1. Please share your most interesting case with a patient?
“A patient presented with heart failure, shortness of breath, lungs lesions, and they were not responding well with treatments. It took about 3 specialists to figure out it was related to hypereosinophilia, which is a group of blood disorders that occur when you have high numbers of eosinophils depositing into tissues. She got the proper treatment needed to help her recover. This case challenged me to look at the big picture, not just look at the immediate problem. It’s important to consider a unifying diagnosis.”
2. What is the best advice you were given during your time in medical school that has had a lasting impact on your practice?
“The best advice given during my time in medical school was to focus on character. You can always learn the knowledge and skills related to medicine but character is harder to obtain and so it is important to hone and grow. I have always remembered this and it has helped me keep grounded throughout my career. Another useful piece of advice that I received was to ‘enjoy the process because it’s not going to get any easier’. I think they were right. Medicine isn’t a destination but a journey.”
3. What are you currently working on that is helping to impact our local medical community and/or local patients?
“I really enjoy the work that we have been able to accomplish through the MSA and PES. It has allowed us to have an impact in our physician community, our hospital and most importantly the patients we care for. Through the MSA and PES I would like to continue to be a voice for our physician members in our hospital and as well as FHA. This year we are hoping to continue these projects and start connecting with our community GPs in order to improve the spectrum of care from the community to the hospital and vise versa.
I am also starting to discuss and plan with the physiotherapy group to begin a mobility project. Through this project we hope to continue to improve the physical improvement our patients make through their stay in hospital. This will in turn improve their overall health.”
4. What is some advice or wisdom you would like to share with your medical staff peers, or any new physicians joining our community?
“For someone joining our community I believe the best advice is to be involved. It helps build those relationship bridges and allow you to work better to know how the system works and to make a difference. I think that the level of involvement of our members is one of our greatest strengths at Ridge Meadows Hospital.”