Resident Physician of the Month

During the month of May, we are recognizing two resident physicians:

Dr. Kyra Armstrong, Rural Family Medicine
University of  Calgary

I grew up in Cranbrook, BC with my parents, Chris and Kathryn, and younger brother, Noah. After high school, I moved to Kelowna to complete my undergraduate studies in biochemistry through UBC Okanagan. After my undergraduate studies, I moved to Lethbridge, where I worked as a research assistant in a lab working in wheat and corn genetics before heading back to Kelowna to complete my medical school training through UBC’s distributed site Southern Medical Program. After medical school, rural family medicine was a very easy choice for me and I was lucky enough to match to the University of Calgary’s rural family medicine program based out of Medicine Hat, where I am currently a second-year resident.

Within medicine, I love the day-to-day variety and excitement that comes with rural generalist work and have special interests in mental health and addiction medicine, as well as palliative care. Outside of medicine, I enjoy camping, fishing, reading, jogging and spending time with my husband, Jordan, and our dog, Rosco. I’m very grateful to have spent the last six months in beautiful Crowsnest Pass, where I have felt very well supported at work but also have been able to do so many of the activities I love within a few minutes of the end of my workday.

A special thanks to all my amazing co-residents, the rural site coordinators and our site directors for making the program such a incredibly positive experience, to all the patients I have had the privilege to learn from and care for, to PARA for recognizing and advocating for residents in our province, and to Jordan, our family, and our friends for all their support through the last many years!

A colleague shared this about Dr. Armstrong:

"Dr. Kyra Armstrong is a co-lead resident for the University of Calgary’s Rural Family Medicine Program and has been a fierce advocate for resident well-being, since being elected to her leadership role in June 2024. Not only is she a hard hard-working (and high-achieving) physician, but her work as lead resident is always underpinned by her desire to help support her fellow residents on a personal and professional level. Through her leadership efforts, she has advocated for the prioritization of in-person academics sessions, as we are often geographically spread out all throughout Central and Southern Alberta during our residency training. Additionally, she has been working hard to ensure the program is abiding by the Agreement when it comes to the distribution of rotation schedules and call shifts; thus, she ensure residents have time to take care of themselves and their families outside of their medical careers. Fellow co-residents, site directors, and administration coordinators have greatly appreciated the time and effort Dr. Armstrong has invested to improve our program and empower residents to become competent and caring physicians. She is an irreplaceable asset to the program, and we are incredibly fortunate to have such a strong advocate among our resident cohort!"

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Dr. Ryan (Hanjie) Zhu, Adult Neurology
University of  Alberta

Having moved to Canada when I was seven, I have spent most of my life in Calgary including having finished my undergraduate studies in Neurosciences at the University of Calgary. Needless to say, first moving to Edmonton in 2018 for medical school was initially daunting but I’ve quickly grown extremely fond of Alberta’s capital city and its charms, Oilers and all.

Despite my initial plans to not immediately gravitate toward neurology (after all, how cliché would it be for a neuroscience undergrad to pursue neurology), I’m so glad to have discovered the world of clinical neurology at the University of Alberta. On my elective here, the collegiality amongst the residents and dedication to their patients even during trying COVID times opened my eyes and I’ve been privileged to have joined them in 2022. Since then, I have aimed to continue in fostering the resident culture that they have built up.

On my days off, I can be found surveying the Edmonton food scene with my wife, enjoying a movie night with our cat Pebbles (image included), or hanging out with my co-residents in trivia and/or tabletop gaming.

I want to offer my thanks to my co-residents, my mentors, and my family for their boundless support in my journey through residency, and I am humbled to have been recognized by my peers and PARA with this award.

A colleague shared this about Dr. Zhu:

"Ryan is an amazing co-resident, excellent neurologist and loyal friend. His incredible diligence and attention to detail are unprecedented. Early in residency, his patients recognized his unique qualities including his quiet leadership and gentle nature, which truly set him apart. He has taken initiative to consistently work towards the betterment of his patients. When he has questions, he deliberately carves out time in his busy day to ask, even if that means coming early or staying late to debrief a difficult case or brainstorm solutions to a complex problem. Over the last years in residency, it has been a pleasure watching him grow as a mentor and leader in the program and we are looking forward to seeing everything he accomplishes as he transitions into the role of a senior resident!

Ryan is one of the hardest working residents I have come across with a work ethic second to none. He is always willing to lend a helping hand on service and despite a busy night on-call, he makes it a point to stay back until all remaining tasks are completed. After one such night, I thought he had already gone home and then realized later that he had stayed and made calls to radiology first thing in the morning to make sure important scans were prioritized. As mentioned in the nomination above, he has a quiet and gentle leadership style. He strikes a great balance between knowing when to listen and seek counsel versus when to make important decisions. As someone who strikes a great balance between his personal and professional life, he has been a great mentor for those junior to him. Through this nomination, we wanted to let Ryan know how much the program appreciates him."

Thank you to everyone who has submitted nominations for the Resident of the Month award! We have received an overwhelming number of nominations and are temporarily pausing new submissions at this time.
 
We appreciate your enthusiasm in recognizing the incredible work of your colleagues. Stay tuned for updates as we process the current nominations.
 
If you have any questions, please contact Ravneet Sekhon.