The UBC Department of Emergency Medicine would like to congratulate our outgoing residents as they celebrate their achievements and look ahead to the next stage of their careers in emergency medicine! Meet our 2023 graduates and learn more about what’s next for them.
Brad Stebner
Hometown: Fort McMurray, Alberta
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
The acuity and broad scope of practice is what initially drew me to emergency medicine but I stayed for the awesome people and team environment.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
The most important thing that I have learned is that emergency medicine is a lifelong learning opportunity. Even the brightest and most skilled physicians that I look up to are always trying to grow and learn from patients, cases, and each other. Staying humble and keeping a growth mindset will lead to a long and successful career.
What’s next for you?
I am excited to be staying in Kelowna as a staff physician and enjoying the Okanagan with my wife and four kids.
Holly Sherman
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
I truly fell in love with emergency medicine’s fast pace, the ability to work in a team environment and the opportunity to truly make a difference in patients’ and families lives through their emergency department experience.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
In residency, you get out what you put in and there’s always a learning opportunity in every experience.
What’s next for you?
I will be continuing my emergency medicine journey at Vancouver General Hospital and BC Children’s Hospital. I am thrilled to be continuing my passions for both adult and pediatric emergency medicine in the community I grew up in.
Sean Patrick
Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
I enjoy the variety of the work, the people I work with, and the flexibility of the job.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
Stay grounded, and medicine isn’t everything.
What’s next for you?
I’ll be working full time in Lethbridge, Alberta and looking forward to having more time to pursue my interests outside of work.
Sean Nugent
Hometown: Duncan, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
I was initially drawn to the fast-paced, team environment I think from my prior team sport experiences. The variety continues to keep me interested and constantly learning. I think also having mentors early on who were emergency medicine residents or staff helped me solidify that EM was for me.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
That your life priorities will shift many times throughout residency and that is okay. Some times you will have to sacrifice certain aspects to focus on others, but make sure to refocus on what you truly enjoy after that time.
What’s next for you?
Working full time in emergency medicine, and as a locum with the trauma service at Kelowna General Hospital.
Katie Maguire
Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
I was inspired to pursue emergency medicine by the excellent clinical physicians at the University of Manitoba.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
During residency, I loved learning to work with medical students and other residents, working as a team, and learning from one another.
What’s next for you?
I am so excited to start work as an emergency physician at the Royal Columbian Hospital, Eagle Ridge Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital.
Shari Li
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
When I started shadowing emerg docs in med school, I found that the time flew by and I felt at home among my people. I love that we get to work with a true cross-section of humanity and have unparalleled variety in the cases we see.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
We are all capable of growing in ways we didn’t know we could.
What’s next for you?
I’m stoked to start working at Vancouver General Hospital while also locuming at Royal Columbian Hospital and Lions Gate Hospital!
Kira Gossack-Keenan
Hometown: Chelsea, Quebec
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
The variety of patient presentations. You’re always dealing with different issues and never know what the day might bring. Also really appreciate the flexibility of the work.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
So important to meet patients where they’re at and advocate for our more vulnerable patients. At the same time, we need to look after our own well being as well as that of our co-workers.
What’s next for you?
Finishing up geriatric emergency medicine fellowship, and will be working at Vancouver General Hospital’s Emergency Department.
Matt Douglas-Vail
Hometown: Meaford, Ontario
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
The breadth and variety.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
To be the kind of doctor I hope my family would see in the emergency department.
What’s next for you?
Full-time staff position at Vancouver General Hospital, continuing to work in global health, spending time with my partner and family, and riding my bike.
Michelle Chuang
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
The excitement, the variety, the impact, and most importantly, the connections and people.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
Stay grounded, and stay humble. There is so much to medicine, far more than a single person can ever know, and at the same time, there is so much more to life than just medicine.
What’s next for you?
Working at Royal Columbian Hospital amongst the amazing people who trained me, while concurrently finishing my second residency in anesthesia. Just a few more years and a Royal College pop quiz until I become one of few dual FRCPC Emergency Medicine and Anesthesia physicians in Canada.
Brandon Chau
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
Honestly the people. You see the most incredible and resilient colleagues who know when to buckle down and focus, and when to relax and have fun both at work and at social events.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
Relax, it’ll all work out. Find a way to enjoy every step of residency because, like CaRMS, it might not always be fun but you’ll look fondly back on it someday.
What’s next for you?
Travel, get married, raise kids. You know, the good life.
Sam Brophy
Hometown: Victoria, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
Before medical school, I worked as a paramedic with the BC Ambulance Service. Working this job helped me experience the privilege of supporting someone in their time of crisis and panic. I was inspired to pursue emergency medicine by the unique blend of adrenaline, challenge, and opportunity to make an immediate impact on people’s lives. The fast-paced nature of the field, the wide variety of cases encountered, and the ability to work as part of a dynamic team all drew me in.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
The UBC Emergency Medicine residency program had a clear focus on developing all aspects of what makes a great physician. The residency program taught me an incredible amount of medical knowledge, but also helped me to become a better colleague, teacher, and person. Having complete strangers put their faith and trust in you when they are at their most scared and vulnerable is an incredible honour that comes with immense responsibility. I believe the UBC EM residency has prepared me well to assume this responsibility.
What’s next for you?
Along with working as an emergency physician, I will be entering into a pain medicine fellowship, focusing on interventional procedures to help patients with chronic pain alleviate their symptoms. I look forward to finding innovative ways to share skills and knowledge between these two complex fields of medicine.
Brendan Arnold
Hometown: Campbell River, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
I first became inspired to pursue emergency med during my MSI3 rotation in emergency medicine in Kelowna. I loved the acuity, the variety and directly working as part of health care professionals. My interest really took off when I did a rotation in LA County for surgical critical care, which had a heavy EM influence. I knew emergency medicine was the field for me.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
Of course, we learn all sorts of amazing medicine and technical procedures during residency, but I think the most important thing I learned in residency was how to better effectively lead and communicate within a team of health care professionals. I think it’s part of the job I enjoy the most now. I’ve also learned a ton about myself and I feel like I’m a much more confident and developed person since starting residency.
What’s next for you?
I’m staying in Vancouver and will be working at the same hospital I’ve been training at – the Royal Columbian Hospital! I will also be locuming for trauma at Abbotsford Regional Hospital and doing small locums in smaller towns up north and on the Island.
For more information about the UBC RCPSC-EM Residency Program, please visit our program website.
