Grad Spotlights - NMP Class of 2022
Meet some of our graduates from the NMP's Class of 2022 who are moving on to the next stage of training – two to seven years of residency (depending on specialty).
Kian Draper (she/her)
Hometown: Prince George, B.C.
What attracted you to your field?
The first time I entered the operating room was during my undergrad when I shadowed a local surgeon in Prince George on the traditional territory of the Lheidli T'enneh. The carefully organized surgical instruments, the performance of the surgeon's and the patient’s anatomy all came together in a harmony that called me to surgery. The next big question was which specialty of surgery should I choose? Upon being accepted into medical school, I sought out additional shadowing opportunities and on July 17, 2019 I found my specialty. I scrubbed in on an open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair and it was love at first sight. I would spend the remaining 3 years of medical school chasing and trying to understand the specialty of Vascular surgery as well as exploring all other career options. Internal medicine, critical care medicine, and general surgery were close competitors but the intensity, surgical finesse, patient complexity and endovascular technology in Vascular surgery won me over. I applied to CaRMS (the Canadian Residency Matching Service) with hopeful trepidation as Vascular surgery only had 10 spots offered across the country. Luckily, it was a match.
What is your favourite moment from your time at the UBC Northern Medical Program?
My favourite time from medical school in general was clerkship (3rd year of medical school when students go through core clinical rotations). For the first time, I got a taste of what it is like to be a doctor. After two years stuck in lecture theatre and on Zoom we were finally in the hospital and encountered endless opportunities to talk to patients, do procedures, and help the healthcare team. It was so wonderful to watch my classmates excel in different areas of medicine and fall in love with their chosen specialties.
As for a specific moment it is hard to choose! I will look back fondly on a night where I was on call for general surgery, and we were in the operating room until about 5:30am. Despite running around the hospital for nearly 24 hours with minimal food and no sleep, I felt so energized and alive when we walked out of the operating room. There was something magical about assisting in surgery overnight. It felt like the whole city was asleep, while in a small operating room there were 5 people (2 nurses, the anesthesiologist, the surgeon, and me!) working hard to save a life.
What is one piece of advice you have for students entering your program?
For students entering the program, I would say the most important thing to do is to ‘find your people.’ This is common advice that is given with regards to choosing a specialty, but I think it is also applicable to medical school in general. Finding a close circle of friends in medicine is what not only helped me survive the challenging aspects of this path, but it also made for some of the most wonderful memories. With the right group of friends, studying and clinical rotations are a blast.
What’s next for you?
I am moving across the country with my partner and will be starting my Vascular surgery residency in Toronto. It will be a bit of a shock to the system going from a small program with an emphasis on rural and northern medicine to the largest city in Canada, but I believe this will allow me to bring unique perspectives. I’m excited to deliver patient care through this new role as a resident doctor. Beyond residency, I look forward to exploring the new city and hopefully having some time to travel.
Jessica Hatcher
Hometown: Prince George, B.C., Traditional Lheidli T’enneh Territory
What attracted you to your field?
My mother is a nurse and growing up my siblings and I would often wait at the hospital after school before going home. Because of this I had a lot of exposure to the hospital environment and was able to see healthcare workers caring for patients. I was really inspired by this and knew that I wanted to work in a field where I could care for others and help to improve their quality of life. Science and human physiology were also always an interest for me, and I loved the idea of being able to work up an undifferentiated patient and determine the cause of their symptoms.
Being from Northern BC, I knew that I wanted to contribute towards improving healthcare access in rural communities, communities that supported me through my education. I am interested in how social circumstance influences health and how having a longitudinal relationship with patients can improve the care I provide. All of this together led me to knowing that I wanted to pursue rural family medicine and advocate for healthcare services in rural communities.
What is your favourite moment from your time at the UBC Northern Medical Program?
It is difficult to choose just one memory from my time in the northern program. I have formed lifelong friendships through medical school and have innumerable memories from late night study sessions, to post exam celebrations, to supporting each other through the challenges of each different clerkship rotation.
However, one experience that really shaped my medical school education was working with the Northern Biobank Initiative. Through this project I had the opportunity to listen to First Nations community members and learn their perspectives on participating in medical research. It was incredibly enriching, and I learned so much about culturally safe research through this initiative. Specifically, travelling to Haida Gwaii with the research team to engage in discussions around how the research could be best constructed for their community was something I will never forget. Having the opportunity to participate in this project has shaped the way I will practice medicine.
What is one piece of advice you have for students entering your program?
Don’t let the worry of not being good at something right away stop you from taking advantage of learning experiences. When you start medical school, you will have incredible opportunities to partake in procedures and patient care. When learning these new skills it is easy to compare yourself to your peers, residents, or the physicians you work with. We all came into medical school to help patients and you want to be able to excel at everything in order to give them the highest quality care. But remember that in order to get there it is a steep learning curve. Each different history, patient encounter, or procedure is harder for some than others and it is important to be kind to yourself. Don’t let the fear of not being good at the start cause you to shy away, go for it! You may not make the perfect management plan or take the perfect history, but you will be much better next time and each unique patient encounter may give you a learning experience you might not have had otherwise. It is okay to feel uncomfortable sometimes, you have a whole team of healthcare professionals to turn to for support (never be afraid to ask for their help!) and it will only help you to be the best clinician for your future patients.
What’s next for you?
I am so excited to be moving to Fort St. John to start my residency in rural family medicine. Having grown up in Northern BC, I was exposed to many of the challenges that exist with access to healthcare in rural communities. I also developed a love for the collectivist nature of a small town and the incredible outdoor recreation. By training in a Northern community, I hope to learn about the local needs and how I can tailor my learning to best serve these needs. I have particular interests in Indigenous health and emergency medicine and feel so fortunate to be able to continue to train at UBC to learn to best serve the communities I hope to live and work in. When I am finished my training, I intend to practice full scope family medicine in Northern BC with outreach to more remote Indigenous communities.
Brendan McNeely
Hometown: Kelowna, B.C.
What attracted you to your field?
I am attracted to Otolaryngology for a multitude of reasons. First, the intricate anatomy inherent to the specialty is fascinating and a welcome challenge to learn. Moreover, in Otolaryngology there is an evolving exploration of unique technology and research in which I have found stimulating. Lastly, my experiences with the UBC Otolaryngology team have truly demonstrated a team based approach to working in a surgical specialty and this approach is something I desire in my future career having participated in team sports throughout my life.
What is your favourite moment from your time at the UBC Northern Medical Program?
I had excellent clinical experiences working with Otolaryngologists at UBC's academic centers and community hospitals including Richmond, Nanaimo and Kelowna. Perhaps more uniquely, some of my favorite moments at UBC have been the opportunity to work closely with the general surgery anesthesiology staff during my 3rd year clerkship in Prince George. The guiding hand of these engaging staff decidedly established my interest in pursing a surgical specialty during the CaRMS process.
What is one piece of advice you have for students entering your program?
I am certainly not a fountain of knowledge or advice, but I would advocate for any student entering the program to do their best to be kind to patients, fellow students, and hospital staff.
What’s next for you?
I will be starting my first year of residency in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck surgery at UBC on July 1st. I look forward to the exciting and challenging training ahead of me, however in the immediate future I will be enjoying time with family and friends participating in as many water sports as possible.
Preety Nijjar
Hometown: East Vancouver, B.C.
What attracted you to your field?
I entered medical school open to exploring different specialties and enjoyed learning in all core rotations; however, my calling for Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN) surpassed all others.
Not unlike the basketball court, I remember standing in the operating room and being overcome by such awe of the team in front of me - the surgeon, anesthesiologist, senior resident, nurses and pediatrics team all working collaboratively in such synchrony.
I'd say overall, OBGYN encompasses a combination of interests and I feel naturally drawn to working with its patient population and clinical teams. My fourth year in the program really reaffirmed my interest as well. On rural rotations, I appreciated the importance of resource management and patient advocacy in areas of limited access. At tertiary centres, I witnessed innovative research and subspecialized surgeries in Gyne Oncology and Urogynecology. There's a lot to learn and I'm fortunate to have mentors across clinical and research contexts, like Dr. Mitchell-Foster at the NMP, who model what I hope to achieve with training in this field.
What is your favourite moment from your time at the UBC Northern Medical Program?
It's so challenging to narrow my time at the NMP to a single favourite moment!
I would say my favourite moment really has been my clerkship year as a whole (is that cheating? haha) at the University Hospital of Northern BC (UHNBC) and getting to really immerse myself in each specialty ... and having the privilege to learn from patients, allied healthcare and faculty members.
Our NMP faculty and allied healthcare professionals at UHNBC are really what make our program so special. The learning opportunities and clinical experiences we get to have in third year prepare us well for electives in fourth year.
What is one piece of advice you have for students entering your program?
Oh gosh! Hm... Be kind to yourself. With so many incredible and admirable colleagues, you can inadvertenly begin to compare yourself to others. I found that being able to center yourself in those moments and reflect on what it is that you need as an individual to feel grounded personally and professionally is important.
I'm going to give a bonus one, which is really hold your colleagues/friends in the program close. Be there for each other... This is such a unique experience and it can be challenging for loved ones or other well-intentioned people to understand truly the range of emotions one experiences through this process, and often times the way you're feeling in a moment is exactly how others in your class are as well... I am so grateful for the friendships I've made. I feel that everyone in our class at NMP shares a special bond.
What’s next for you?
I will be moving to Edmonton for the start of residency in the the Obstetrics and Gynecology program at the University of Alberta. Really looking forward to it as three of my UBC colleagues will be in the same program as me, and there are five of us in total from the Northern Medical Program moving to Alberta!
Nora Tong
Hometown: Vancouver, B.C.
What attracted you to your field?
I was interested in family medicine before I started medical school. It all started when I lost my father to lung cancer at a young age. I remember watching from my window as the volunteer driver picked my dad up for his appointments at the BC Cancer Agency. The level of support provided to my family, kindness of the healthcare team, and opportunity to provide longitudinal care are what attracted me to family medicine.
Growing up, I had a responsibility to care for my sister. She lives with a mental disability and is dependent on my family and I for many of her activities of daily living. One of my most proud accomplishments was finding a creative solution to encourage her to brush her teeth twice a day, independently. Since I am a former dental hygienist, this was huge for me. Caring for my sister helped me understand what it meant to truly consider the psychosocial aspects of health that influence our patients and to provide holistic care. Being able to advocate for patients, especially those who are unable to advocate for themselves, is something that I want in my career as a family physician.
What is your favourite moment from your time at the UBC Northern Medical Program?
My favourite moment during my time at UBC was watching my first vaginal delivery as a second-year medical student with my family medicine clinical instructor. I remember driving home afterwards with tears in my eyes. I was in awe at what I had witnessed and how amazing our bodies truly are! We are so privileged to be part of many of these special moments as a medical student. I am grateful for our patients who have allowed us to be part of their care.
What is one piece of advice you have for students entering your program?
My advice for students entering medicine is to be kind to yourselves. It can often feel like we are expected to learn and know many things, especially on clinical rotations. The sheer volume of content can be quite overwhelming. Take time for yourself, do things that fill your bucket, and spend time with loved ones. Those are the things that truly matter. A mentor once told me, “You can do it all, but you cannot do it all at the same time.” Medicine is supposed to be a career, it should not be your entire life!
What’s next for you?
I am excited to be starting my family medicine residency at UBC’s Family Medicine Program – Coastal Site in North Vancouver. I found myself interested in many things throughout medical school and I am sure many can attest to how conflicted I was, even up until CaRMS submission. This was truly the best fit for me!
Kevin Wang
Hometown: Vancouver, B.C.
What attracted you to your field?
When I was six, I lived with my grandfather in a small town of rural China. My grandfather was the doctor of the village, who never went to a formal medical school. He trained through an apprenticeship program. I remember having patients come and receive treatment at our home because they couldn’t afford the hospital. My grandfather would not ask for any payment. Over weekends, he would take me on a bike and ride to country side farms to cast people’s broken legs. It was his generosity and dedication to the community that motivated me to pursue family medicine.
What is your favourite moment from your time at the UBC Northern Medical Program?
My favourite moment was the time when the class decided to have a bonfire together. I loved the fire and the quality bonding time.
What is one piece of advice you have for students entering your program?
Books are great, but continue to connect with the community and the world. Seek out ways to get involved and advocate. These are valuable experiences that should not be postponed until grad.
What’s next for you?
Family medicine residency in Vancouver. I will continue to study hard and live up to the Northern Medical Program standard.
