fulfilling a dream: meet some of the students at sfu's new surrey medical school
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simon fraser university medical school students, from left, jeannine ho, jeff pan, mackenzie milic and jasica munday at the surrey campus aug. 6.
nick procaylo
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for some students at sfu’s new medical school in surrey, the decision to become a doctor is personal.
“my journey to medicine is really deeply connected to surrey and to my own experiences with the health-care system,” said jeannine ho, 25.
ho was born at surrey memorial hospital and then returned years later while supporting her mother through cancer, from which she didn’t survive.
“going through that experience gave me a really personal understanding of what it means to navigate health care and the barriers that certain groups face,” she said.
ho was among 48 students who started classes this week at the simon fraser university stephens family school of medicine. the new school aims to help fill the doctor shortage in the province.
students in the three-year program will attend school year-round, reducing the time it takes to finish a traditional medical school program by one year.
for now, the students are being instructed in an interim space at sfu’s central city tower. a permanent location, on the sfu surrey campus, is expected to be finished in 2030, alongside a new primary care clinic.
a second hospital and cancer centre is set to open in 2030 in cloverdale, and some graduates from the new school may end up working there.
the curriculum is designed to train doctors to work in team-based primary care and serve in communities throughout b.c., said the ministry of post-secondary education in a news release.
sfu spokesman matt kieltyka said the first students are from across b.c. over half bring experience from previous careers and nearly half hold graduate or professional degrees beyond their four-year bachelor’s degree.
those students will start their residencies as early as 2029. future cohorts will increase steadily until there are 120 students a year in the program by 2035.
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for ho, being the first point of contact is one of the reasons why she wants to be a family physician. a vietnamese speaker raised by a single mom who was a refugee from vietnam, ho said she wants to serve a similar community in her work as a family physician.
“when i was navigating the health-care system, i saw that there was a huge lack of vietnamese-speaking doctors. there was lack of culturally relevant care that i experienced,” ho said.
“there was a lot of positives as well, but i saw a need in my community, so i wanted to be that family physician for patients who are not just vietnamese, but also refugees.”
fellow students jeff pan and jasica munday started other careers before turning to medical school.
pan worked as a pharmacist, but he knew since childhood that he wanted to become a physician.
“i was pretty happy as a pharmacist, but honestly, the thing that really drove me to medicine was that you have a lot of tools, but it’s not enough tools. your tool box is not full enough,” he said.
the 29-year-old found pharmacy was restricting in ailments he could treat and medications he could prescribe.
“you just feel bad when you have to turn them away and you know that they’re going to have to go to the emergency room and may have to wait quite a bit,” pan said.
“i just have that personality where i want to help someone if they’re in need.”
munday, meanwhile, was working as a nurse and found the career fulfilling. the 31-year-old worked in vancouver, calgary and kingston before being encouraged by a superior to apply for sfu’s new medical school.
“i looked at the requirements, and i was surprised and shocked to see that i could apply for the inaugural cohort, and here i am today,” munday said.
munday had applied for other medical schools years ago but was unsuccessful in getting into any programs in canada, so she went into nursing instead.
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“i think it was always lingering in the back of my mind of the scope of the practice, the amount of help that you can provide to people,” munday said.
“in my experience as a nurse, i really i loved it. i have a profound and deep respect for nurses, and i think i always wear that, and it’ll always be a part of me, but i think i was wanting a little bit more breadth of scope, and so that’s why i wanted to come into this role now.”
with files from joseph ruttle
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