Dialogue Volume 13 Issue 4 2017 | Page 34

APPRECIATION Reflections on Peer Assessment Dr. Henry Wu has served as a CPSO peer assessor for more than three decades. He recently decided to retire from his medical practice and his duties as a peer assessor. Below, Dr. Wu shares his reflections on his work with the College. By Dr. Henry Wu DR. HENRY WU ASSESSOR 34 DIALOGUE ISSUE 4, 2017 I was a patient long before I became a doctor. Plagued by ill health since childhood, I had many encounters with doctors and numerous hospi- talizations, including a stint in the ICU on life support some 25 years ago. Even as a child I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to know what it was like to be on the other side. After 40 years of family medicine, I had to retire sud- denly, again because of illness. From patient to patient- doctor to patient, life has come full circle. I first became involved in peer assessment as an as- sessor in 1983 and continued in that role for the next 33 years. (In fact, I did a peer assessment just two days before my sudden retirement.) Over the decades, I was also an investigator, practice assessor, course instruc- tor, clinical teacher, mentor, pr