Division History, 2003–2013
One Blue Chip at a Time
Despite its start-up challenges, the Calgary respiratory program never seemed to have any trouble attracting quality candidates or students.
One of the program’s first trainees went on to become the head of pulmonary and critical care at the Calgary General Hospital before taking on the role of head of ICU at the Foothills Medical Centre. Dr. Dean Sandham eventually became the first Department Head of Critical Care Medicine for the Calgary Health Region and the Faculty of Medicine, and later the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba.
Dr. Chris Mody, (Division Head 2003 –2013) remembers coming on board as an intern in 1981. He jokes it was the skiing that lured him but, upon further reflection, recalls an excitement that was hard to resist.
“Calgary had a young, dynamic, can-do attitude that shone through,” he says. “And the faculty seemed so much more enthusiastic than others I’d experienced.”
In fact, the newly minted Respiratory Division took off under the leadership of Whitelaw, due to his focus on attracting competent and compatible colleagues from across Canada and around the world. For two decades (1978–1997) as Division Head, it was his goal to bring in only those that fit the team. As Guenter points out, it was still a relatively small division so there was no room for competing egos and combative personalities.
One who didn’t enter the division head role kicking and screaming was Chris Mody. “I thought it (the role of Division Head) would be an opportunity to move the division to the next level in expertise and cutting edge clinical care. I thought maybe it was an opportunity for me to give something back.”
Before taking on the lead role, Mody spent years focusing his research and career path on the study of infectious lung diseases, thanks to a well-timed inspirational conversation with Dr. Guenter early in his working life. That conversation influenced everything from how Mody would mentor new residents to how he carried out his role as the division chief.
“During my training we had a discussion one day about whether I would choose a research path that aligned with my skills or one that aligned with my interests,” says Mody. Guenter said, “Pick interest. Every time.” I had a special affinity for respirology and although I entertained the idea of other disciplines, none of them exceeded the interest I had in respirology.”
I thought maybe it was an opportunity for me to give something back.
Dr. Chris Mody
To pursue his interest Mody left Calgary in the late 1980’s to study with experts in Dallas and Michigan. It was there that his research career was launched. The experience was transformative in many respects. At one point while in Dallas, Mody recalls a pulmonary fellow coming to him for advice on a patient. Mody reviewed the case and asked the fellow why he hadn’t measured the patient’s lung volume, a piece of information that would have been critical to the decisions of care back in Calgary.
“That piece of information wasn’t available in Dallas,” Mody recalls. “Well, let’s just say I was outside of my comfort zone. I called Dr. Whitelaw in Calgary and said I couldn’t imagine practicing pulmonary medicine this way. He convinced me that there are multiple ways to make decisions about patients, then encouraged me to learn the Dallas skillset because it would make me a better and stronger clinician.”
In that moment of mentorship, Mody came to understand one of the most valuable lessons of his career. That, while it may be risky to send a promising young doctor away for training because they may not come back, it is also essential.
When Mody took over as Division Head in 2003, he introduced the Advanced Pulmonary Fellowship, a program aimed at encouraging young medical trainees to do exactly what he did: leave.
“We said to trainees, ‘If you want to stay in Calgary, we want you to go to the best place in the world for the thing you’re interested in, learn how to do it from the best people in the world, and then come back,’” he recounts. “Frequently, the response was, ‘Well if I do that, I might not come back.’ And we said that was okay. And almost all did come back to Calgary.”
In each category of disease in pulmonary medicine we basically had a world expert.
Dr. Chris Mody
Mody says the aim of the program is to give trainees the chance to pursue their passion in a way that will continue to inspire them throughout their careers.
“It was an incredibly valuable tool for training,” he says. “But especially for recruitment of individuals to the division in Calgary, not only because people came back but because they had trained with world experts. So in each category of disease in pulmonary medicine we basically had a world expert.”
After a decade at the helm of the division, Mody went on to become Head of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Disease, a position he holds to this day. And so, it was Richard Leigh’s turn to take over the lead job.