Hometown: Calgary, AB
Program: Family Practice Residency Program, Prince George
What attracted you to your field?
The lead contributing factor for me choosing family medicine was the abundance of options that you can participate in with your work – this is especially true when it comes to practicing in rural locations. In family medicine we support with emergency medicine, dermatology, assisting surgery, geriatrics and more. You can adjust where you are allocating your time to any of these areas as desired going through your career which is also very appealing.
What is your favourite moment from your time at UBC?
Some of my favourite moments through residency have been supporting and educating medical students on rotations in the hospitals and clinics. Even though residents are still learning, being able to share information and guidance with students really makes you appreciate how much you’ve accomplished to reach this point in your career. It’s compelling to see where you started from and it really motivates you to help support medical students – who are often quite thankful.
What is one piece of advice you have for students entering your program?
Establish a team and community with residents within your program and others learning beside you. Proactively start a group chat to coordinate plans and schedules, exchange numbers, plan social outings and send funny facts. You are not expected to know everything so you’ll be asking questions…a lot. These resources provide tremendous value. Above that, sometimes those random conversations with residents going through the same challenges are everything you both need to reset and refocus.
Tell us briefly about your research.
One research project I completed during residency was on a team with two colleague residents and a chronic pain specialist. As pain management skills are a cornerstone of medical practice, we were interested in reviewing this area and its guidelines further, especially considering the ongoing B.C. opioid crisis. We conducted a provincial survey in B.C. to assess the attitudes and approaches primary care providers have in regard to prescribing opioids for chronic non-cancer pain. From this, we hope to recognize utilization of these guidelines and identify potential barriers in practice to help optimize pain management approaches by primary care providers.
What’s next for you?
After completing residency, I intend to get some adventure in with my family and locum around different areas and communities in B.C. for the first several months. We have so many opportunities in family medicine to try new things and experience the unique ventures that our province has. I would ideally provide care and support to smaller communities while learning new skillsets along the way. Afterwards, I’ll be returning to Prince George and may consider some enhanced skills training.