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 2024 graduates and learn more about what’s next for them.
Helene Morakis
Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
The opportunity to learn patients’ unique stories, the fast pace and the variety of work.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
Every shift brings many learning opportunities and it is important to have a growth mindset.
What’s next for you?
I am looking forward to working full time at Royal Columbian Hospital and Eagle Ridge Hospital’s Emergency Departments, as well as pursuing my outdoor interests.
Jamie Ward
Hometown: Victoria, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
I enjoy the frontline nature of emergency medicine and the ability to make a major positive impact in patient’s lives..
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
I’ve learned that medicine is a lifelong journey of learning and growth, and the importance of finding balance in that with life outside of work.
What’s next for you?
I will be continuing at the Victoria General and Royal Jubilee Hospitals as a new staff.
Kelly Huang
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
Honestly, I went into emergency medicine because I simply loved it. I love the people who work in it, the variety of patients, the fact that you have no idea what will come through the door. I go to work everyday excited to see what it will bring me; what more can you ask for?
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
That it’s important to stay curious, humble, and ask for help. Medicine is weird and wonderful, and I am surrounded by friends and colleagues who know more and have seen more than I have.
What’s next for you?
I am excited to continue to work at VGH and see all my friends at work. And I will also work at Burnaby Hospital!
Kerry Spearing
Hometown: Kelowna, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
I fell in love with the speciality during clerkship. I love the variety, the pace, and most of all the people who choose to work in the emergency department.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
Emergency medicine is awesome, but you can’t go about it alone. Community and family are what make good doctors thrive. I hope to never loose perspective of that.
What’s next for you?
With residency behind me I am striving for a better work/life balance. I hope to spend more time with my two incredible kids (ages 2 and 4), and my husband. I am working in the Okanagan and really enjoying my time at Kelowna and Vernon hospitals.
Kia Dullemond
Hometown: Pitt Meadows, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
The people I met working in EM felt like my people. Feeling like I could manage the acute part of any emergency was a huge draw.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
An encounter you could forget in a week can stay with a patient and their family forever.
What’s next for you?
Excited to be working in Emergency Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital.
Qadeem Salehmohamed
Hometown: Surrey, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
To practice real medicine. To have the knowledge and decision-making skills to take undifferentiated patients to a diagnosis.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
“It’s not about being right; it’s about doing the right thing.” – Dr. Jake Onrot
What’s next for you?
I’ll be starting a critical care fellowship in Calgary, Alberta.
Xin Mei Liu
Hometown: Montreal, Quebec
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
Meeting people from all walks of life in the ER and being able to support them in the way they need. From a lifestyle perspective, I like the flexibility of EM.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
In addition to how to do emergency medicine: I learned from incredible mentors (Drs. Niresha Velmurugiah, Anne Sutherland, and Heather Lindsay only to name a few) how to create systemic change through leadership, advocacy, and education.
What’s next for you?
I will be practicing emergency medicine at Vancouver General Hospital and Saint Paul’s Hospital. I will be continuing my Clinical Educator Fellowship at UBC and Master of Health Professions Education at Maastricht University throughout 2024-2025.
Kiran Rikhraj
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
The Emergency Department is the great equalizer of society – no matter who you are or where you can from, you may end up in the ED one day. I love being able to care for patients from all walks of life with a variety of presenting complaints. I am thankful that I get to talk to patients, get to know a bit about who they are and help them through what is sometimes the most stressful and trying time of their lives.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
A listening ear goes a long way. Be there for your friends, your coresidents, your colleagues and your staff and they will be there for you. We are all in this together and life doesn’t stop for residency.
What’s next for you?
I will be staying at UBC for my Intensive Care Medicine fellowship over the next 2 years and am excited to continue working with the amazing people I’ve met throughout residency, albeit in a different way.
Colin Sedgwick
Hometown: Victoria, British Columbia
What inspired you to pursue emergency medicine?
The ability to handle any patient presentation.
What is the most important thing you learned in the residency program?
The perfect caffeine schedule on shift.
What’s next for you?
Working in EDs on Vancouver Island!
For more information about the UBC RCPSC-EM Residency Program, please visit our program website.
