Congratulations to the Southern Medical Program Class of 2024 on your graduation and earning your medical degrees. This year’s graduation class includes 35 new medical doctors educated and trained in the Interior Health region. Meet some of our newest SMP graduates:
Aneesha Thouli
Hometown: Kelowna
What attracted you to your field?
The ability to help such a diverse group of people is one of the biggest things that drew me to medicine. I’ve always had an interest in working in a hospital. My mom is an x-ray technician at Kelowna General Hospital so I spent a lot of my childhood hearing cool stories and getting to go to work with her!
What is your favourite moment from your time at UBC?
One of my favourite moments was getting to work with my mom during my clerkship. It was a really cool experience to have that opportunity being fortunate enough to train in the same hospital I grew up in!
What is one piece of advice you have for students entering your program?
Take time to enjoy yourself, spend time with your classmates – they will become your family, and fully experience medical school. You’ll be done sooner than you think, and you’ll want those memories to hold on to! Oh, and there will always be time to study, so say yes to as many of the cool opportunities you can.
What’s next for you?
I’m heading to Vancouver to start my Emergency Medicine residency at Vancouver General!
What are you looking forward to most about the program you’ve matched to and the community you’ll be joining as a future resident?
I’ve always lived in Kelowna so I’m excited to explore the coast. The residents there seem amazing and I’m excited to learn from really talented doctors over the next 5 years.
Nicole Hawe
Hometown: Nakusp
What attracted you to your field?
Growing up in rural BC, I was constantly in awe of the rural docs there and how important they were in our community. This shaped my desire to pursue rural medicine. In clerkship, I had the opportunity to work with some amazing rural Internists and I was hooked. I found the breadth of practice, acuity and complexity challenging yet so rewarding which drove my decision to pursue this career path.
What is your favourite moment from your time at UBC?
There have been too many amazing moments with the SMP crew to name them all. The moment that sticks out the most has been the new development of our Overcooked video game obsession over the past 5 months. It has been so nice to finally get to spend quality time together after the hectic travel of 4th year. I will miss you all so much.
What is one piece of advice you have for students entering your program?
Medicine can feel very all-encompassing at times. Maintaining key aspects of your life that make you feel yourself and grounded is extremely important. You need to feel your best in order to serve others to the best of your ability. It may feel like you never have enough time, but continuing friendships outside of medicine and keeping up with hobbies that bring joy are things I made nonnegotiable and I am very grateful for that.
What’s next for you?
I am thrilled to be starting residency in the UBC Fraser Valley Internal Medicine program. This is a new program with a small cohort of only 5 residents and we will have the chance to learn in many different communities within the Fraser Valley. My end goal is to practice General Internal Medicine in a smaller, rural community in BC.
What are you looking forward to most about the program you’ve matched to and the community you’ll be joining as a future resident?
I am so excited to be joining a program in its first year. I think we will have so many opportunities to help shape the future of this program while leading following years in the process. Having the opportunity to learn in many different communities throughout residency will also keep the learning fresh and allow me to develop a wide breadth of skills that will be so helpful in future practice.
Emmet Suttill
Hometown: Kamloops
What attracted you to your field?
I was attracted to family medicine for the flexibility and broad scope of practice. The ability to work across emergency departments, hospital wards and health clinics is highly appealing to me, and I think it keeps things exciting.
What is your favourite moment from your time at UBC?
Late nights with friends while on call. Putting in the work and having shared experiences really strengthens friendships. Many of my fondest memories are of having a brief rest late at night with some buddies and sharing laughs over vending machine snacks and ramen noodles. That camaraderie is something that I will remember forever.
What is one piece of advice you have for students entering your program?
Laughter is the best medicine, so have fun!
What’s next for you?
I have some time off before residency, so in between relocating and finishing my pre-residency checklist, I’ll be backpacking across southeast Asia as well as white-water raft guiding!
Afterwards, I’ll be moving to Chilliwack to start my family medicine residency.
What are you looking forward to most about the program you’ve matched to and the community you’ll be joining as a future resident?
I’m very excited for Chilliwack’s longitudinal emergency medicine training, as I’m someone who learns well from hands-on experience and I know that the program excels in this area.
I’m also excited to move to Chilliwack because I’ve heard that they have good mountain biking and awesome white-water kayaking on the Chehalis and Chilliwack rivers!