Resident Physician of the Month

During the month of June, we are recognizing two resident physicians.

Dr. Alison Marshall
Pediatric Neurology
University of Calgary

Originally from Surrey, BC, I completed my undergrad degree in plant biology at UBC, moved to Alberta for my MSc at the U of A, before completing my western Canadian university tour and settling in Calgary for medical school and residency in pediatric neurology. Growing up in B.C. fostered my love of the outdoors including camping and hiking. My friends and I are determined to find every patio in Calgary that is dog friendly, but we are yet to find one that will let me bring my cat, Perseus (Percy for short). My favourite holiday is Halloween because I love costumes, SFX makeup and body painting (and candy). I am deeply honoured by this nomination and thankful for all the colleagues, mentors, patients and their families that I have learned from throughout residency.

A colleague shared this about  Dr. Marshall: 

"Alison recently finished a term as Chief Resident for her Pediatric Neurology program. During her time as Chief, she advocated strongly for her co-resident physicians to ensure that they received equitable benefits when compared to similar programs. In dual academic and administrative roles, she coordinated a successful redesign of the program’s Academic Half Day, organized a popular workshop on palliative care and single-handedly made a successful resident physician wellness retreat in the mountains happen. Alison is well known throughout the department for her sunny ways and is always available to share a joke, as well as lend an ear. She is quick to establish rapport with her patients, to the point that she was once told by an adolescent patient that she is "so cool." Alison recently published a comprehensive review on treatment-resistant migraine, and plans to continue her training after residency with a fellowship focusing on Headache and Functional Neurology."

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Dr. Warren Sun
General Surgery
University of Alberta

Originally born and raised in Toronto, it only took nine years to consider myself an Albertan finally! I have been living in Edmonton since moving here for medical school, after completing my undergrad in biochemistry and chemical engineering in Ottawa. Now as I am wrapping up my residency in General Surgery at the U of A and preparing to move back to Toronto for a fellowship in Advanced Minimally-Invasive and Bariatric Surgery, I can say that it’s true when they say “the days are long, but the years are short.” I am so grateful for training in such a strong program with amazing mentors and co-resident physicians.
 
Outside of the OR, you can find me exploring restaurants around the city with my fiancée. She has been such a tremendous support through a busy residency, all while completing her own as well. Uccellino is our go-to celebration spot. I also love my Toronto Raptors and will hopefully be able to catch another championship run soon.
 
Thank you to PARA and my co-resident physicians for nominating me for this honour!

Colleagues shared this about  Dr. Sun:

"We are so excited about nominating Warren Sun, a PGY-5 in General Surgery, as the PARA Resident Physician of the Month. We believe that this award is the perfect way to acknowledge Warren’s remarkable achievements during his time in residency.

First, being a Lead resident physician in General Surgery comes with its own set of challenges. It is an immense responsibility to take care of a large team of surgical patients every day. The typical day starts with patient rounds at 6 a.m., before the official start of the day in the operating room. A good Lead knows how to balance good patient care, with junior colleague teaching, all the while maintaining their own well-being.

Warren consistently achieves this difficult balance in his daily routine. For example, he leads the team efficiently in the morning to finish rounds before the OR start – which then allows them to have time for “morning team coffee” and teaching. He prepares teaching topics relevant to all his trainees – from medical students to junior resident physicians. In the operating room, he regularly goes above and beyond to advocate for his junior colleagues to participate in the surgeries – instead of simply observing in the OR. This level of advocacy can be difficult to balance with time efficiencies required in the typical OR day.

However, while most senior surgical resident physicians share similar responsibilities, what makes Warren the most deserving of the award is that he shares his knowledge and devotes his time with patience, kindness and compassion. By default, he creates a positive learning environment for his colleagues to learn and strive in. This is such a crucial part of the changing surgical landscape and thereby sets an example for his junior resident physicians. Many view him as a role model. In addition, he is a great consultant for other specialties – he is always polite, thoughtful and informative on the phone and in-person. This is an excellent quality to have in a consultant to help foster multidisciplinary care for the patients.

Beyond trying to create a positive learning environment for his junior resident physicians, he has also been acknowledged as an outstanding resident physician from the medical students rotating through general surgery. Without breaking into his computer to “copy and paste” the student evaluations he has received, we can summarize to say that his evaluation also speaks to his kind-hearted nature. The medical students consistently comment on how Warren welcomes them to be part of the surgical team, which in turn helps to foster their passion for medicine. Warren has not only been part of informal student teaching as a Lead resident physician, but also contributes to teaching clerkship lectures, suturing courses and mentorship of medical students through the many numerous research projects he spearheaded during residency.

In conclusion, we wish to nominate Warren as he is a remarkable individual who deserves recognition for his accomplishments, but mostly importantly his kindness towards others.

The Resident Physician of the Month Award is meant to recognize and reward outstanding resident physicians who make exceptional contributions in their academic field while still maintaining their work/life balance. 

Interested in nominating someone? Fill out the  Resident Physician of the Month Award form.