Resident Testimonials

Congratulations! You are nearing the end of your two-year family medicine residency. How does it feel to have completed your CCFP Certification Examination in Family Medicine?

It’s definitely a relief to have another exam completed. Naturally we all stress about exams, especially a certification exam that reflects what you've been doing for the past two years of residency. But, I was given great advice from a family medicine legend (Dr. Tobin) that we’ve been essentially preparing for this exam for the past 5-6 years after taking into account all our medical school training. The program here in Ottawa, and specifically my community family medicine site at Greenboro Family Medicine Centre with Dr. Tobin and the rest of my supervisors, prepared me better than I could have wished for this exam and my future in medicine.

Are you looking forward to presenting your scholarly project?

Absolutely! It’s felt like quite a long process since initially choosing a project to submitting the final report. Out of all the academic responsibilities we have as family medicine residents this one definitely felt the most satisfying to complete. I was very fortunate to have a great FMRSP supervisor (Dr. Laura Muldoon) and feel I was truly supported throughout each step. I look forward to presenting my project to my peers at RIO Day

What will the last couple of months of your residency look like? How are you feeling as you approach graduation?

It’s definitely going to slow down a bit. All of my hour-intense hospital rotations were completed during the first half of the year and following the exam I have mainly family medicine and palliative care left to complete. It’s going to be nice to focus on learning aspects of specific topics I feel interested in learning without the stress of project deadlines or exams to worry about. Although, to be honest, I feel my current community site and the off-service rotations I’ve completed this year have prepared me for what the future holds already. As with any field in medicine there will always be things you encounter, probably on a daily basis, that leave you with some uncertainty and this is what makes practicing medicine exciting. But as I approach graduation I definitely feel I’ve been adequately prepared to deal with this uncertainty and be able to provide excellent care for my patients during the next step of my career.

What are your plans directly following graduation? What can you imagine yourself doing in five years? Ten?

I think I may have an attachment problem. After completing my undergrad, medical school and family medicine residency here at the University of Ottawa I’ll be hanging around for one more year to complete the CCFP Emergency Medicine program. I’m very excited for this upcoming year and it’s truly the last step of training to prepare myself for my career goal of practicing both family and emergency medicine in a rural/small community setting around the Ottawa Region. In the next 5, 10, 15 years down the road this is what I hope to still be doing. In addition, I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to be a preceptor for both medical students and residents to pass on the knowledge I’ve gained from my preceptors over the many years in medicine to this point.

What will you remember most about your time as a resident at uOttawa?

The greatest memory I hold for our family medicine program here in Ottawa is definitely the resident retreat we had this past September in Smiths Falls. Being one of the residents who helped organize the retreat (along with Elise, Alyx, and Pauline) I couldn't have been happier with the result despite the weather not being the greatest. It was such a great time to relax, get to know some of my fellow residents I had yet had the chance to really meet, and enjoy the Karaoke provided by Elise Azzi.

Is there anything else you would like to share with faculty and residents at the Department of Family Medicine?

I thought four years of medical school went by fast but these past two years of residency have honestly flown by. We are definitely fortunate for all the support we’ve had along the way during our residency from the excellent administration staff and outstanding preceptors. There was never a point during my residency where I felt I couldn't contact someone if I had an urgent question and having this support makes residency, an overall stressful time for anyone, progress much smoother. Personally, I’m forever fortunate to have had the opportunity to train with my preceptors at Greenboro (Drs. Tobin, Scherling, Nassim, Fellegi, Bloom, Yachnin, and Lozano) and for their knowledge they’ve passed down as I move forward in my career.

Congratulations! You are nearing the end of your two-year family medicine residency. How does it feel to have completed your CCFP Certification Examination in Family Medicine?

I’m excited to be so close to finishing my family medicine residency, and now that I no longer have to study all the time, I am enjoying my newfound free evenings and weekends to enjoy Spring!

Are you looking forward to presenting your scholarly project?

Absolutely – I have been working with Dr. Tanuseputro at the Ottawa Health Research Institute on a project about how physicians are delivering palliative care services to Ontario residents as death approaches.  We looked at the type of palliative care delivered to over 350,000 patients and the characteristics of the 11,000 physicians delivering the palliative care. I took advantage of a research elective to really dive into this project, and it has been a rewarding experience.  I’ll be extra ready for RIO Day as I’m presenting my findings at a conference in Montreal the week before!

What will the last couple of months of your residency look like? How are you feeling as you approach graduation?

They are going to fly by – I will on a core family medicine rotation, and after being off service for the past few months, it will be so nice to come home to my community family medicine clinic! I’m looking forward to consolidating the knowledge and skills I’ve been building over the past two years.

How will you and your peers at uOttawa celebrate the end of your residency program?

I’m not sure yet, but likely with a party and some fun! I’m also headed to Costa Rica next month with my sister for some zip lining and bird watching.

What are your plans directly following graduation?

This summer, I’ll have the pleasure of locuming at a Community Health Centre in Ottawa. This will be a natural transition for me as I’m completing my residency under the supervision of Dr. Kay Lee (and Drs. Laura Muldoon and Sarah Rice) at Somerset West CHC. Then, it’s three more years of residency for me – my official graduation date from residency is June 2021 as I’m also a public health and preventive medicine resident!

What can you imagine yourself doing in five years? Ten?

I hope to be in a career that allows me to integrate my passion for clinical medicine with public health! I can see myself working part-time as a family physician while also serving as an associate medical officer of health for a public health unit. I am also interested one day to teach medical students and residents, as I think health promotion and illness prevention services are often undervalued in our medical education, but critical to optimize the health of our patients and population as a whole.

What will you remember most about your time as a resident at uOttawa?

I’ve made some wonderful friends among my resident peers at uOttawa and I suspect many of these will last well beyond graduation! Highlights include joining an intramural sports league, travelling to Greece, celebrating birthdays, and beer after academic day.

I also had the privilege of spending two months on Baffin Island at Qikiqtani General Hospital. This truly was the clinical highlight of my residency, an integrative rural family medicine opportunity that had me working in the emergency, obstetrics ward, hospitalist, and family medicine clinics. I was based in Iqaluit, but spent a week up in the hamlet of Arctic Bay, north of the Arctic Circle. When I arrived to Arctic Bay in February, the sun had risen just a few days prior for the first time in over three months and it was a high of -45 C before windchill! I was also sobered by the incredibly high rate of tuberculosis, which is 270 times higher among Canadian Inuit than among non-Indigenous born Canadians. It’s an experience that’s inspired me to continue to work with and advocate for our Indigenous populations during my career.

How does the resident experience differ between Ottawa's urban sites? Is there any difference in academic programming between the sites?

Ottawa has four urban academic sites- Bruyère, Primrose, Civic, Riverside. Ottawa also has several urban community sites (around the city) along with two rural sites in Winchester and Pembroke.

Here are my thoughts on your different options for urban sites.

• Community vs Academic Unit: Although community is highly staff dependent and experiences can vary, generally, the community residents are working directly alongside their supervisor and seeing their patients. Residents usually are very independent, see a variety of patients and expected to engage in independent learning. With that said, in the community, there are less (if any) residents to work with and hence less formal teaching. At the academic sites, you will be working alongside more staff and residents, and generally have more formal teaching.
• Academic Unit vs Academic Unit: Bottom line: Bar a few small details, all of these sites are great. There are no major differences in programming, expectations, or curriculum. Residents usually choose sites based on whether they want a large or small site, and based on location. You cannot go wrong with any of them! Primrose and Bruyère are sister sites. Bruyère 20-25 residents total, Primrose 10-15 residents total. Off service rotations at the General Hospital. Civic and Riverside are also sister sites. Civic 20-25 residents total, Riverside 8-10 residents total. Off service rotations at the Civic Hospital.

How does the faculty support resident wellness?

Ottawa has many outlets for wellness and resiliency. There is a family medicine resident wellness retreat at the beginning of every academic year. It is held at a camp outside of Ottawa, where all residents are protected from call and able to spend the night. It’s a great way to meet other co-residents in first and second year. Check out a Letter from camp!

The Ottawa Resiliency Website! Great resource for and by family medicine residents, to answer any questions in and outside residency ie: exams, projects, foodie spots, local festivals, etc.

There are also many social events held monthly, including post academic day socials on Friday afternoons.

What do you enjoy the most and least about residency at uOttawa?

Most: Ottawa is the perfect size, big enough to see the academic weird and wonderful and small enough to feel like you make a difference with your patients. Also, for Ottawa uniquely, the staff support is unlike any other. All staff I have encountered go the extra mile to support and advocate for you throughout the ups and downs of residency. This truly makes a difference and helps to promote a great learning environment.

Least: Ottawa is definitely a commuter city, and having a car will make your life much easier.

Congratulations! You are nearing the end of your two-year family medicine residency. How does it feel to have completed your CCFP Certification Examination in Family Medicine?

WOOHOOOOO LAST EXAM EVER!!!!! (…yikes this’ll be real awkward if I have to re-write) What do people DO with all their free time? What is this thing they call Netflix?

Are you looking forward to presenting your scholarly project?

It’s nice to have finished a project and be able to present the fruits of your labour for sure! To be honest, I am more interested in what my fellow residents have created. It’s always been a really fun, up-beat day where you get to get out of work share in everyone’s accomplishments!

What will the last couple of months of your residency look like? How are you feeling as you approach graduation?

I am on emergency medicine right now which is a great review of residency because of the variety. I end residency with my peeps on Family Medicine (insert tear). I am feeling excited to be done and looking forward to all the stuff I have planned for after! Doing a lot of privilege applications and CPSO paperwork – my credit card is weeping!

How will you and your peers at uOttawa celebrate the end of your residency program?

Well….there was definitely already some celebrating the day of our last exam…resulting in only a mild transaminitis… Now that we’ve almost recovered from that, I think we’re trying to do some dinners before the end, but most of my colleagues are staying around town so there isn’t a panic about things ending which is nice.

What are your plans directly following graduation?

I am doing quite the mishmash of things, really. I start off with 8 days in Wawa, Ontario – doing clinic, hospitalist, and ER. Then I’m doing two weeks of hospitalist at Winchester Hospital in July. In August, I am doing a pretty laid back two week locum covering 20 inpatients at the rehab centre in Owen Sound. Sound random? No, no, it’s strategic. My parent’s cottage is 30m drive and the days are usually 9-2 so by 2:30 I’ll be laying on the beach – SOLD! Did I mention there’s no call? 

In the fall, from September to December, I am doing hospitalist for The Rehab Center (behind the General Hospital). I’ll be covering 2-3 units with a total of 40 patients (short term rehab, spinal cord injury, and sometimes brain injury). Here I will look after all admissions/discharges, and daily assessments of the “medical issues” for these patients. Lots of coordinating and communicating with allied health and the physiatrists there.

Throughout the summer months I may do a few locum days here and there at a primary care clinic just to keep up my pediatrics, prenatal, preventative care, etc.

What can you imagine yourself doing in five years? Ten?

In five years I see myself having a practice and doing hospitalist work maybe one week a month or every two months. We’d like to stay in Ottawa - it really is the perfect place to do all aspects of family medicine because of the huge number of community hospitals!

In ten years, I think it would be nice to take on more teaching responsibilities – whether at the medical school or having residents come through my clinic. Similarly, though, I see both primary care clinic and hospitalist in terms of work types.

What will you remember most about your time as a resident at uOttawa?

I will remember hilarious study group moments, the really interesting cases I saw, and the great relationships I made at Bruyère with the staff docs, RN’s, clerks, etc – truly a great group of people I was lucky to spend 2 years with!

Is there anything else you would like to share with faculty and residents at the Department of Family Medicine?

I think the biggest thing I have learned going through the process of deciding “What Next?” is that family medicine is broad, it’s flexible, it’s multifaceted, and new opportunities come up all the time. Take the time to explore as many opportunities as possible and if you have certain interests – explore and pursue that! Chances are there is a locum or job for you out there.

The other thing I’d encourage is chat with as many people as possible – get their take on opportunities and their experiences working at places you intend to locum at. This is especially true for places up north – I asked everyone I knew where they had gone up north, what it was like, and what the work types would be like in each place.

In family medicine, truly anything is possible! Good luck!