Hometown: Richmond, B.C.
Program: General Surgery
Year in Program: 3
What inspired you to pursue your program?
General Surgery is an amazing mix of surgery and medicine, where you can learn a broad spectrum of skills to help a large number of patients in the hospital. There’s something innately satisfying about performing a procedure well, and telling your patients that they are free of their illness and that they can continue on with their lives. We also pride ourselves in understanding and being involved in complex medical issues, which is evidenced by a portion of our residents pursuing an Intensive Care Unit fellowship.
Why did you choose UBC?
I chose the program mostly because it felt like family. The genuine respect and support we have for each other makes going to work feel like hanging out with friends. The resident body is large enough to welcome in a variety of personalities, but small enough that we see each other often enough to be familiar with everyone. Looking around the province, we see that a majority of general surgeons have also come through this program, which speaks to its success at mentoring and retaining its talent.
Tell me about your research.
I work with large administrative databases to see trends in healthcare utilization. More specifically, I am looking at our large immigrant population in B.C., with respect to outcomes like peri-operative healthcare visits, surgical wait-times, emergency wait-times and post-operative outcomes. During my Master’s degree I also developed an interest in health economics, and so I am keen to evaluate the costs and benefits of our surgical interventions for patients.
What are you most looking forward to this year?
I’m returning to clinical rotations this year as a third-year resident, and am looking forward to being involved in day-to-day clinical activities again. I’m excited to improve my operative skills and use the knowledge I’ve studied hard to obtain to benefit patients. Most of all, I’m looking forward to being part of teams again, whether it be on the hospital ward, in the operating room or hanging out with co-residents. In a spiritual sense, I’m excited to return to a core part of my being, and to advance on the path that was meant to be.