Your Faculty Spring 08

A University of Calgar y Faculty of Medicine Publication | Spring 2008

Video gamers VS surgeons: Bachelor of Health Sciences student enhances training program for brain surgeons RESEARCH

SERVICE TO SOCIETY

INITIATIVES

Health promotion for a better Alberta

Helping GI patients across the globe

AIMG program attracts overseas MDs

University of Calgary | Faculty of Medicine

Spring 2008 | Your Faculty | 1

Your Faculty Vol 4 Issue 1 | Spring 2008 Your Faculty is published three times a year by the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, providing news and information for and about our faculty, staff, alumni, friends and community.

For more information contact: Managing Editor Laurie Wang T 403.210.6161 E laurie.wang@ucalgary.ca Copy Editor Karen Thomas Dean Dr. Thomas E. Feasby Vice Dean Dr. R. Brent Scott Senior Associate Deans Dr. Richard Hawkes Research Dr. Bruce Wright Education Associate Deans Dr. Ronald Bridges Clinical Affairs Dr. Benedikt Hallgrímsson Undergraduate Science Education Dr. Taj Jadavji International Health Dr. Doug L. Myhre Rural & Regional Affairs Dr. Joanne M. Todesco Postgraduate Medical Education Dr. Frans A. van der Hoorn Graduate Science Education Dr. Jocelyn Lockyer Continuing Medical Education Dr. Robert S. Sheldon Clinical Research Dr. John Reynolds Basic Research Vision Creating the future of health Mission An innovative medical school committed to excellence and leadership in education, research and service to society.

Design and Production Imagine Creative

2 | Your Faculty | Spring 2008

To receive a free copy of Your Faculty call 403.220.2819 or email medcomm@ucalgary.ca

The Faculty of Medicine is committed to staying in touch with our alumni. Please update your contact information at our website www.alumni.ucalgary.ca (click on “update your info”)

PM AGREEMENT NO. 41095528 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine Communications & Fund Development Health Sciences Centre 3330 Hospital Drive NW Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1 Faculty of Medicine | University of Calgary

Contents

Photo: Calvin Sun

Vol 4 Issue 1 | Spring 2008

04 | Meeting community needs | Message from the Dean 05 | 2007 Distinguished Alumnus Dr. Les Cunning | Alumni Profile 06 | Investing in health | Research 08 | Video gamers VS surgeons | Education 10 | Dr. Ron Bridges: Sharing resources across the globe | Service to Society

→ ON THE COVER 08 BHSc student May Choi helps Dr. Garnette Sutherland train neurosurgeons on how to use the neuroArm, a robot that performs brain surgery PHOTO ABOVE 06 Penny Hawe, PhD, and Alan Shiell, PhD, are on the forefront of health promotion and disease prevention research in Alberta University of Calgary | Faculty of Medicine

12 | The Jeffrey Martin Memorial Award | Philanthropy 14 | AIMG: Integrating overseas MDs into Alberta’s health system | Initiatives 15 | Writing books is good medicine for second-year med student | Terminus

Spring 2008 | Your Faculty | 3

Message From The Dean

Meeting community needs My first eight months as dean of the Faculty of Medicine have been tremendously busy and exciting. Our undergraduate medical program admitted 135 students to the first year class after the provincial government announced funding for 10 additional seats last fall.

Photo: Trudie Lee

This was welcome news, given that studies show there are 5 million Canadians without a family physician. Our medical school has been a leader in finding solutions to this shortage, including working with government to accelerate the number of new doctors we are training: in 2000, there were 220 undergraduate medical students here; this year, there are 368 students in our program.

In another important initiative, the Rural Integrated Community Clerkship is placing third year medical students in Pincher Creek, Taber, Sundre, High River and Drumheller for nine months of clinical training, beginning this April.

A third program focused on alleviating the physician shortage is based here at the University of Calgary: the Alberta International Medical Graduate program (p. 14). International medical graduates represent about 25 per cent of Canada’s practicing physicians.

4 | Your Faculty | Spring 2008

As you will see from the stories in this magazine, our most important assets are our people.

Dr. Les Cunning has been named the 2007 Faculty of Medicine Alumnus of Distinction (p. 5). The first recipient of our new alumni achievement award, Dr. Cunning has made superb contributions to training and inspiring the next generation of physicians over the past three decades in his career as a family doctor in Black Diamond. Health researchers Drs. Alan Shiell and Penny Hawe are proposing innovative plans to make our communities healthy by design (p. 6). Dr. Ron Bridges, our new associate dean of clinical affairs, is part of an inspired new program to donate surplus G.I. equipment to hospitals in South America (p. 10). Congratulations to Gregory Roberts, a second year MD student who has authored two children’s books while studying medicine (p. 15).

As you can see from the cover story featuring second year Bachelor of Health Sciences student May Choi, our Faculty is home to a variety of talented health leaders of all ages (p. 8).

From education, to clinical care, to research, it is clear that our people are dedicated to creating the future of health – and you are a key stakeholder in that ambitious goal.

Tom Feasby, MD Dean, Faculty of Medicine University of Calgary

Faculty of Medicine | University of Calgary

Alumni Profile

Dr. Les Cunning named University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine 2007 Alumnus of Distinction

By Teresa Scarlett

A family doctor is hard to find these days. For almost 30 years, one of the very best has been welcoming University of Calgary medical students with open arms to his clinic in Black Diamond.

“Dr. Cunning was instrumental in developing Black Diamond as a family practice resident teaching site. He championed the development of Black Diamond as the rural branch of the UCalgary Family Medicine Program which exists today,” says Dr. Val Congdon, who nominated him for the Alumnus of Distinction award.

Cunning credits UCalgary’s Continuing Medical Education Program with keeping family doctors in smaller communities engaged. “For me, there was never a sense of professional rural isolation,” says Cunning. “Being a teaching site means becoming part of a vigorous intellectual community. I also always felt the University did a great job of making sure that resources for rural practitioners were always just a phone call or internet search away. I still feel that way. They truly do an outstanding job of facilitating that network of professional development.”

“There is something about the pure joy in learning that inspires me, and I know inspires others, and I’ve been proud to be part of that.”

Dr. Les Cunning Beyond running a busy practice as a family doctor and mentoring students, Cunning has provided his expertise to many other areas of medical education and to strengthening rural practice. This includes being involved in the Rural Physician University of Calgary | Faculty of Medicine

Photo: Jonathan Tam

Action Plan, the North American Primary Care Network, the Alberta Section of Rural Medicine Executive and the Alberta International Medical Graduate Program (AIMG) program, which works to accredit foreign-trained doctors.

Now semi-retired, Cunning remains involved in many of these initiatives. Beyond his formal role, his colleagues marvel that Cunning still makes time to help students apply to medical school and foreign-trained docs to prepare for the interviews and exams that are part of the process.

“All they need to do is phone Dr. Cunning and he is willing to do whatever he can to help someone who shares his passion for learning, medicine and community,” Congdon says.

“I’ve always believed we get far more out of being teachers than the students do,” says Cunning.

“I’m still struck by that student who asks the right question and it’s one you would have asked years ago, but this time have forgotten to ask.

There is no perfect, no best, in medicine. All there is, is a need to keep learning. That dialogue between students, new doctors and older doctors is what elevates our profession,” he adds. “There is something about the pure joy in learning that inspires me, and I know inspires others, and I’ve been proud to be part of that.”

Spring 2008 | Your Faculty | 5

Investing in health Disease prevention for a better Alberta

By Laurie Wang

If you had $2 billion of Alberta’s surplus, how would you spend it to improve health? The Canada West Foundation posed that question to Penny Hawe, PhD, and Alan Shiell, PhD. Their answer: disease prevention and health promotion.

“Half of the deaths of Albertans under 65 are from preventable causes,” says Hawe, professor and holder of the Markin Chair in Health and Society. “We already have much of the know-how on prevention, now we need a prevention system to secure the potential returns.”

As researchers at the Faculty of Medicine’s Population Health Intervention Research Centre, Hawe and Shiell were chosen to write one of 10 chapters in the Canada West Foundation’s Alberta’s Energy Legacy: Ideas for the Future, a book sent to every MLA, health region and school board. They were asked to propose a transformational idea. The idea had to be fresh and specific, not the usual “more hospitals and more schools” approach. (Though many people believe we could always benefit from more schools and hospitals).

Hawe and Shiell scanned the available evidence and consulted widely. They proposed a four-point strategy to invest Alberta’s wealth in better health.

1. Create demand for prevention “Albertans say they are entitled to healthcare; why aren’t they also saying they’re entitled to prevention?” asks Shiell, a fellow of the Institute of Health Economics and holder of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Chair in the Economics of Population Health.

Hawe explains that creating motivation for prevention through education and awareness isn’t the solution anymore.

“It’s about creating opportunity for change,” Hawe says. “Show me a smoker who doesn’t

6 | Your Faculty | Spring 2008

Researches Alan Shiell and Penny Hawe believe creating opportunity for change is vital for disease prevention.

Faculty of Medicine | University of Calgary

Research

know that smoking’s bad for you. When there is public support to ban smoking, it creates opportunity for people to smoke less, which in turn promotes health.”

“Research in Alberta has shown that children in schools with coordinated programs for healthy eating have healthier diets and significantly lower rates of obesity,” Shiell says. “If that is the case, shouldn’t every parent expect that the school their child attends has the right program?”

2. Invest in quality improvement in health promotion Ongoing investment in research and evaluation is important in order to know what works and what doesn’t for disease prevention.

“We need to generate evidence on what’s effective and continue to implement policies for effective health promotion,” Hawe says.

“Sometimes a program is not getting to the people who need it most. Other times it’s weak because its duration is too short. No matter what the reason, we need to know.”

“More funding for population health research will help improve the quality of prevention programs and policy,” Shiell says.

3. Enable the switch from ineffective to effective programs Unfortunately, some programs currently have no positive effect on disease prevention. At the same time, there are proven effective programs that could be offered in their place. The difficult part is switching an already implemented program to a new one that’s beneficial and effective.

“We need decision-tools to help managers reallocate their resources,” Hawe explains. “Employers, health regions and schools need to take the funding and resources used in ineffective programs and bring those resources to the effective programs.”

Hawe and Shiell explain in the book that primary roots of a population’s health lie in factors like education, housing, employment, and personal sense of meaning. The public health sector isn’t the only player in health promotion.

“It’s important that we see health promotion as benefiting the whole, and that it is everyone’s responsibility,” Hawe says.

“Healthy strings attached” are economic incentives that impact health. For example, if an employer provides a nourishing environment for its employees through fitness programs, healthy food selection in cafeterias, and room for growth within the profession, other employers may follow the example because they see the number of great employees the employer is attracting.

“Shine the light on our best examples. Reward them,” says Hawe. “Cultural change will follow.”

“We need to assign responsibility for disease prevention, health protection and promotion so that a government’s every policy—on employment, trade, housing, criminal justice, welfare and so on—is recognized as potentially affecting public health and is scrutinized according to its affect on the health and well-being of its citizens,” Shiell adds.

“The Alberta government should seek a comprehensive prevention system,” Hawe says.

“And Albertans should demand one.”

Shiell and Hawe authored chapter 8 of Alberta’s Energy Legacy: Ideas for the Future.

“The switch might not just bring greater benefits.

Sometimes the cost may be lower too,” says Shiell. “But this type of action needs guidance and support. Prevention has to stop being a oneoff ‘pilot’ project.”

4. Create “healthy strings attached” across public and private sectors

Photo: Calvin Sun

University of Calgary | Faculty of Medicine

“Governments, businesses and non-profit organizations have capabilities and responsibilities to create a healthier Alberta,” Hawe says.

Spring 2008 | Your Faculty | 7

VS

Video gamers

surgeons

Bachelor of Health Sciences student enhances training program for brain surgeons

By Laurie Wang

When 19 year-old May Choi approached Dr. Garnette Sutherland in hopes of doing a research project, she didn’t expect she’d be creating a computer program to train brain surgeons. And she really didn’t expect she’d be comparing the skill level of video gamers to surgeons.

As part of the Bachelor of Health Sciences program in the Faculty of Medicine, Choi planned to get some research experience over the summer. After an interview with Sutherland for an assignment, the second-year student became fascinated with Sutherland’s neuroArm project.

“I have a passion for computer technology and I wanted to do something in the biomedical field,” Choi says. “neuroArm was just what I wanted to get involved in.” neuroArm is a magnetic resonance imaging compatible surgical robot that allows neurosurgeons to be more precise. It lets the surgeon see the image of the brain on a screen at an extremely high resolution, while controlling

8 | Your Faculty | Spring 2008

the robot outside the operating room. Sutherland worked alongside the Canadian team that designed the CanadArm for six years to build neuroArm. The virtual trainer that Choi used for her project is identical to the actual neuroArm workstation, allowing surgeons to get more comfortable with hand controllers and robotic arms.

“Because neuroArm is a new instrument for surgeons, it’s nice to have a platform where they can gain skills needed to use the robot,” Sutherland says.

In enhancing the software for the trainer, Choi compared neurosurgeons to video gamers,

evaluating their ability to accomplish tasks using virtual technology.

“Video gamers outperformed the surgeons and all the other groups we studied,” Choi says.

Choi’s study compared four groups of people: video gamers, medical students, surgical residents and surgeons from various subspecialties. Video gamers had to complete a video game skills test before they could take part in the study.

Subjects had to complete three tasks on the virtual trainer by controlling robotic hands that would manipulate objects in virtual space: build a snowman, pick up objects out of a box (similar to a biopsy) and thread a needle through Faculty of Medicine | University of Calgary

Education

Dr. Garnette Sutherland and May Choi with the neuroArm trainer.

Shown on the screen is the trainer threading a needle through a ladder in viritual space.

Photo: Charles Hope

a ladder (simulating suturing). Performance was graded by the time for task completion, number of errors and quality of outcome.

“Video gamers were the best and quickest at adapting to the neuroArm trainer. They maintained a high score through each task and each repeated trial, even when they switched hands,” Choi explains.

Choi noticed that as the age of participants increased, their quality of performance decreased while time to complete tasks increased.

Also, she found the men scored higher than the women initially, but over time, the women caught up to their male counterparts.

“This shows that once someone gets used to the trainer, they are able to improve their skills,” she says. “The surgeons and residents improved greatly after spending more time on the machine.”

“I’m not suggesting neurosurgeons go out and play videogames for hours now,” Choi quickly clarifies. “Videogames may help surgeons get University of Calgary | Faculty of Medicine

used to virtual technology, but we must do further studies and look at confounding factors.”

Choi wrote an abstract for her study and credits the Bachelor of Health Sciences program with equipping her with the tools needed to succeed in this innovative research.

QUICK FACTS

“I learned how to write research papers, how to read research papers and how to just plain do research,” she says. “I’m glad I got to work alongside Garnette and contribute to neuroArm.” “Students are great to have because they have a lot of energy and drive. Both the researcher and student benefit from the project,” Sutherland says.

Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) program

• Established in 2002, the BHSc program is research-based and provides funding for students to do international electives

• Students are encouraged to pursue summer research projects and given guidance for acquiring funding for projects

• First class of 48 students graduated June 2007 from 4-year program

• BHSc students lead UCalgary in mean GPA

• Currently 310 students enrolled

• 84% of grads are now taking graduate degrees

• 3 majors: Biomedical Sciences, Bioinformatics and Health & Society

• Undergrads have authored and co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles

• Students undertake an honours thesis to complete the BHSc degree Spring 2008 | Your Faculty | 9

Dr Ron Bridges: Sharing Resources Across the Globe

by Teresa Scarlett

It’s not every day they fly the Canadian flag in La Paz, Boliva, But then again, it’s also not every day a doctor from Calgary brings such a special delivery.

This past November, Dr. Ron Bridges, associate dean, clinical affairs, University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, traveled to South America. He was following a unique shipment - 10 endoscopes and two processing units - donations from the Calgary Health Region (CHR).

The idea for the trip began last February after the CHR had completed an RFP for new endoscopic equipment. Making room for the new meant disposing of the old. Normally, old equipment would be sold to a third party vendor for a nominal fee where it would be re-furbished and re-sold.

But it occurred to Bridges that there might be better use for it. “I had met some colleagues from South America at a conference,” says Bridges. “At that time they were very grateful because Halifax had donated some equipment to them that they desperately needed,” he explains. “It occurred to me that maybe there was a way we could do that; maybe there was a way to get some of our used equipment from here to there.”

Like all inspired ideas, this one captured the imagination of each person who heard it. The CHR enthusiastically agreed to donate the equipment and the Faculty of Medicine paid the travel costs and extended its support. Bridges’ team made arrangements to donate the equipment to the Bolivian-Japanese Institute of Gastroenterology in La Paz, Bolivia and Universidad de la Republica in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Next came the logistics. The equipment was fragile, awkward and had to go a long way.

10 | Your Faculty | Spring 2008

“The Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (CAG) paid for the shipping,” explains Bridges.

“When we approached AMJ international and told them what we were doing, they very kindly agreed to ship it at cost by air.” Pentax Canada Inc., the equipment manufacturer, checked and repaired the scopes and donated some additional accessories.

Bridges, along with Dr. Bill Paterson, CAG president from Queens University, traveled first to Montevideo then to La Paz to accompany the delivery and present the donated equipment to the hospitals. Representatives from the Canadian Embassy were on hand to welcome the Canadian donation in a formal celebration.

“It was a great experience for us – we received a very warm welcome,” says Bridges, who also delivered three presentations to doctors in the hospitals he visited.

He adds that visiting La Paz and Montevideo served as a reminder that there are many places in desperate need of support and assistance from their medical colleagues in Canada. “In Montevideo, the hospital where we brought the equipment was quite literally falling apart – old rusted beds in the rooms and pipes in the ceiling that were rusty or dripping,” says Bridges. “Like many other different parts of the world, it’s a place where there is a high standard of care for the very well off but the public hospital is lacking resources and consequently doctors there are very limited in the patient care they can provide.” The arrival of additional endoscopic equipment will significantly enhance patient care in Montevideo and in La Paz.

“The equipment will be used for patients of the Bolivian-Japanese Institute of Gastroenterology (IGBJ) in La Paz, in the training activities of our fellows and in our work in the rural hospitals twice a year,” says Dr. Guido Villa-Gomez, director, La Paz World Gastroenterology Association (WGO). “We look forward to furthering the inter-institutional relations among the Faculty of Medicine, the CHR, the CAG and the La Paz WGO Training Centre.”

Although this was the first time that GI equipment made its way from Calgary to South America, Bridges hopes that this will be just a starting place. “At this point there’s no formal process to determine who has the greatest need for donated equipment. That’s a challenge because there are many countries that are underserved and lacking in modern equipment,” says Bridges. “But this is certainly a start and the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology is currently evaluating how to formalize these kinds of initiatives. We are looking to find ways to facilitate training and the provision of technology to help doctors in other countries who are working amidst these tremendous challenges. Ultimately the goal is to improve the standard of care where we can and every little thing we can do like this has an impact.”

Faculty of Medicine | University of Calgary

Service to Society

Dr. Ron Bridges (third from right) with the staff in Montevideo.

“Ultimately the goal is to improve the standard of care where we can and every little thing we can do like this has an impact.”

Dr. Ron Bridges

Dr. Guido Villa-Gomez at La Paz WGO Training Centre.

“We look forward to furthering the interinstitutional relations among the Faculty of Medicine, the CHR, the CAG and the La Paz WGO Training Centre.”

Dr. Guido Villa-Gomez

Photos: Courtesy of Dr. Ron Bridges

Dr. Bridges with Dr. Villa-Gomez, Dr. Bill Paterson and medical faculty.

University of Calgary | Faculty of Medicine

Spring 2008 | Your Faculty | 11

Jeffrey Martin loved the outdoors.

A Celebration of Legacy The Jeffrey Martin Memorial Award Contributed by Pat and Derek Martin

Courtesy of Martin Family

Our son Jeff Martin was just 26 years old and one week into his second year in UCalgary’s MD program when he died climbing an ice face at Mount Athabasca on August 15, 2004.

In class, he was known for his thoughtful and sometimes humorous questions and was generous with his time in assisting classmates with personal and academic problems.

When Dr. Allan Jones, then the associate dean of undergraduate medical education, told us that the Faculty of Medicine would like to initiate an award in Jeff’s name, we jumped at the chance.

What better way to keep the memory of our wonderful son alive!

This year, the Jeffrey Martin Memorial Award is $7100. We are hopeful that the award will grow as Jeff’s classmates begin to practice and can contribute. The cost of a medical education continues to rise. Perhaps as the fund grows, there can be two or more recipients a year.

We were already committed to medical education, Jeff’s mother, Pat Martin, had been practicing as a family doctor for 27 years, and his sister Nancy was in her third year of medical school in Vancouver.

We were happy to make our own contribution to the award. Jeff’s classmates, friends, relatives and the Faculty of Medicine contributed the rest.

Meanwhile, Jeff’s family and friends continue to celebrate his life and tell “Jeff stories” whenever they meet. For example, all may not know that Jeff was a master of self photography. He had long arms and was able to hold out his camera and take his own picture. For shots further away, he’d attach a Velcro band to the camera. Jeff would also strap the camera to a tree branch or paddle and use the timed delay feature to get himself into view!

The award is for a second-year medical student who demonstrates qualities that Jeff was known for: he loved the outdoors, he set high personal goals and he carefully balanced his life. Most importantly, he approached his membership in his med class of 2006 with unparalleled enthusiasm.

He learned to play hockey on the Fulmar team, started a class choir, assisted in the implementation of PDAs and participated in the interviews of the 2007 MD candidates and orientation week.

12 | Your Faculty | Spring 2008

As his parents and siblings, our annual involvement in the award is admittedly a painful time. Reading the applicants’ letters brings back many memories of our son and brother who never got to fulfill his dreams. But the exercise has also provided healing for our family. We know that Jeff’s spirit continues to live at UCalgary’s medical school.

(Below) Jeff spent Christmas 2003 in Mexico with his family.

Jeff, top-right, his parents Pat and Derek, brothers Paul and David, sister-in-law Lisa and beside Jeff, his sister Nancy.

Courtesy of Martin Family

Faculty of Medicine | University of Calgary

Philanthropy

Lee Bogle: “I’m inspired to live life to the fullest, just like Jeffrey did.”

By Laurie Wang

There’s an air of humility around Lee Bogle when he talks about receiving the 2007 Jeffrey Martin Memorial Award.

“Jeffrey Martin was nicknamed Clark Kent. It tells me he was a strong, intelligent guy, a beneath-thesurface type of guy,” says Bogle, 24. “It’s a big deal to be put in the same category as him.”

Bogle shares Jeffrey Martin’s love for the outdoors.

The second-year med student spearheaded the Wilderness Medical Society Calgary Student Interest Group, a group of about 50 people who take a special interest in the mountains and outdoors. Their goal is to promote clinical and field skills necessary for wilderness medicine.

When Bogle isn’t leading the wilderness club, he’s busy jamming on his guitar on music nights, hucking a Frisbee across the field as a member of the Ultimate team he started, or hosting the ATPa-thon with the enviro club, encouraging students to walk or bike to school.

Lee Bogle is humbled and grateful to receive the Jeffrey Martin Memorial Award.

“I’m inspired to live life to the fullest, just like Jeffrey did,” Bogle says.

He hopes to specialize in emergency or wilderness medicine, and set up a practice in a mountain town, like Canmore or Jasper.

Bogle says there’s no doubt Jeffrey Martin has made a lasting impact.

“I remember Dr. Allan Jones talking about Jeffrey in my first year. He told us what a difference Jeffrey made and how he stood out as a student and friend,” Bogle says. “It’s inspiring to know that you don’t slip under the radar, especially with over 100 med students shining right beside you.”

University of Calgary | Faculty of Medicine

Photo: Laurie Wang

Vital Stats

Under the Scope

Number of student awards given each year at the Faculty of Medicine

521

Average award

$1,500

Student awards range

$125-$10,000

Total amount awarded in the 2006/07 school year at Faculty of Medicine

$883,000

Cost of tuition, fees and books for 3 years of medical school

$56,000

Impact of one trainee’s medical education on society

Immeasurable

Donors can establish prizes for students attending the Faculty of Medicine at all levels, including our MD, Graduate Sciences and Bachelor of Health Sciences programs.

Scholarship: A financial award provided to a student based on academic merit Bursary: A monetary award given to a student based on financial need Award: A monetar y prize in recognition of contributions, qualities or circumstances for students attending university

Spring 2008 | Your Faculty | 13

Initiatives

Dr. Juan Antonio Garcia examines a patient at the Sunridge UCMC where he practices family medicine.

AIMG: Integrating international MDs into Alberta’s health system When Dr. Juan Antonio Garcia arrived here in 1998, he was told it was virtually impossible for him to practice medicine in Canada. With an MD from a top university in Colombia and two years experience practicing orthopedic medicine, Garcia was determined to practice medicine in Canada.

“I was told that the last person took about 10 to 12 years to get into the health system in Alberta,” Garcia says. “I was knocking on doors, and every door was slammed shut, sometimes literally.

‘Not possible, not possible,’ the doctors and administrators would say to me.”

Today, Garcia is practicing family medicine and sports medicine in Calgary, and is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Medicine. It was an arduous process for him to get to where he is.

Despite undergoing and successfully passing numerous exams, interviews, clinical office and intra-hospital evaluations, it was only through the creation of the Alberta International Medical Graduate program (AIMG) that Garcia was able to navigate a three-year evaluation process and obtain a two-year residency in family medicine here.

“It took hard work, and I can’t say it was easy, but through the AIMG program I was able to achieve my goals. It helped me and is currently helping many more doctors because the AIMG program has grown a lot since it was established in 2001,” Garcia says.

The AIMG program is a partnership between the University of Calgary and the University of

14 | Your Faculty | Spring 2008

Alberta, funded by the provincial government.

Its aim is to provide international medical graduates (IMGs)—physicians who received their medical degree outside of Canada and the United States—access to dedicated residency positions in an Alberta-based postgraduate medical education program.

“AIMG is the second largest IMG program in English-speaking Canada. IMGs do not compete with Canadian students for residency spots in Alberta because there are designated residency spots specifically for IMGs,” says Dr. Rod Crutcher, director, AIMG program, and professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Calgary.

Crutcher points out that IMGs make up approximately 25 per cent of the physician pool in Canada. With the current doctor shortage in the province and across Canada, Crutcher emphasizes the importance of the AIMG program in helping qualified IMGs residing in Alberta who wish to integrate into the health system here.

“Our AIMG program continues to grow. Currently, we provide 48 residency spots a year. Our applicants come from about 60 different countries,” Crutcher says. “When AIMG first started, residency spots were only in family medicine, now there are spots in various specialties.”

Photo: Charles Hope

By Laurie Wang

general surgery, obstetrics & gynecology, orthopedic surgery, neurology, pathology, psychiatry and pediatrics.

The AIMG program’s assessment and orientation process starts with a written application. IMGs who are eligible after application then go through a clinical skills assessment (OSCE). Then they are interviewed and go through a clinical assessment and orientation, basically a customized clerkship program that determines if the IMG’s are ready for residency.

“The program is merit-based and competitive, just like the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS),” Crutcher says. “Our role is to ensure IMGs are fully equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in residency training. We hope to have more spots in the future.”

According to Garcia, AIMG has boosted the number of foreign-trained doctors getting into residency training and practicing medicine, but he hopes the program will continue to expand and help more IMGs. “There is a doctor shortage, and though the issue is multi-faceted, the AIMG program is a very good way to start solving the problem,” Garcia says.

The choices for the 2008 cycle include anesthesia, community medicine, diagnostic radiology, family medicine, general internal medicine, Faculty of Medicine | University of Calgary

Writing books is good medicine for second-year med student

By Laurie Wang

Gregory Roberts displays his two books, S is for Spirit Bear and Chin Music.

Photo: Laurie Wang

“I didn’t have anything else to do but paint, so I just started thinking up plots in my head,” the second-year UCalgary medical student grins.

Since then Roberts has published two books, S is for Spirit Bear, an alphabet book for children detailing the many wonders of British Columbia, and Chin Music, a novel for 11- to 15-year-old boys about baseball, pranks, friendship, and getting up when you get knocked down in life.

An aspiring urologist, these days you’ll find Roberts writing more research papers than books as he aims for one of the competitive urology residency spots in Canada. But he doesn’t plan on giving up writing teen literature.

“I used to hate reading as a kid. I was writing Chin Music, hoping a few kids like me would become keen on reading,” Roberts smiles. “That’s the greatest thrill of the whole process.”

AA.UC.GIVE.222.BW.01.QXD

11/23/07

10:41 AM

Page 1

docket # SUC-70052.01

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This advertisement prepared by: McGILL PRODUCTIONS • November 22, 2007

Gregory Roberts spent his summer in 2004 painting fences and writing books in his head.

PROOF # “I wrote it for the reluctant reader,” Roberts, 28 years, says. “Because that’s what I was growing up.”

Client

______________

Cole Charlebois, 5 ½ years old, is a big fan of S is for Spirit Bear. “I think Creative Director my favourite part of the book was the bald eagle. Did you know eagles are ______________ an endangered speci [sic]? Miss Lorraine told me that. Yep, I think the eagle Art Director was my favourite part. In fact, I liked all of it.” ______________

Prints: BW

Director “It wasn’t until university that I fell in love with literature, especiallyAccount the teen ______________ lit genre,” he says. “I really liked the young adult sports stuff, so I decided to take a shot at writing.”

Account Manager

Michelangelo sculpted.

How will you shape the world?

______________

Well, it was a pretty good shot, considering Roberts’ books were published in 2006 and 2007. And to think, he originally thought of writing as Production purelyManager a ______________ stress reliever.

McGill

SWto “It began as a cathartic exercise. I was busy every day of the week trying ______________ get straight A’s to get into med school, so I decided I would take a break on Sundays and write,” Roberts explains.

You know the positive impact our university has on the world. By leaving a gift in your estate plans to the University of Calgary, you’ll create a legacy that will continue to help shape the future. Contact Anthony Salekin with the U of C Development Office at (403) 220-7852 or visit ucalgary.ca/giving.

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Raised in Lethbridge, Alberta, Roberts describes his younger self as a poor Copywriter student, a good athlete, and certainly not an avid reader.

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