Show Notes
Welcome to the very first episode of Scale Up Your Practice, the podcast created for healthcare professionals who want to deliver better, evidence-based obesity care. In this kickoff episode, your hosts Dr. Roshan Abraham and Michelle McMillan share their personal journeys into obesity care, introduce Obesity Canada’s mission, and explain why this podcast is needed now more than ever. You’ll also hear our first "Bias Break" segment—an honest reflection on weight bias and stigma in healthcare, and why tackling these barriers is critical to improving patient care. 🎯 In this episode: Why obesity is a chronic disease, not a choice
How weight bias impacts care—and what we can do about it
What to expect in future episodes, including expert guests and lived experience voices
Additional Resources Mentioned:
Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines: https://utm.guru/uicXM
Free Weight Bias and Stigma Course from Obesity Canada: https://utm.guru/uicXN
Tell your provincial government it’s time to recognize obesity as a chronic disease: https://utm.guru/uicXO
Send us your questions or topic requests: [email protected] Enjoyed the episode? ✅ Share it with a colleague or friend in healthcare ✅ Subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so you never miss an episode ✅ Leave us a review—it helps more people discover the show and join the conversation Thanks for listening—and stay tuned as we continue to scale up your practice.
Scale Up Your Practice is created by Obesity Canada. Learn more at obesitycanada.ca
More from Scale Up Your Practice by Obesity Canada
🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada
What happens when healthcare professionals know what evidence-informed obesity care should look like, but the system makes that care difficult to deliver? Ian Patton and Jennifer Brown join us on the podcast to unpack findings from The State of Obesity Care in Canada report and connect them to what clinicians and patients experience every day: limited referral pathways, uneven treatment coverage, gaps in psychological support, inconsistent access to metabolic bariatric surgery and the effects of weight bias at the system level.
🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada
🎙️This episode was made possible through the partnership between Obesity Canada and Boehringer Ingelheim in support of the Global Patient Charter Framework initiative.
🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada Pregnancy care should feel safe, respectful and supportive for every patient. But for pregnant patients living with obesity, clinical spaces can sometimes create anxiety before care even begins, from waiting room seating and equipment that do not fit, to conversations about weight, pregnancy risk and health that can feel stigmatizing. In this episode of Scale Up Your Practice, Dr. Cynthia Maxwell joins Dr. Roshan Abraham and Michelle McMillan to discuss how healthcare professionals can create safer, more equitable pregnancy care for patients living with obesity. She shares practical strategies to reduce weight bias in maternal care, communicate pregnancy risks without blame, ask permission around weighing, and build healthcare environments where patients feel physically and psychologically safe.