Jeptha Davenport

Biography

I am a neurologist, a medical doctor focused on the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the nervous system.  As a kid, I wanted to try to help people and to learn how the brain works.  This has involved a lot of learning on my part, and I have been working on both of those areas since I moved to Calgary with my family in 2008.   Part of a physician’s privilege is to teach new physicians, and I got a big boost in being able to do that through a unique program at the University of Calgary, now called the Teaching Excellence in Medical Education Program, in 2014, when I spent every other Friday for a year learning better ways of teaching.  I was proud to be recognized with a jersey from the University of Calgary medical students graduating class of 2016 (Narwhals).  Also through my connection to the Cumming School of Medicine teaching community, I made several trips to Tajikistan, in Central Asia, to work with medical educators there as they re-designed their own medical education system.  

In 2016 -17, I moved with my family on sabbatical and completed a Master’s of Science degree in Medical Humanities at King’s College London, UK, with a thesis on the hard problem of consciousness.  Life as a doctor can seem serious, but I have also taken time about every five years to connect with people in other countries in a different way, as part of a clown troupe including professional clowns as well as amateurs (like me) from around the world, with whom I have so far travelled to Russia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Morocco.