Dr. Noman Hassan (centre), Chief General Surgery Resident, and Dr. Vivek Patel (far right), who is a fourth-year general surgery resident, say Niagara Health has been the ideal place to hone their skills as physicians. They are seen here with year-three resident Dr. Lukas Shum-Tim (far left), Dr. Ryan Fielding, Program Director, and Dr. Yashita Upadhyaya.
Dr. Noman Hassan is experiencing all the symptoms of a resident nearing the end of training and about to embark on a career.
“You feel relief that the end is coming, that there is a world out there full of opportunities,” Dr. Hassan says. “There’s excitement and there’s anxiety – anxiety about how I’ll adjust in the population and the community I’ll serve.”
Nearly five years since graduating from McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine – Niagara Regional Campus (Mac NRC) and starting his residency in general surgery at Niagara Health, Dr. Hassan is also feeling confident in his skills in the operating room.
He attributes that to the learning environment at Niagara Health. Over the past five years, Dr. Hassan has advanced to chief resident. He’s participated in electives that took him to Pakistan with a team of interventional cardiologists from Western University, and to Whitehorse, YT, where he saw the limitations of healthcare in remote communities.
Through it all, he says he’s honed his surgical skills in a way that no other residency program would have allowed.
Niagara Health is home to Canada’s only community-based general surgery residency training program, offering residents a strong focus on hands-on learning and clinical experience. With extensive interaction with staff physicians, many of whom are also Mac faculty, residents receive a high level of mentorship and support. Through it all, residents also play a vital role by contributing to patient care.
“I’ve gone through multiple communities in the country and after assessing objectively, we have something very unique,” Dr. Hassan says. “Everyone is supportive to let us flourish to the best of our abilities. You have the ability to explore the different subspecialties and pick up diverse surgical skills to be a competent surgeon.”
"The opportunities you get to develop your skills are unparalleled across the country. You’re not competing with fellows or the burden of lots of other learners."
This week, Niagara Health joins hospitals across Canada in recognizing the invaluable contributions of residents during Resident Appreciation Week, which runs Feb. 10 to 14.
Currently, 43 resident physicians are training at Niagara Health. Residents are doctors who have completed medical school and are continuing with specialized training. In Canada, residencies can last three to seven years, depending on the focus. The general surgery residency at Niagara Health spans five years.
“Residents are not merely learners. Their role shapes our service to the community,” says Dr. Rafi Setrak, Niagara Health Academic Lead and Regional Chief of Emergency Medicine. “They provide service, educate other learners, and constitute an integral part of our teams as a community academic hospital. Most importantly, they are the future of healthcare – not just in abstracts. They are the physicians who will work alongside us soon, eventually replace us, and, eventually, take care of us.”
That future is already taking shape for Dr. Vivek Patel, who will step into the chief resident after Dr. Hassan.
In just four years as a resident, Dr. Patel has had a significant impact, not only on patient care but beyond the operating room as well. He contributed important insights from the learner perspective to the implementation of the new Hospital Information System.
“I could speak to Dr. (Ben) Tam, (Digital Strategy Physician Lead), directly, saying these are the problems we’re having, or say to Dr. Stephanie Phillips, (Surgical Site Lead), these are the things we need as learners, and they’re very good at getting it for you,” says Dr. Patel, who is in his fourth year of residency training and is currently on an elective in Kingston.
Dr. Patel studied at McMaster’s Waterloo Regional Campus, but chose Mac NRC for his residency after touring programs across the country and recognizing the unique learning opportunities it offered, including being able to participate in surgery from the very start.
“I wanted to be a general surgeon when I was done. The opportunities you get to develop your skills are unparalleled across the country. You’re not competing with fellows or the burden of lots of other learners,” he says. “Surgery is about repetition and gaining confidence. Because I’ve been doing that from Day One, I don’t feel that as a (fourth-year resident) or chief, I have to operate my brains out to get that confidence.”
Although residency training can demand long hours, Dr. Patel says he’s always felt supported by Niagara Health and Mac NRC staff in balancing his professional and personal lives. They’ve helped him with everything from ensuring he doesn’t miss his own healthcare appointments to helping him arrange electives so he can focus entirely on learning.
“It takes a village to train a doctor and surgeon, so having a village that’s supportive and has your back makes you feel like you can conquer every day with a smile,” he says. “That’s been there my whole residency training.”
