Dr. Alexandra Bastiany: The Montreal Doctor Who Broke a Historic Barrier in Canadian Heart Medicine
At a time when women of Black and Haitian heritage remain underrepresented in some of the most specialised areas of medicine, Dr. Alexandra Bastiany has carved out a remarkable place in Canadian medical history.
In 2020, after completing her fellowship in interventional cardiology in Alberta, Bastiany became the first Black woman in Canada to become an interventional cardiologist. Her achievement followed nearly 15 years of university education, residency and specialist medical training.
Her story, however, began much earlier.
Growing up in Montreal
Bastiany was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, to Haitian parents and grew up in the multicultural neighbourhood of Saint-Michel. Her mother was a nurse, while her father was a chemist who studied organic chemistry at the Université de Montréal. From childhood, she was surrounded by science and medicine.
Her interest in medicine developed early. She has recalled playing with a stethoscope as a child and even comparing anatomy illustrations from her books with the muscles of her younger brother.
Her parents placed a strong emphasis on education and discipline, encouraging her to work hard and pursue excellence. Their support remained an important part of her journey through the demanding years of medical education.
Bastiany knew from secondary school that she wanted to become a doctor. During her first year of medical school, she discovered a particular fascination with the heart. Although she initially considered becoming a general surgeon, interventional cardiology eventually gave her a way to combine her love of cardiovascular medicine with her interest in procedures and hands-on clinical work.
A remarkable academic journey
Bastiany studied medicine at the Université de Montréal (UdeM) and graduated with honours. She also became the first Black valedictorian of the university’s Faculty of Medicine, another significant milestone in her academic career.
Her medical training included internal medicine and cardiology at UdeM. According to Ontario’s physician registry, she received her medical degree from UdeM in 2011, obtained Royal College certification in internal medicine in 2015, and in cardiology in 2019.
She subsequently travelled west to Alberta for advanced training in interventional cardiology at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute at the University of Alberta.
She completed that fellowship in 2020, becoming Canada’s first Black female interventional cardiologist.
What is interventional cardiology?
Interventional cardiology is a highly specialised branch of cardiology that uses minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat cardiovascular conditions.
Instead of requiring traditional open-heart surgery for certain conditions, interventional cardiologists can use catheters inserted through blood vessels—often through the wrist or groin—to reach the heart and treat problems such as blocked coronary arteries.
For Bastiany, the speciality offered the combination she was looking for: her passion for the cardiovascular system, her love of science and her desire for an active, hands-on medical career.
Breaking barriers in a traditionally underrepresented field
Her achievement was about more than becoming the first.
Bastiany has spoken openly about entering medical school in a class of around 250 students, where very few students came from the Black community. During the early years of her training, she also had relatively few professors or physicians who looked like her.
Rather than allowing that absence of representation to discourage her, she decided to challenge the expectations placed on her.
“I’ve always aimed for excellence,” Bastiany has said.
She has also described herself as a woman navigating both racial and gender barriers in medicine and has argued that her identity can be a source of strength rather than something she should hide.
Medicine beyond the hospital
Bastiany’s work has never been limited to treating patients.
She developed a strong interest in community health, particularly among Montreal’s Haitian community. She volunteered with La Maison d’Haïti, a community organisation in her childhood neighbourhood, where she helped organise educational sessions addressing common health issues affecting members of the Haitian community. Her community work earned her second place in the FMRQ Excelsior Awards.
She has also worked with community organisations to organise career days for children and young people from minority and underserved communities, giving them opportunities to meet professionals and see people who look like them succeeding in different careers.
Bastiany is fluent in English, French and Haitian Creole, allowing her to connect with patients and communities across different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
An advocate for health equity
Her experience as a Black woman in medicine has also influenced her professional interests.
Bastiany has become an advocate for addressing racial and gender bias in healthcare, particularly differences in standards of care and health outcomes.
She has spoken about the importance of culturally appropriate care and has said she is prepared to challenge racism and inappropriate behaviour toward Black, Indigenous and other racialised patients.
Her work has included a focus on women’s heart health and decision-making. She has also contributed to professional and academic discussions about cardiovascular disease and health equity.
From Montreal to communities across Canada
Bastiany has worked as an interventional cardiologist in Ontario, including at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, where she has also served as a faculty member and clinical lecturer with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Professional profiles have also listed her practice in British Columbia in more recent years.
Her professional credentials include MD, FRCPC and DRCPSC, reflecting her extensive medical and specialist training.
She has also participated in major cardiovascular conferences and professional organisations, contributing to discussions about interventional cardiology, cardiovascular health and equity.
A role model for the next generation
When Bastiany’s historic achievement became widely reported in 2021 and 2022, she repeatedly emphasised the importance of representation.
At 34, when her achievement was reported by Canadian media in 2022, she said she hoped her success would show young people who look like her that their ambitions are possible.
Her message is particularly powerful because she understands what it means to enter a demanding profession without seeing many people like yourself at the top.
Today, her career offers a different picture to the next generation: a young Black girl from Montreal can grow up in a Haitian family, dream of becoming a doctor, enter one of Canada’s most competitive medical specialties and eventually become a pioneer in the field.
More than a first
Dr. Alexandra Bastiany’s story is ultimately bigger than the title “first Black woman interventional cardiologist in Canada.”
It is the story of a girl whose mother was a nurse and whose father was a chemist; a student who loved science and anatomy; a young woman who entered medical school despite being told how difficult the journey would be; and a physician who transformed the absence of representation around her into motivation.
She broke a barrier in 2020, but her work did not stop there.
Today, Bastiany combines advanced cardiovascular medicine with community advocacy, mentorship and efforts to confront inequality in healthcare.
Her greatest legacy may therefore not be simply that she was the first.
It may be that, because she became the first, countless young Black and Haitian girls can now look toward the highest levels of Canadian medicine and know that there is a place for them there too.
Dr. Alexandra Bastiany: The Montreal Doctor Who Broke a Historic Barrier in Canadian Heart Medicine