council award
ter, we’d have to schlep outside to go to the outhouse.
When I started high school, our family moved to
Edmonton where my father worked for a lumber company. Edmonton was a big cultural shock because I
went from a school where there were 30 kids per grade
to a school where there were 1,000 kids per grade.
Q: What influenced you to choose medicine as a
career?
A: My aunt, my mum’s younger sister was a doctor and
my uncle was a surgeon so they pushed me, especially
my aunt. I don’t know what else attracted me to medicine. I guess because I was good in science and math.
I went to the University of Alberta and did two years of
pre-med. When I went into medical school at the University of Alberta they accepted 120 students and they
had a quota on women so 20 had to be women. They
thought they were being proactive. Can you imagine
having a quota like that nowadays?
Q: Were you a pioneer in deciding to pursue a
surgical specialty at the time?
A: I don’t think I was a pioneer because there were other
women there, but it was exceedingly rare. I was very interested in surgery. When I finished medical school, my
first choice was to go to Vancouver but they didn’t accept
me. I came to Toronto and did a rotating internship at
Toronto General Hospital. The surgeons I worked for
encouraged me. I don’t think there were any females
ahead of me for two or three years and there weren’t
any behind me for two or three years. It’s very different
today. A third or more of our residents are female now.
Q: How did the men in the program react to you?
A: The men in surgery did accept me but there were a
couple of things. First, you had to be better than the
males and secondly, it was a bit difficult because you
couldn’t be too girly or else you’d be put down. But you
couldn’t be too strident either. So it was a balancing act.
But at the time it was hard for male and female surgical
residents. You just worked your butt off the whole time.
It was good. I liked it. I had three really terrific mentors
who really supported me through training and my practice: Dr. Zane Cohen, Dr. Bernie Langer and Dr. David
Sackett.
Q: Why did you decide to subspecialize in
colorectal surgery?
A: I thought it was challenging – the patients had seri-
ous diseases; the surgery was quite complex and there
were lots of new surgical techniques to learn.
Q: What has been the most gratifying part of
your career so far?
A: I really like my surgical career and I really like
working with the surgical residents. I’ve mentored
a lot of residents, especially female residents. That’s
really gratifying. Using the best evidence to give our
patients the best care has been a theme in my career.
I started a program called evidence-based reviews
in surgery sponsored by the Canadian Association
of General Surgeons and the American College of
Surgeons. It was an electronic journal club to teach
surgeons critical appraisal skills.
Q: Do you miss being in the operating room?
A: Yes and no. I was a surgeon for 30 years and I really
loved it. Once a surgeon, always a surgeon. But I’m glad
to have a new challenge here at CCO. I had already
been working in the surgical oncology program at CCO
as surgical lead of quality and knowledge translation for
one-and-a-half days a week since 2007. I didn’t want to
retire from surgery quite this early, but the opportunity
came along.
Q: Your nominators told us you’re a pro at balancing your busy career with your family life.
Who’s in your family?
A: My husband’s name is John Fauquier. He’s got
a PhD in regional and urban planning so he likes
to tell me he’s the real doctor. He works at Ryerson
University in administration. We met in 1981 when
I was a resident and he was doing his PhD. We
have two beautiful daughters. Clare is 27 and in her
second year of an MBA at Wharton in Philadelphia.
Stephanie is 25. She just finished a Masters in Public
Policy and International Relations at Wilfrid Laurier University and just started a job at the Ontario
Chamber of Commerce.
Q: What