Doc-to-Doc Guest Contributor: Dr. Winnie Su
I will never forget the fall of 1996. It was the first term of my first year of medical school at UBC. In his family practice office, Dr. Harpur rolled up his sleeve and directed me and my classmate to practice injections on his arm after we had practiced jabbing oranges. A week later, he drove us to BC Women’s Hospital to meet one of his patients in active labour. There, I witnessed one of the greatest miracles of all time – the birth of a baby.
This event from 30 years ago was more than just a “clinical experience”; it was a life-changing one for the family, and in retrospect, for me as well. Along the way, I am fortunate that my many mentors and teachers modeled both clinical competence and compassion for their patients, demonstrating to me the value of knowing patients over time. After contemplating other specialties, I decided to pursue a Family Medicine residency at UBC, then entered longitudinal family practice 24 years ago and haven’t looked back.
Post-residency, I wanted to create the same experiences I was provided, so I began teaching. To see curiosity and sparks of excitement emanating from learners sustains my passion for my work, and motivates me to stay up-to-date and to upskill. Celebrating a student’s first vaccination, first (successful) IUD insertion, first skin biopsy, or even the first time carrying a newborn (safely) immediately transforms routine office practice into truly an exciting place!
If your calling is in (family) medicine, then teaching is already a part of that. We are constantly teaching as we interact with our patients. Aside from keeping us humble and grounded, teaching keeps work interesting. In my role as the Family Medicine Director of Years 1&2 for the UBC Vancouver Fraser Medical Program, it is a privilege to invest in the next generation of physicians as our teachers and mentors did for us. Evidence suggests that early exposure to family medicine is associated positively for a career choice in family medicine.1 As long as there is an ongoing effort to teach, mentor, and inspire students, we have hope in maintaining family medicine as the backbone of our healthcare system. As a profession and as a society, we are all better for it.
Please contact me at winnie.su@ubc.ca if you have questions or are interested in teaching medical students. To those who are already teaching, thank you. For those who are exploring this, I would love to hear from you!
We are actively recruiting family physician teachers for the upcoming academic year. See the attached flyer for teaching opportunities for 1st and 2nd year medical students.
If you are interested in teaching, please contact:
- For years 1 & 2: Vera Maesen vera.maesen@ubc.ca
- For the rural clerkship in year 3 or the year 4 Family Medicine electives: Prabhjot Singh fpelectives@familymed.ubc.ca
References:
Shah A, Gasner A, Bracken K, Scott I, Kelly MA, Palombo A. Early generalist placements are associated with family medicine career choice: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Med Educ. 2021;55(11):1242–1252. doi.org/10.1111/medu.14578.