a professor of natural sciences at Cégep Marie-Victorin, created the School of the Greats program, which pairs primary school students with tutors from CEGEPs. His other sister, Tasheen (BSc’07), also a doctor, is secretary of the board of directors of the Foundation W., which manages the program. Wissanji is the foundation’s vice-president. “You have to be able to help at the right time in a person’s life because that becomes difficult at one point, if not impossible,” he says.
From surgery...
After finishing his medical degree at Université Laval in 2011 and training in surgery, Wissanji made the unconventional choice to do a master’s degree in public health and health policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. While there, he operated with Excel spreadsheets, not scalpels. “I lived in Baltimore near the hospital in a low-income neighbourhood where the life expectancy was similar to that of African countries,” he recalls. He became interested in pediatric surgery during an international surgery internship in Rwanda where he assisted one of the country’s three specialists in pediatric surgery.
Wissanji came to the Montreal Children’s Hospital to complete his specialization in pediatric general and thoracic surgery with Drs. Sherif Emil and Jean-Martin Laberge. He also wanted to learn how to set up a centre of excellence and build a research program. “Colorectal malformations are about as common as cystic fibrosis, but they rarely get discussed because of the shame attached to them,” he says. “Fecal incontinence affects a person’s dignity. It is the congenital disease that causes the most depression in children. It destroys lives. Intestinal reconstruction literally restores the quality of life to people who otherwise would spend their lives in diapers.”
He admits he was surprised by the meteoric success of the COCOE, which aims to boost expertise in the field of pediatric colorectal surgery, sorely lacking in Canada. “Prior to the Centre's opening, we saw about fifteen patients a year. But the COCOE just saw its hundredth patient in less than a year. We were only expecting to reach this target by 2027.”
... to radio
Wissanji became a public figure in the spring of 2024 when he acted as spokesperson for a national drowning prevention campaign. He had raised alarm bells about the issues himself—his own studies had shown one case of drowning or near-drowning every day in Quebec during the swimming season. “Even if we save a single life, it’s worth it,” he explains. In September 2024, he started contributing to the radio show Même le week-end on 98.5 FM as a medical correspondent offering information on everything from colorectal cancer, to how to prepare for medical appointments.
Developing telemedecine
His next project focuses on pediatric surgery follow-up appointments in Cree and Inuit communities. Surgical protocol often requires a follow-up appointment in Montreal after a procedure. That means children must spend more time away from home, which has consequences for both parents and children. Wissanji says this medial displacement is often unnecessary since the rate of complications is very low for routine operations.
“Telemedicine, which would make it possible to follow up with patients while they remain in their community, is used in only 8% of cases. So, the question is, are we dealing with a technical problem, is there resistance from health practitioners, or could we do better by offering this type of care in a more culturally sensitive way?” says Wissanji, who expects his results to apply to all rural populations. “It’s a clear case of a good intention having a negative effect.”
This article was first published in French: L’art de se rendre utile. Translation by Julie Barlow.