There was a festive mood as residents, faculty and VMDAS members gathered for our inaugural Resident Physicians Recognition & Appreciation Event on May 29th at Vancouver General Hospital. In any given day, 400 of the over 800 residents working in Vancouver Acute rotate through VGH. Fifty-one of them were nominated by department and division leaders, medical staff members, and allied health and administrative staff for their outstanding contributions. This was a landmark event: the first time in the history of residency training that a BC health authority and a medical staff association have given thanks to residents as valued health-care professionals. You can view a video of the event here.

In the words of Dr. Eric Yoshida, VMDAS past president and a catalyst for the event, “This is the first—and hopefully first of many—resident recognition events.”

VCH Senior Medical Director Dr. Vinay Dhingra was another advocate for physician resident recognition. He recalled his first rotation at VGH and emphasized that no one ever forgets the intensity of being a resident.

“There are many firsts to cherish, but also the exhaustion,” he said. “There are many emotional highs and lows and it’s important that we’re here today to recognize all aspects of care including high-level service, dedication, patient advocacy, professionalism, and collegiality. At the end of the day, patient care is a team effort and how well the team works together.”

VMDAS President Dr. Alison Harris echoed these thoughts, adding, “Thank you for your daily dedication to patient care and advocacy. Our teams wouldn’t function without our residents.”

Drs. Sonia Butterworth and Ravi Sidhu, the assistant and associate deans at UBC Faculty of Medicine Postgraduate Medical Education, also had the opportunity to make remarks.

“This has been an exciting and energizing event,” said Dr. Sidhu, who noted he had never attended such an event before. “This is a powerful time of transition from being a student to, in a few years’ time, having people put their lives into your hands. It can be very stressful, and we appreciate the commitment by VCH leadership to make a difference and to recognize the role residents play.”

“This responsive leadership and leaning in comes at a time when people are struggling with clinical workloads,” added Dr. Butterworth. “It’s a privilege to work with residents—you are an inspiration, and you benefit our patients in many ways. It’s wonderful to be here to celebrate your outstanding contributions.”

Attendees also heard from Tak Yukawa, a founding board member of the Mas Yukawa Foundation and brother to Mas Yukawa. He presented Drs. Yoshida and Harris as well as VPSA Operations Director Andrew Pinfold with the 2023 Dr. Masaru Yukawa Award for Innovation in Workplace Wellness. It was this award that funded the inaugural Physicians Recognition & Appreciation Event.

“Mas had many achievements as a physician, but he battled with mental illness,” remembered Mr. Yukawa. “The values being recognized here—collegiality, advocacy, professionalism—ring true to our foundation and the need to prioritize your own individual mental health.”

The 51 residents being recognized this year will receive certificates honouring their contributions. Dr. Yoshida concluded the formal part of the evening by suggesting the recipients have them framed and displayed proudly once each has their own office.

Click here to see photos from the event.

Approximately 16 per cent of attendees completed a post-event evaluation survey. 

• 77 per cent agreed or strongly agreed the event improved their perception of Vancouver Acute/Vancouver Community as a place to practice medicine.
• The net promoter score of 92.3 per cent was one of the best scores ever given to one of our events.

The following are the names of the 2023 residents being recognized:

Dr. Iyad Alshihry

Dr. Steven Bae

Dr. Lee Bauer

Dr. Adam Book

Dr. Christina Campbell

Dr. Emilie Chan

Dr. Taylor Crown

Dr. Dan Cusano

Dr. Soma Delai

Dr. Meghan Dmitriew

Dr. Bo Gong

Dr. Travis Gordon

Dr. Simon Hasan

Dr. Angela Hu

Dr. Aro Kan

Dr. Jeff Kenzie

Dr. Sirim Kim

Dr. Naima Kotadia

Dr. Rebecca Kummen

Dr. Phil Leung

Dr. Gabby Levesque

Dr Alexander Levit

Dr. Duncan Maguire

Dr. Peter Mankowski

Dr. Miles Marchand

Dr. Heather McPhaden

Dr. Stephen Miazga

Dr. Devon Mitchell

Dr. Monica Mullin

Dr. James Nugent

Dr. Collin Pryma

Dr. Jacqueline Reid

Dr. Kiran Rikhraj

Dr. Michael Rizzuto

Dr. Leslie Scarffe

Dr. Emma Schon

Dr. Kevin Shopsowitz

Dr. Arsh Sidhu

Dr. Alexandra Silver

Dr. Sarah Simms

Dr. Gurmeet Sohi

Dr. Rebecca Spouge

Dr. Kimberly Stewart

Dr. Alison Sumner

Dr. L. Treanor

Dr. Alice Wang

Dr. Tracee Wee

Dr. Julie Wong

Dr. Eric Jiahua Zhao

Dr Rebecca Zivanovic