Medical Students Lobby City Council to Help the Homeless

Medical Students Lobby City Council to Help the Homeless

Medical Students participate in Lobby DayThey say you can’t fight city hall, so a group of first- and second-year medical students is joined them to present a homelessness advocacy initiative to members of council.

More than 25 members of the classes of 2T0 and 2T1 met with 9 city councillors individually to raise the idea of a data management system they say would improve the way services that support homeless people are coordinated.

More than 5200 people in Toronto are homeless, according to the interim findings of the city’s most recent Street Needs Assessment 2013. For Patricia Hoyek, Inna Berditchevskaia and Kara Grace Hounsell, second-year MD students leading the initiative, the issue is close to home.

“We see people with no fixed address everyday on our way to school,” said Patricia Hoyeck, a second-year medical student. “When we shadow physicians, we witness the effects of the social determinants of health and inadequate housing. We have a role in advocating for things that can improve peoples’ health.”

The Ontario Medical Students Association and the Canadian Federation of Medical Students each organize an annual lobby day, but a group of medical students wanted to create something that would provide longer-term opportunities for engagement locally.

Although most of the meetings were held on a single day, the students began to consult with advocates, researchers and other community partners in the spring.  The group says part of what makes the issue of homelessness so complex is the question of who funds the variety of supports needed. Hounsell points out that health and affordable housing are largely provincial issues, but shelters are funded municipally.

“These things are fragmented into different funding structures, but people’s experiences aren’t isolated that way. It’s difficult to work within these funding paradigms when they don’t capture the essence of the problem, allowing people to fall through the cracks.” says Hoyeck.

The students also say homeless people who have received treatment in hospitals are also being discharged back into homelessness. “There are people who aren’t sick enough to be living in the hospital, but they’re also not healthy enough to live on the street or in a shelter. So, when someone’s discharged from the hospital a shelter — whose responsibility is it to provide support to that person?” says Berditchevskaia.

The students proposed a system called the homeless management information system (HMIS), which is used in Calgary and many American cities. It’s a web-based system that helps people who work with the homeless population to better coordinate the services. For example, explains Hounsell, if a client’s information were accessible to multiple service providers, that could help with referrals and reveal which services they’ve accessed. And on a larger scale, there’s more opportunity for program evaluation, making it easier to see what’s working well and where resources need to be moved or added.

Joe Cressy, councillor for Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina and a member of the city’s Community Development and Recreation Committee — which addresses shelter — was one of the councillors who made time to speak with the students.

“Far too often, the only voices we hear at city hall are the same ones — it tends to be property owners who live near developments or proposed shelters. Rarely do we have younger voices come to the table. It’s the duty of everyone in this city to ensure we’re caring for the most vulnerable,” said Cressy. “These medical students have unique insight as physicians in training, which has brought a view point to the homelessness crisis in a series of proposals that, if adopted by council, would help.”

The students hope councillors will create a staff report on the feasibility of implementing the HMIS and plan to continue their efforts. They’re building information packages to share with councillors who ask for them and continuing to consult with community stakeholders about what their ideal system would look like.

“Humility in advocacy is also important,” says Hounsell. “We’re medical students who don’t work in this field, so this is a good opportunity for us to reflect on what we’re able to contribute  — and when we need to ask others for their opinions and help as well.”

“We want this to be an ongoing conversation — advocacy doesn’t just happen on one day,” said Berditchevskaia. “We’re learning to use our voices to push for things that will better the health of our population. We have a responsibility to our future patents to help them individually, but also on a larger scale.”

Medical Students participate in Lobby DayThey say you can’t fight city hall, so a group of first- and second-year medical students is joined them to present a homelessness advocacy initiative to members of council.

More than 25 members of the classes of 2T0 and 2T1 met with 9 city councillors individually to raise the idea of a data management system they say would improve the way services that support homeless people are coordinated.

More than 5200 people in Toronto are homeless, according to the interim findings of the city’s most recent Street Needs Assessment 2013. For Patricia Hoyek, Inna Berditchevskaia and Kara Grace Hounsell, second-year MD students leading the initiative, the issue is close to home.

“We see people with no fixed address everyday on our way to school,” said Patricia Hoyeck, a second-year medical student. “When we shadow physicians, we witness the effects of the social determinants of health and inadequate housing. We have a role in advocating for things that can improve peoples’ health.”

The Ontario Medical Students Association and the Canadian Federation of Medical Students each organize an annual lobby day, but a group of medical students wanted to create something that would provide longer-term opportunities for engagement locally.

Although most of the meetings were held on a single day, the students began to consult with advocates, researchers and other community partners in the spring.  The group says part of what makes the issue of homelessness so complex is the question of who funds the variety of supports needed. Hounsell points out that health and affordable housing are largely provincial issues, but shelters are funded municipally.

“These things are fragmented into different funding structures, but people’s experiences aren’t isolated that way. It’s difficult to work within these funding paradigms when they don’t capture the essence of the problem, allowing people to fall through the cracks.” says Hoyeck.

The students also say homeless people who have received treatment in hospitals are also being discharged back into homelessness. “There are people who aren’t sick enough to be living in the hospital, but they’re also not healthy enough to live on the street or in a shelter. So, when someone’s discharged from the hospital a shelter — whose responsibility is it to provide support to that person?” says Berditchevskaia.

The students proposed a system called the homeless management information system (HMIS), which is used in Calgary and many American cities. It’s a web-based system that helps people who work with the homeless population to better coordinate the services. For example, explains Hounsell, if a client’s information were accessible to multiple service providers, that could help with referrals and reveal which services they’ve accessed. And on a larger scale, there’s more opportunity for program evaluation, making it easier to see what’s working well and where resources need to be moved or added.

Joe Cressy, councillor for Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina and a member of the city’s Community Development and Recreation Committee — which addresses shelter — was one of the councillors who made time to speak with the students.

“Far too often, the only voices we hear at city hall are the same ones — it tends to be property owners who live near developments or proposed shelters. Rarely do we have younger voices come to the table. It’s the duty of everyone in this city to ensure we’re caring for the most vulnerable,” said Cressy. “These medical students have unique insight as physicians in training, which has brought a view point to the homelessness crisis in a series of proposals that, if adopted by council, would help.”

The students hope councillors will create a staff report on the feasibility of implementing the HMIS and plan to continue their efforts. They’re building information packages to share with councillors who ask for them and continuing to consult with community stakeholders about what their ideal system would look like.

“Humility in advocacy is also important,” says Hounsell. “We’re medical students who don’t work in this field, so this is a good opportunity for us to reflect on what we’re able to contribute  — and when we need to ask others for their opinions and help as well.”

“We want this to be an ongoing conversation — advocacy doesn’t just happen on one day,” said Berditchevskaia. “We’re learning to use our voices to push for things that will better the health of our population. We have a responsibility to our future patents to help them individually, but also on a larger scale.”

Medical Students Lobby City Council to Help the Homeless
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Black Medical Students Association: Medical School 101

Black Medical Students Association: Medical School 101 -

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Black Medical Students Association: Medical School 101
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The Black Medical Student's Association is hosting a Medical School 101 session! Students, Faculty, alumni, and admissions staff will be present to answer any questions that you have about medical school at the University of Toronto. 

Location: (200 Elizabeth Street) Toronto General Hospital at the Halliwell Centre for Medical Education-Room 025/026 at the Eaton Wing.

Food will be provided at the event. 

If you plan to attend or have any questions, please RSVP by emailing uoft.bmsa@gmail.com by November 27th.

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Addressing Unique Patient Needs with Technology

Addressing Unique Patient Needs with Technology

Jason Jaewoon ParkJason Jaewoo Park wants to be a doctor who can impact patient outcomes with technology.

“When I entered medical school, I wanted to learn more about medical devices that are essential for providing high-quality care,” said Park, a second-year MD student at the University of Toronto. “As a future physician, I want to help find solutions to shortcomings in the technology we use to provide the best possible care for our patients.”

Starting this fall, Park will be among the first cohort of seven U of T MD students to pair their full-time medical education with training in biomedical device design through a part-time Master of Engineering (MEng) program offered by the University’s Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME).

The MD-oriented version of this program, developed by IBBME professors Julie AudetChristopher Yip and the Faculty of Medicine’s Dr. Marcus Law, enables medical students to learn more about how biomedical devices are created and brought to market through a series of courses in biomedical sciences, engineering technology and commercialization. It also includes an applied internship on a schedule that compliments the MD curriculum.

Some of the proposed projects for internships include evaluating mechanical compression of live tissue in minimally-invasive surgery, and the development of a 3D heart tissue model microfluidic platform for cardiovascular health research.

“With a focus on the design and commercialization of biomedical devices, our MD students will engage in applied design challenges to tackle medically relevant issues and gain first-hand experience of the industry,” said Law, an associate professor of family medicine and the director of foundations for the MD program at U of T.  “This experience is extremely enriching for our students, and open the doors for future career options in advancing health care.”

Park agrees. He started his internship earlier this year at 3D4MD, a Toronto-based firm that makes 3D-printed medical tools such as surgical instruments that can be fabricated on site. This is particularly useful for challenging locations in the world, such as disaster zones or remote sites, and for space applications to treat ill or injured astronauts.

“The projects I’m working on are aimed at helping patients with disabilities whose therapy needs are not addressed by current products,” said Park. “Additionally, we hope to help patients who are not able to access suitable assistive devices because they are too expensive by developing a more cost-effective, 3D-printed alternative.”

The program also fosters collaboration between engineering and medical professionals.

“There is a unique opportunity to have both engineering and medical students in the same classroom to share complimentary perspectives that will help to identify and address unmet health-care needs,” said Audet, who is also the vice-dean of graduate studies for the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “I am grateful to be a part of the development team for this interdisciplinary initiative that will help advance care for unique human health challenges.”

Jason Jaewoon ParkJason Jaewoo Park wants to be a doctor who can impact patient outcomes with technology.

“When I entered medical school, I wanted to learn more about medical devices that are essential for providing high-quality care,” said Park, a second-year MD student at the University of Toronto. “As a future physician, I want to help find solutions to shortcomings in the technology we use to provide the best possible care for our patients.”

Starting this fall, Park will be among the first cohort of seven U of T MD students to pair their full-time medical education with training in biomedical device design through a part-time Master of Engineering (MEng) program offered by the University’s Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME).

The MD-oriented version of this program, developed by IBBME professors Julie AudetChristopher Yip and the Faculty of Medicine’s Dr. Marcus Law, enables medical students to learn more about how biomedical devices are created and brought to market through a series of courses in biomedical sciences, engineering technology and commercialization. It also includes an applied internship on a schedule that compliments the MD curriculum.

Some of the proposed projects for internships include evaluating mechanical compression of live tissue in minimally-invasive surgery, and the development of a 3D heart tissue model microfluidic platform for cardiovascular health research.

“With a focus on the design and commercialization of biomedical devices, our MD students will engage in applied design challenges to tackle medically relevant issues and gain first-hand experience of the industry,” said Law, an associate professor of family medicine and the director of foundations for the MD program at U of T.  “This experience is extremely enriching for our students, and open the doors for future career options in advancing health care.”

Park agrees. He started his internship earlier this year at 3D4MD, a Toronto-based firm that makes 3D-printed medical tools such as surgical instruments that can be fabricated on site. This is particularly useful for challenging locations in the world, such as disaster zones or remote sites, and for space applications to treat ill or injured astronauts.

“The projects I’m working on are aimed at helping patients with disabilities whose therapy needs are not addressed by current products,” said Park. “Additionally, we hope to help patients who are not able to access suitable assistive devices because they are too expensive by developing a more cost-effective, 3D-printed alternative.”

The program also fosters collaboration between engineering and medical professionals.

“There is a unique opportunity to have both engineering and medical students in the same classroom to share complimentary perspectives that will help to identify and address unmet health-care needs,” said Audet, who is also the vice-dean of graduate studies for the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “I am grateful to be a part of the development team for this interdisciplinary initiative that will help advance care for unique human health challenges.”

Addressing Unique Patient Needs with Technology
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Foundations Curriculum student experience blog: Bringing the Lessons Home

Foundations Curriculum student experience blog: Bringing the Lessons Home

Sanasi JayawardenaWhen I was applying to U of T, I remember browsing the Faculty’s website and finding a list of potential summer research opportunities available to medical students. One of those was a placement at a hospital less than 10 kilometres away from my father’s home village in Sri Lanka. As a child growing up in Waterloo, Ontario, I had mostly shied away from getting to know my Sri Lankan heritage. But something inside me wanted to explore it now. This summer, I found myself on a plane to Colombo, excited to collect data as part of a global health study on therapies and complications in Sri Lankan patients with thalassemia — an inherited blood disorder that causes the body to make an abnormal form of hemoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen in the blood. Patients with this disorder often need regular blood transfusions and can also experience cardiovascular complications, diabetes and other serious endocrine disorders.                                                                                          

While I certainly learned a lot about thalassemia during our weeks of chart review in the first year of the Foundations curriculum, I was now gleaning new lessons on the streets of Colombo, the city where I worked. As people with a challenging chronic disease, thalassemia patients have many interactions with healthcare workers. The charts we reviewed had extensive documentation of the frequent visits. While reading these charts, I often discovered that I had greatly underappreciated the importance of ethnicity, culture and race in medicine.  

In the first year of medical school, the Foundations curriculum repeatedly emphasizes in lectures and small group seminars the importance of cultural safety. During my international placement, I inadvertently stumbled into a real-life lesson. In Sri Lanka, there’s a common misconception that you’re not related by blood to your maternal family. People may marry their cousins or others in their home villages who might also be related. 

Thalassemia is an inherited genetic disorder and if both prospective parents carry genes associated with the disorder, they’re more likely to conceive a child with thalassemia. While I was in Sri Lanka, I learned about public health campaigns encouraging potential spouses to get genetic testing prior to marriage, so as to pre-emptively decrease the likelihood of children being born with thalassemia. It was a living example of the lessons taught in first year. 

Now that I’m home, I intend to keep questioning my own assumptions about culture and learning to respect our patients’ cultural diversity.

I also found myself watching physician-patient interactions in the hospitals where I worked. To that point, much of my clinical skills training emphasized the nuances of communication. Though I often wished we’d spent extra time on more tangibly clinical aspects of medicine, my time in Sri Lanka allowed me to appreciate how far good communication can go. An unusually severe outbreak of dengue forced physicians to admit many more patients than they had space to accommodate. The physicians used masterful listening skills and nonverbal communication to comfort patients who didn’t even have a bed to themselves. 

In a similar vein, one of my own goals for the summer was to improve my pitiful Sinhala. I’m grateful for the opportunity to spend so much time using my second language, though I never quite got used to mentally rehearsing everything I wanted to say in advance. Nor did I welcome the daily questions about my accent. However, this experience gave me a huge appreciation of what many immigrants in Toronto and Canada must brave on a daily basis. Many of our patients, like my parents, interact with most people in a language that isn’t their mother tongue. I have so much respect and admiration for their courage.  

I intend to keep exploring opportunities to incorporate what I learned this summer into my budding medical education. U of T has a long history of its physicians being involved in global health. Maybe global health will be part of my story, too.

This student experience article expresses the views of Sanasi Jayawardena and is not meant to be representative of the entire student experience, nor represent the MD Program.

Sanasi JayawardenaWhen I was applying to U of T, I remember browsing the Faculty’s website and finding a list of potential summer research opportunities available to medical students. One of those was a placement at a hospital less than 10 kilometres away from my father’s home village in Sri Lanka. As a child growing up in Waterloo, Ontario, I had mostly shied away from getting to know my Sri Lankan heritage. But something inside me wanted to explore it now. This summer, I found myself on a plane to Colombo, excited to collect data as part of a global health study on therapies and complications in Sri Lankan patients with thalassemia — an inherited blood disorder that causes the body to make an abnormal form of hemoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen in the blood. Patients with this disorder often need regular blood transfusions and can also experience cardiovascular complications, diabetes and other serious endocrine disorders.                                                                                          

While I certainly learned a lot about thalassemia during our weeks of chart review in the first year of the Foundations curriculum, I was now gleaning new lessons on the streets of Colombo, the city where I worked. As people with a challenging chronic disease, thalassemia patients have many interactions with healthcare workers. The charts we reviewed had extensive documentation of the frequent visits. While reading these charts, I often discovered that I had greatly underappreciated the importance of ethnicity, culture and race in medicine.  

In the first year of medical school, the Foundations curriculum repeatedly emphasizes in lectures and small group seminars the importance of cultural safety. During my international placement, I inadvertently stumbled into a real-life lesson. In Sri Lanka, there’s a common misconception that you’re not related by blood to your maternal family. People may marry their cousins or others in their home villages who might also be related. 

Thalassemia is an inherited genetic disorder and if both prospective parents carry genes associated with the disorder, they’re more likely to conceive a child with thalassemia. While I was in Sri Lanka, I learned about public health campaigns encouraging potential spouses to get genetic testing prior to marriage, so as to pre-emptively decrease the likelihood of children being born with thalassemia. It was a living example of the lessons taught in first year. 

Now that I’m home, I intend to keep questioning my own assumptions about culture and learning to respect our patients’ cultural diversity.

I also found myself watching physician-patient interactions in the hospitals where I worked. To that point, much of my clinical skills training emphasized the nuances of communication. Though I often wished we’d spent extra time on more tangibly clinical aspects of medicine, my time in Sri Lanka allowed me to appreciate how far good communication can go. An unusually severe outbreak of dengue forced physicians to admit many more patients than they had space to accommodate. The physicians used masterful listening skills and nonverbal communication to comfort patients who didn’t even have a bed to themselves. 

In a similar vein, one of my own goals for the summer was to improve my pitiful Sinhala. I’m grateful for the opportunity to spend so much time using my second language, though I never quite got used to mentally rehearsing everything I wanted to say in advance. Nor did I welcome the daily questions about my accent. However, this experience gave me a huge appreciation of what many immigrants in Toronto and Canada must brave on a daily basis. Many of our patients, like my parents, interact with most people in a language that isn’t their mother tongue. I have so much respect and admiration for their courage.  

I intend to keep exploring opportunities to incorporate what I learned this summer into my budding medical education. U of T has a long history of its physicians being involved in global health. Maybe global health will be part of my story, too.

This student experience article expresses the views of Sanasi Jayawardena and is not meant to be representative of the entire student experience, nor represent the MD Program.

Foundations Curriculum student experience blog: Bringing the Lessons Home
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Sanasi Jayawardena, Class of 2T0

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#UofTGrad17 Jeffrey Wong: Global Health, HIV Outreach and Smartphones

#UofTGrad17 Jeffrey Wong: Global Health, HIV Outreach and Smartphones

Jeffrey WongAs Jeffrey Wong prepares to graduate from the MD program on June 6 – and before starting his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Vancouver – he is fitting in trips to Peru and Vietnam. With a keen interest in global health and the role of new technology in HIV education outreach, he shared his thoughts on his studies and future career with Faculty of Medicine writer Carolyn Morris.

As an MD student you looked into HIV education outreach to LGBT populations – what did you find out?

I did a review of community support for the LGBT population, and realized how resources are predominantly concentrated in large urban centres. With advances in technology, we are now able to reach populations that traditional forms of outreach could not access. Smartphone-based applications transcend geographical distances for communication, as well as provide anonymity for individuals who would hesitate to access traditional outreach programs. It was really interesting to connect with the Asian Community AIDS Services and learn how they’ve been putting their outreach programs onto the smartphone platform.

What was your favourite part of being a U of T MD student?

At U of T there are so many opportunities to explore different areas of medicine. Whatever your research interests are, there are probably multiple faculty members who share similar interests as you and are willing to nurture them. This is reflected in all the amazing things my peers have been involved in – whether it is in basic science research, clinical research or advocacy work. Being an MD student at U of T made me feel like the world is my oyster.

What are your future plans in medicine?

After my vacations to Peru and Vietnam, I will concentrate on packing up my life and transitioning to Vancouver to start my residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology. It's hard to say what will happen after that. If you were to tell my first-year self that I would be pursuing a career in OBGYN, I wouldn’t have believed it – so I think I'll take things one step at a time and start my residency with an open mind. However, I hope I’ll continue to be involved in improving access to medicine, either in local marginalized populations or in global health.

Do you have any message for first-year students – anything you’d have wanted to know when you first started medical school?

I’d say that what will make you standout to colleagues and patients will be your interpersonal skills and work ethic. Don't forget those very important aspects of medicine. And take every opportunity to travel the world – they’ll become fewer and farther in between.

For the full schedule of #UofTGrad17 convocation ceremonies, visit http://www.convocation.utoronto.ca/events.

Jeffrey WongAs Jeffrey Wong prepares to graduate from the MD program on June 6 – and before starting his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Vancouver – he is fitting in trips to Peru and Vietnam. With a keen interest in global health and the role of new technology in HIV education outreach, he shared his thoughts on his studies and future career with Faculty of Medicine writer Carolyn Morris.

As an MD student you looked into HIV education outreach to LGBT populations – what did you find out?

I did a review of community support for the LGBT population, and realized how resources are predominantly concentrated in large urban centres. With advances in technology, we are now able to reach populations that traditional forms of outreach could not access. Smartphone-based applications transcend geographical distances for communication, as well as provide anonymity for individuals who would hesitate to access traditional outreach programs. It was really interesting to connect with the Asian Community AIDS Services and learn how they’ve been putting their outreach programs onto the smartphone platform.

What was your favourite part of being a U of T MD student?

At U of T there are so many opportunities to explore different areas of medicine. Whatever your research interests are, there are probably multiple faculty members who share similar interests as you and are willing to nurture them. This is reflected in all the amazing things my peers have been involved in – whether it is in basic science research, clinical research or advocacy work. Being an MD student at U of T made me feel like the world is my oyster.

What are your future plans in medicine?

After my vacations to Peru and Vietnam, I will concentrate on packing up my life and transitioning to Vancouver to start my residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology. It's hard to say what will happen after that. If you were to tell my first-year self that I would be pursuing a career in OBGYN, I wouldn’t have believed it – so I think I'll take things one step at a time and start my residency with an open mind. However, I hope I’ll continue to be involved in improving access to medicine, either in local marginalized populations or in global health.

Do you have any message for first-year students – anything you’d have wanted to know when you first started medical school?

I’d say that what will make you standout to colleagues and patients will be your interpersonal skills and work ethic. Don't forget those very important aspects of medicine. And take every opportunity to travel the world – they’ll become fewer and farther in between.

For the full schedule of #UofTGrad17 convocation ceremonies, visit http://www.convocation.utoronto.ca/events.

#UofTGrad17 Jeffrey Wong: Global Health, HIV Outreach and Smartphones
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#UofTGrad17 Robert Vanner: Doubly Dedicated to Defeating Disease

#UofTGrad17 Robert Vanner: Doubly Dedicated to Defeating Disease

Robert Vanner

Robert Vanner wants you to know, he hasn’t cured cancer. But, he has identified how in a common type of brain cancer in children – medulloblastomas –  some cells can actually thrive during chemotherapy, making it difficult to fight. He also identified a drug that, in mice, could suppress this chemo-loving feature, making it possible to kill the tumor once and for all. He did that while also going to medical school. Vanner is one of two students who will be graduating as a double doctor from the University of Toronto on June 6, having earned both MD and PhD degrees. He talked to Faculty of Medicine writer Liam Mitchell on what made him doubly dedicated to defeating disease.

Isn’t medical school difficult enough? Why did you decide to also do a PhD while earning your MD?

Well, this wasn’t about just taking on another challenge. While doing research in undergrad I realized the thrill of making a discovery and learning something completely new. I was hooked and at graduation was weighing my options between doing doctoral studies first or an MD/PhD program. I was drawn to medical school by the chance to work with patients and the different rewards it might offer, and I haven’t been disappointed. I felt research could improve my patient care, but also my interaction with patients could make my research more focused and fulfilling.

Tell me about your research.

I worked in Dr. Peter Dirks’ lab at The Hospital for Sick Children, which focuses on brain tumours and stem cells. Not all cancer cells behave the same, so we set out to define the different types of cells in a tumour and how they grow the disease. I worked on medulloblastoma, which is a common type of brain cancer in children. We found that most medulloblastoma cells divide quickly, at least once a day. Surprisingly, tumours also have a tiny fraction of cells that rarely divide – on the order of once every three weeks – and look like the stem cells that build the developing brain. Using powerful genetic mouse models, we showed that the slowly cycling stem cells cells were at the root of tumour growth.  While chemotherapy would kill off the dividing cells, the stem cells were resistant and caused tumours to recur. By identifying a drug that also killed the stem cells, we could shrink away mouse tumours and keep them from growing back. This work was published in the journal Cancer Cell.

So, what are the next steps?

There are members of the Dirks lab that are continuing to work on this. It’s really thrilling to think that work I started is going to continue and hopefully lead to new research papers and hopefully new treatments.

But for now, you need to focus on your residency, right?

Yes, I am very excited to be starting residency in Internal Medicine in Toronto. Patient care will come first, but since returning to medical school I’ve been working on a new project studying the genetics of B-cell leukemia, and I’ll be looking to use some of the new skills I’ve picked up to continue to be productive as a resident. After a clinical fellowship and postdoc, the dream is to have a lab making discoveries relevant to patients I’ll be treating in clinic, likely as an oncologist.

How did you find your experience at U of T?

I feel very fortunate to have been part of a program with such an outstanding group of students, some of whom have become close friends. U of T has a well-supported MD/PhD program with a strong sense of community thanks to its students and program director, Dr. Norman Rosenblum, who is very supportive of trainees. The last 8 years have been a blast.

For the full schedule of #UofTGrad17 convocation ceremonies, visit http://www.convocation.utoronto.ca/events.

Robert Vanner

Robert Vanner wants you to know, he hasn’t cured cancer. But, he has identified how in a common type of brain cancer in children – medulloblastomas –  some cells can actually thrive during chemotherapy, making it difficult to fight. He also identified a drug that, in mice, could suppress this chemo-loving feature, making it possible to kill the tumor once and for all. He did that while also going to medical school. Vanner is one of two students who will be graduating as a double doctor from the University of Toronto on June 6, having earned both MD and PhD degrees. He talked to Faculty of Medicine writer Liam Mitchell on what made him doubly dedicated to defeating disease.

Isn’t medical school difficult enough? Why did you decide to also do a PhD while earning your MD?

Well, this wasn’t about just taking on another challenge. While doing research in undergrad I realized the thrill of making a discovery and learning something completely new. I was hooked and at graduation was weighing my options between doing doctoral studies first or an MD/PhD program. I was drawn to medical school by the chance to work with patients and the different rewards it might offer, and I haven’t been disappointed. I felt research could improve my patient care, but also my interaction with patients could make my research more focused and fulfilling.

Tell me about your research.

I worked in Dr. Peter Dirks’ lab at The Hospital for Sick Children, which focuses on brain tumours and stem cells. Not all cancer cells behave the same, so we set out to define the different types of cells in a tumour and how they grow the disease. I worked on medulloblastoma, which is a common type of brain cancer in children. We found that most medulloblastoma cells divide quickly, at least once a day. Surprisingly, tumours also have a tiny fraction of cells that rarely divide – on the order of once every three weeks – and look like the stem cells that build the developing brain. Using powerful genetic mouse models, we showed that the slowly cycling stem cells cells were at the root of tumour growth.  While chemotherapy would kill off the dividing cells, the stem cells were resistant and caused tumours to recur. By identifying a drug that also killed the stem cells, we could shrink away mouse tumours and keep them from growing back. This work was published in the journal Cancer Cell.

So, what are the next steps?

There are members of the Dirks lab that are continuing to work on this. It’s really thrilling to think that work I started is going to continue and hopefully lead to new research papers and hopefully new treatments.

But for now, you need to focus on your residency, right?

Yes, I am very excited to be starting residency in Internal Medicine in Toronto. Patient care will come first, but since returning to medical school I’ve been working on a new project studying the genetics of B-cell leukemia, and I’ll be looking to use some of the new skills I’ve picked up to continue to be productive as a resident. After a clinical fellowship and postdoc, the dream is to have a lab making discoveries relevant to patients I’ll be treating in clinic, likely as an oncologist.

How did you find your experience at U of T?

I feel very fortunate to have been part of a program with such an outstanding group of students, some of whom have become close friends. U of T has a well-supported MD/PhD program with a strong sense of community thanks to its students and program director, Dr. Norman Rosenblum, who is very supportive of trainees. The last 8 years have been a blast.

For the full schedule of #UofTGrad17 convocation ceremonies, visit http://www.convocation.utoronto.ca/events.

#UofTGrad17 Robert Vanner: Doubly Dedicated to Defeating Disease
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Liam Mitchell

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Physician Leader Guest Lecturer: Dr. Peter Lees

Physician Leader Guest Lecturer: Dr. Peter Lees -
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Physician Leader Guest Lecturer: Dr. Peter Lees, Chief Executive and Medical Director at the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management (FMLM) 

Leaders Save Lives Too 

Peter Lees is the chief executive and medical director of the UK intercollegiate Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management. 

Over 20 years, he combined a career in neurosurgery with senior roles in operational management and leadership development. This included experience at local, regional and national levels and in global health. Formerly he was Medical Director, Director of Workforce and Education and Director of Leadership at NHS South Central Strategic Health Authority and Senior Lecturer in Neurosurgery at the University of Southampton. 

He is a graduate of Manchester and Southampton Universities, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London. 

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