Alexander Rudecki
SMP Class of 2020
Hometown: Prince George

What attracted you to your field of study or research?
Perhaps all the time spent in the ER from my plethora of childhood injuries attracted me to pursue medicine. Or perhaps it was my love for sciences in high school (which led me to a BCMB degree), or my interest in sports and physiology. I guess I will never know for sure.

What excites you about the upcoming year?
I’m excited about all the new people I’m going to meet, and to extend my knowledge of the human body.

What’s one thing we might be surprised to learn about you?
People might be surprised to know that I once modeled clothing for a TV commercial.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I hope in 5 years I will be doing a residency in internal medicine, anesthesiology, surgery, or family medicine (I’m still largely undecided).

Best piece of advice
“insert cliche quote here”… Everyone has their own way of doing things. Don’t forget to include your ‘spin’ on things.

Last vacation destination
Eurotrip (Belgium, Amsterdam, Greece and London)

Clara Hong
SMP Class of 2018
Hometown: Maple Ridge

What attracted you to your field of study or research?
Everything- from learning about the pathophysiology of diseases, investigations and treatment plans, to ultimately applying this knowledge in the context of the patient as a whole. Also the resilience some people possess in the face of the most debilitating diseases.

What excites you about the upcoming year?
As a third year clerk I am in an exciting time in medical school. Transitioning from the classroom to the hospital has been absolutely amazing, but definitely not without its challenges. I am excited to continue through my rotations and learn as much as I can in every one of them.

What’s one thing we might be surprised to learn about you?
Last year I went paragliding and “survived” a four-day trek in Nepal (If you know me, this is surprising!).

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In the middle of residency in….?

Best piece of advice
Don’t let others tell you what you can or cannot do. Don’t let anyone else define your future but yourself!

Last vacation destination
Thailand!

Vincent Fung
SMP Class of 2018
Hometown: Vancouver

What attracted you to your field of study or research?
Both of my parents had cancer when I was growing up so I spent much of my childhood in and out of hospitals (and clinics) with them. The health care teams that took care of my parents had a huge impact on the direction of my life, and I’ve always dreamed of ‘paying it forward’ somehow – this led me to pursue a career in health care.

What excites you about the upcoming year?
Being able to finally see patients, getting to know people, and exploring all the weird and wonderful things in medicine that only a privileged few get the chance to ever experience.

What’s one thing we might be surprised to learn about you?
I love watching cartoons.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Working in an inner city environment with marginalized populations. Planning a trip to do humanitarian aid somewhere in the world. Hopefully finding some time to sit on a couch and watch cartoons with little people that kind of look like me.

Best piece of advice
Do not let med school take over your life! Although there will be tough moments in school, keep in mind that 99% of all accepted applicants WILL finish with an MD in 4 years. Go travel, don’t do research unless you love it, get to know (and love) yourself!

Last vacation destination
London England… unfortunately before the Brexit currency crash.

Olivia Guerra
SMP Class of 2017
Hometown: North Saanich

What attracted you to your field of study or research?
I have always wanted a career where I could work closely with people and really feel that I am impacting their lives on a daily basis. I feel that there really is no better field than health care for me to do that as it combines my desire to help people with my interest in human biology, passion for team work and knack for problem solving.

What excites you about the upcoming year?
I am excited to further explore my areas of interest now that I have a better understanding of what each field of medicine is like to work in and where my strengths and weaknesses lie. I also relish the chance to continue touring BC and Canada as we move from elective to elective and apply for residencies!

What’s one thing we might be surprised to learn about you?
That I am slowly turning myself into a jack-of-all-trades. I love to cook, craft, paint, build decks, fix cars, refurbish furniture… basically get my hands dirty and learn new skills.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In 5 years I will be finishing up my residency program and I am hoping to be making my way home to Vancouver Island. I would love to buy a little chunk of land and slowly work on building my own home (with help of course!). I am also hoping that by then I will have myself a dog to keep me company while I’m out hiking and exploring.

Best piece of advice
Clerkship was a very difficult year for many reasons, but I think the most trying part of it was the constant feeling of insecurity as I started each rotation and once again felt unsure of my skills, knowledge, role on the team, preceptor’s expectations, culture of the specialty, etc. One thing my mother always tells me when I’m feeling overwhelmed is to remember that, “this too shall pass”, just hold onto the belief that you will feel better again soon. And I always did. By the end of each 2 to 6 week rotation I would feel happy, well adjusted and be enjoying my work and what I was learning.

Last vacation destination
Outside of Canada, my last vacation was to Panama. We explored both coasts from Panama City, up to Bocas del Toro on the Carribean side and across to David-Chiriqui on the Pacific. I was impressed by Panama’s beautifully diverse landscape, friendly, helfpul people and three-shower-a-day humidity!

UBC Okanagan is recruiting local seniors for a second intake of the Walk, Talk, ‘n’ Listen randomized control trial research study.

If you have a hearing problem, are 65 years or older and in reasonably good health, we invite you to learn about an exciting research study aimed at helping older adults with hearing loss.

Led by Associate Professor Dr. Charlotte Jones, Walk Talk ‘n’ Listen is being held in partnership with the YMCA of Okanagan.

Round 2 of Walk, Talk, ‘n’ Listen begins in September. Participants will meet at the Rutland YMCA once or twice a week in the mornings. UBC Okanagan is looking for reasonably healthy residents, 65-years or older, who are not walker or wheelchair dependent to participate in the 12-week study.

Join others in a hearing – loss friendly environment, have fun & become more physically active, learn about health and wellness, and benefit from group auditory rehabilitation sessions, aimed at introducing skills in how to better cope with hearing loss and how to become more comfortable socializing.

To find out more, people are encouraged to contact Carolyn Roque at 250-807-9827 or carolyn.roque@ubc.ca.

The UBC Okanagan Library is excited to be launching a new workshop focused on Systematic Review Basics for the health sciences, which is ideal for faculty, graduate students, and research assistants. This three-hour, hands-on workshop will help guide you through the start-up process, provide an introduction to locating relevant studies and recording the methodology. Topics include: stages of the systematic review process; framing the search question with tools like PICO; searching Medline, other databases and grey literature sources; and tips for using citation management software for systematic reviews.

This session will be co-presented by Erin Menzies, Southern Medical Program Librarian, and Robert Janke, Associate Chief Librarian and liaison librarian for the School of Nursing. There is no cost to attend the workshop.

Our first workshop will be taking place on Friday, August 26 from 10:00 am- 1:00 pm in LIB111.  Please note space is limited.  To register, please contact Robert Janke at Robert.Janke@ubc.ca prior to August 22^nd, 2016.

South Okanagan family medicine residents (left to right): Jacqueline Bourdeaux, JoyAnne Krupa, Rebecca Psutka, and Travis Thompson.

From a young age,Travis Thompson took an acute interest in medicine — but it wasn’t just an affinity for anatomy and physiology that drew him to the field, rather the prospect of helping others, particularly those living in underserviced areas of the province.

Dr. Travis Thompson

“When you come from a small town, you have a unique understanding of the needs felt by a community,” says Dr. Thompson, who grew up in Oliver, B.C., nestled near the south end of the Okanagan Valley.

“I remember when my grandmother was sick many years ago, the entire medical community rallied around her — it was in that moment I decided I wanted to be part of a tight-knit medical community and provide quality healthcare to others down the road,” he recalls.

This summer, Dr. Thompson — a recent graduate of UBC’s Southern Medical Program in Kelowna — will continue his path to becoming a licensed family physician in the place he calls home: B.C.’s South Okanagan, the newest training ground for family medicine residents.

Dr. Thompson joins three other residents — Jacqueline Bourdeaux, JoyAnne Krupa, and Rebecca Psutka — in becoming the first cohort to join UBC’s South Okanagan Family Medicine residency site, which will see up to eight residents in training by July 2017.

According to the site directors, Margie Krabbe and Cathy Rooke, the arrival of these new trainees will bring about many benefits for the communities of Penticton and Summerland, as well as surrounding towns, like Oliver and Osoyoos.

“We’re very excited to welcome these resident physicians to the South Okanagan, a region that offers an exceptional training ground for new doctors,” says Dr. Krabbe, who has worked as a family physician in Summerland for the past eight years.

Over the course of the two-year residency program, Drs. Thompson, Bourdeaux, Krupa, and Psutka will work alongside local family physicians and other healthcare practitioners in Penticton and Summerland, gaining exposure to family medicine, as well as a wide range of specialities, like pediatrics, internal medicine, emergency medicine, surgery, and psychiatry. They will train in local clinics and regional hospitals, including Penticton Regional Hospital, which is set to become home to a new patient tower, with an expanded space for UBC medical students and residents.

Margie Krabbe and Cathy Rooke, co-directors of UBC’s South Okanagan Family Medicine residency site.

Drs. Krabbe and Rooke hope that the wide breadth of clinical experiences will help shape the residents’ understanding of what practicing in smaller communities is all about.

“Family physicians, particularly those in smaller centres, like Penticton and Summerland, engage in a broad scope of practice and are heavily involved in inpatient and outpatient care,” says Dr. Krabbe. “Our residents will benefit from small, group learning experiences with family physicians and specialists.”

Drs. Krabbe and Rooke also expect the arrival of the new trainees to have a positive impact on the medical community at large, helping to bolster the teaching environment.

“The new learners are very enthusiastic and are eager to experience as much as they can, and this drive really helps to reinvigorate everyone’s passion for medicine,” says Dr. Krabbe, who is excited by the opportunity to dedicate more time in her career to training the next generation of physicians.

Distributing training opportunities across B.C.

The opening of the new training site is part of a combined effort by UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, the provincial government, and health authorities, to support the recruitment and retention of physicians to serve the health-care needs of families throughout B.C.

“Residents play a very critical role in our healthcare system, helping to enhance service capacity across the province. The launch of this new training site in the South Okanagan will bring about increased access to physician services and help meet the needs of communities in B.C.’s Interior,” says Roger Wong, Executive Associate Dean of Education, UBC Faculty of Medicine.

Willa Henry, director of UBC’s Family Practice Residency Program — now the largest in Canada, with 19 unique training sites across the province — agrees. “Training residents throughout B.C. is important, as it not only helps increase service capacity to meet the primary care needs of British Columbians, but exposes doctors to the wide range of practice possibilities in more rural and remote regions,” says Dr. Willa Henry.

The launch of the South Okanagan family medicine residency site represents a continued expansion of medical education opportunities in the Interior, which is already home to UBC family practice residencies in Kamloops and Kelowna, an emergency medicine residency in Kelowna, and UBC’s Southern Medical Program, one of four unique MD training sites.

Allan Jones, the Regional Associate Dean, Interior, says the continued growth of medical education and training opportunities in the Interior will bring benefits to the region over the long-term.

“With the addition of this new site, we’ve opened up more opportunities for doctors to complete their medical journey in the Interior, and it’s our hope that this distributed approach to medical education will encourage more physicians to stay in the region to practice after their training wraps up,” says Dr. Jones.

Rural roots

For Dr. Thompson, having grown up less than an hour’s drive south from his new training ground, being able to join a newly-launched residency site so close to home is particularly exciting.

“The South Okanagan is home for me,” says Dr. Thompson.

After completing his family medicine training, he has plans to stay true to his small-town roots.

“I really enjoy the broad spectrum of practice available to family physicians working in smaller communities,” he says, reflecting on his positive exposure to rural medicine during medical school, during which he travelled across BC — from Mackenzie and Williams Lake to Grand Forks — for his medical electives.

“I’m really passionate about doing my part to help underserviced communities, and I think being a smaller centre, the training site in the South Okanagan will help me to become a very competent rural doctor.”

Over the past decade, UBC’s residency programs have witnessed steady growth. Today, nearly 1,400 medical residents are engaged in 72 different residency programs offered at clinical training sites across the province. This year, UBC welcomed 345 entry-level residents — the largest number of entry-level postgraduate trainees in the history of B.C.

Dr. Graeme McCauley has been recognized with the Faculty of Medicine’s 2016 Clinical Faculty Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching. The annual award recognizes clinical faculty who have demonstrated excellence in clinical teaching at a Clinical Academic Campus.

Dr. McCauley is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Medicine, Division of Respiratory Medicine. He is highly-regarded as an exceptional educator and mentor by students with the Southern Medical Program, residents rotating through Kelowna General Hospital, and amongst his peers. Dr. McCauley has amassed considerable teaching experience for learners from across the medical education continuum in both clinical and academic settings. He is consistently acknowledged for his professionalism, enthusiasm, creating a safe learning environment, and tailoring his teaching approach to best serve the needs of both learners and patients.

2016 Southern Medical Program Charity Golf Tournament – Sunday, October 16th

Come meet, golf, and mingle with your Southern Medical Program students! The SMP class of 2019 is excited to meet the Okanagan community and raise funds for a worthy cause. This year they have chosen to donate funds raised to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).

The day will include a round of golf at the beautiful Harvest Golf Club, a buffet dinner, and a silent auction. Dinner tickets can be purchased separately and reduced prices are available for children.

Click here to register

For questions or more information, please contact Liam Matthews, SMP 2019 at liam.matthews@alumni.ubc.ca.

Dr. Mike Purdon, Southern Medical Program Faculty Development congratulates Dr. Christopher Ng on successful completion of the Master Teacher Certificate Program.

Congratulations to the graduates of the 2015-16 Master Teacher Certificate Program. A reception was recently held at the Manteo Resort to acknowledge each participant’s successful completion of the program. Below is the full list of our newest Master Teachers:

Dr. Ahmad Alsrbini
Dr. Siavash Atrchian
Dr. Kurt Deschner
Dr. Marjorie Docherty
Dr. Mike Figurski
Dr. David Geen
Dr. Jim Huang
Dr. Kyle McIver
Dr. Kyle Merritt
Dr. Scott Mountain
Ms. Sarah Murray
Dr. Bibi Naghibi Torbati
Dr. Christopher Ng

For more information about the Master Teacher Certificate Program, visit http://smp.med.ubc.ca/faculty/resources/mtcp.

The Southern Medical Program (SMP) is recruiting participants for the 2016-17 Master Teacher Certificate Program (MTCP). The MTCP is designed to assist clinical faculty with enhancing their teaching and mentoring skills and building a community of teacher leaders across the distributed sites. The program offers a monthly lecture series, small group discussions, assignments, longitudinal project, and peer teaching assessment. The next program runs September 2016 to June 2017.

SMP clinical faculty from across the region are welcome to participate. Lectures and small group sessions are held in the Clinical Academic Campus at Kelowna General Hospital and videoconferenced to Vernon Jubilee Hospital, Penticton Regional Hospital, Royal Inland Hospital, Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital, Kootenay Lake Hospital, Boundary Hospital, and Castlegar and District Community Health Centre. Maintenance of Proficiency (MainPro) and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credits are awarded for participation.

To register or more info, contact Jacqui Oshaski at 250.980.1310 or jacqui.oshaski@interiorhealth.ca.

Congratulations to the Southern Medical Program Class of 2016 on earning their UBC medical degrees. This is the second cohort of doctors to ever graduate from the BC Interior. A few key highlights for this year’s grad class:

• A total of 30 new doctors graduated this year from the SMP.
• 38% matched to Family Medicine residency programs including two in Kelowna (Rural) site and one in the new South Okanagan site based in Penticton.
• One graduate matched to the Kelowna Royal College Emergency Medicine Residency Program.
• 27% matched with primary care specialties (Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry).
• 62% match with UBC residency programs.

Our graduates will be heading across BC and Canada to begin their residency training in early July. They will spend the next two to five years completing their residency before entering practice.

Click to view SMP 2016 Grad Newsletter

Join us as students from the UBC Southern Medical Program and BC Cancer Agency present their research projects as part of the Faculty of Medicine’s Summer Student Research Program and BC Cancer Agency Internship.

Attend the presentations in-person at the Clinical Academic Campus (CAC 106) at Kelowna General Hospital or via videoconference in the Reichwald Health Sciences Centre (RHS 129) at UBC Okanagan.

Time:  Every two weeks throughout the summer, 12:00 – 1:00 PM.

Dates:
Thursday, June 2
Tuesday, June 14
Tuesday, June 28
Thursday, July 14
Thursday, July 28
Thursday, August 11
Thursday, August 25

Presentations are free to attend and open to the public. For more info, contact carolyn.roque@ubc.ca.