BHSc Alumni Spotlight

What is your favorite BHSc memory?

My favourite memory from my time in the BHSc program (2005-2009) was being introduced to the field of medical anthropology by Dr. Charles Mather. It was the beginning of a deep dive for me into the field and one that continues to today. I also had the great fortune of meeting Dr. Mather who is a phenomenal instructor and became a very dear mentor (and subsequent graduate supervisor) and friend of mine. The four courses I did with him during my BHSc helped paved the path for that degree as well as all subsequent research and, largely, my outlook, perspective, and approach to thinking and interacting with the world around and within me. Big ups to Chuck.

Looking back, what advice would you give yourself as a student?

My first few years in Calgary were challenging. Partly, I was concerned with timelines and deadlines and not wanting to delay or postpone or extend my time in my undergraduate training. Funny enough, I was also run over by an SUV a week before the start of my second year, which delayed the start of that year by some weeks. Maybe it helped teach some lessons, in its own way. As I have grown older and experienced more, I realise the futility and needlessness of that worry and concern. Luckily, I had good success with my BHSc program and throughout all my training despite a few rather major setbacks. That said, one piece I would advise my former self on is around furthering my practice of patience.

What is the best thing about your current job?

There are many aspects of my current work that I enjoy and find satisfying. One part that stands out is that I can understand and see my ongoing training and practice as a direct continuation of the path that I have been walking since my BHSc (and even before). I love that continuity and that I have meandered endlessly and yet am still with focus on that which I am pursuing. Tied to this is a lifelong practice and cultivation of exploring health, well-being, and medicine and caring for others. In my current role, I have the great opportunity to do this in a real-time, intimate way.

How has your career evolved?

I conducted research along many different lines for years following graduating from the BHSc program. I went immediately into a Masters degree program in anthropology, also at the University of Calgary. It was fruitful, challenging, and two of my favourite years of learning. Afterwards, I left academia for some years and worked initially as a Child & Youth Worker for Enviros, a residential environmental experiential therapy program for youth in Calgary and area. I began with Enviros while in my Masters program. Following that, I came to work for a consulting business with a base in Calgary. I was one of their senior leads conducting Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Land Use Studies as part of the Environmental Assessment process for proposed development within Canada. I was taught by many Indigenous Elders across Canada translating their Nations’ knowing and ways of being in the face of development. I learned much from them and had many invaluable field trips on the land with them: walking, searching, learning, and connecting.

In 2013, I became a professional mountain athlete and have had great support by numerous sponsors. I have been sponsored for a decade by The North Face and Smartwool. Over the years, I have had other sponsors supporting my training, travel, racing, and competing in trail and ultrarunning, ski mountaineering, and climbing. These sponsors have included Tecnica and Blizzard (for skiing), Petzl (for climbing and all things mountain), CLIF Bar, Xact Nutrition, Julbo Eyewear, and Coros. I’ve had many amazing expeditions around the world to run, ski, climb, and explore.

In 2014, I began a combined PhD/MD program at the UofC. My PhD – as a was my Master before it – was in the discipline of anthropology. I conducted a worldwide ethnography of extreme long-distance runners, called ultrarunners. I included more than 3,600 people in my project from 36 countries. I completed my doctorate in 2019 and began medical school that summer. Medical school finished this past spring, in 2022. I am currently a half year through a residency in rural Family Medicine out of the University of Alberta. I am based predominantly in Red Deer, AB. I will spend much of the two-year residency in rural and small communities, including Red Deer, Wetaskiwin, Rocky Mountain House, Grande Prairie, Ponoka, Jasper, Yellowknife, Whitehorse, and communities in Nunavut. This work in clinical medicine is paralleled by continued research and consulting work, with much focus on Indigenous medicine, health, tradition, and our ongoing work in the path of truth and reconciliation.

Currently, I am most excited about upcoming research projects and an early-2023 trip to Australia and New Zealand, in which I will join two Indigenous Elders from Edmonton and a documentary film duo, to visit with local Indigenous Elders and other Elders from different Indigenous communities around the world for a project facilitating further ways to promote and step more fully into the process and engagement of truth and reconciliation in Canada. The project is in conjunction with the United Nations and Initiatives of Change.

How did your BHSc degree help you get to where you are now/current career?

In a word, I would say wholly.

My BHSc degree has helped direct the path of learning, research, and clinical work I have and am pursuing. It helped lay my foundation for critical thought, curiosity, and research. These are pursuits that I have continued since first coming to the BHSc program in the fall of 2005. I believe that all my subsequent pursuits, including multiple graduate and medical degrees, as well as work in government and private sectors have been fully informed and influenced by the dedicated and focused study of the vast world of health and society. Further, as everyone does during any degree, I met so many wonderful people and many are friends and mentors whom I am grateful to still have in my life today.

What is the best piece of advice you have received during your career journey?

This was first shared with me in the fall of 2008: The buffalo is one of only two animals that will steadfastly walk through to the other side in the face of an oncoming storm.