In my 32 years at UBC, all of which has been in the Faculty of Medicine, I have come across hundreds of students going through departments who have gone onto successful careers. Staff within the departments play a vital role in the success of a department which includes teaching programs, research and service. As a woman in the field of medicine, it gives me pleasure to be part of this success. As staff members, we have contributed towards to the teaching of medical, dental, and other health related programs. In fact, my family physician is a former student of the Honours Cellular, Anatomical, and Physiological Sciences program. It makes me proud to see our former graduate students moving onto professional ranks including research careers.
We have one life to live, and having contributed to someone’s success is a great honour. I feel truly blessed to be part of an academic environment full of future leaders, doctors, nurses, and numerous other health related practitioners.
As a teenager, I always dreamed of being a medical professional. However, coming from a third-world country, growing up in poverty, I never had the opportunity or the support to pursue my dreams. The understanding was that moderate education for women was enough. Gone are the dark ages and things have evolved so much now, especially being in a great country, as a woman, I feel the world is changing at a reasonable pace where women’s roles are revolutionized. With the shift towards gender parity, it is inspiring to see the advancement of women in the field of medicine which shows that there are fewer barriers, something that wasn’t a social norm even when I first started at UBC back in 1987. Now, all you need is to have the background, motivation and the desire to be what you wish to be. We need more female health care professionals!