As a clinician, educator, and communicator, Alice Cheng was set on her career path at an early age. She grew up in Nepean, a small suburb of Ottawa, before settling in Toronto. She remembers bundling for school in the winter, only to slip down the entire length of her frozen driveway. She remembers Steve Yzerman, a local celebrity who played for the Detroit Red Wings, playing street hockey with the neighborhood kids over Christmas break. And she remembers, from age 6, her pediatrician. “I thought she was the coolest person ever and I wanted to be her,” Cheng says. “She was the first adult, other than my parents, to talk to me like an adult. She didn’t talk to me like I was a kid.”
This was her initial plan, to pursue pediatrics. But she found herself drawn to diabetes during her medical school rotation at Toronto Western Hospital. There, she saw the direct impact that knowledge could provide in the lives and well-being of patients.
“With diabetes, communication is critical on many levels,” Cheng says. “Because this is a chronic disease, there’s a real relationship you have to build with the patient. You help and learn from each other.”
Now, as an endocrinologist with Trillium Health Partners and Unity Health Toronto and an associate professor at the University of Toronto, Cheng’s focus is the valuable role of communication in medicine.
“There’s an incredible amount of diabetes research, and trying to distill all of that information down—that’s the piece of the puzzle I play in,” she says. “To translate that research into something practical and meaningful to share with my colleagues, for them to share with their patients.”
Cheng accomplishes this through delivering and developing continuing education programs, through her work in guideline development, and with her role as chair of the Scientific Planning Program for the 2023 and 2024 American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions. Speaking to a wide audience is also crucial. In 2020, Cheng launched the Med Ed Pledge (www.theMedEdPledge.com), a way for medical professionals to support diversity and inclusion efforts in education.
Cheng also cohosts the podcast series Diabetes Care “On Air,” alongside Michael R. Rickels, MD, MS.
“I try to structure each episode the same way I’d structure a lecture. You’re leading your audience down a garden path,” she says. “I try to present things simply. You can say more with fewer words. The skill is in finding the right words to get your point across.”
Humor also plays a role when presenting information on topics as dense and serious as diabetes.
“It’s critical. I do my best to keep my lectures lighthearted,” she says. “For the audience, listening is an active process which takes a lot of energy and concentration. Humor functions as a mental break. They can relax a bit, then re-engage.”
One recurring source of levity in her presentations? A slogan, “Pee, rinse, wipe,” used to highlight the strategy for reducing the risk of yeast infection.
“I’ll be in another country at a meeting and a stranger will walk up and say ‘Pee, rinse, wipe,’ and then walk away,” she says. “That’s a great outcome!”
