BY JAMIU BUSARI (@JOBUSAR)
Dr. Victor Do, [ MD, FRCPC, MSc] Pediatrician, Stollery Children’s Hospital
Clinical Lecturer, Department of Pediatrics University of Alberta; Co-chair Culture of Academic Medicine Initiative (CAMi); Twitter: not using anymore 😊; Bluesky: vdo7.bsky.social
Dr Victor Do is a general inpatient pediatrician at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canda. His clinical work is entirely on the clinical teaching unit (CTU) and his professional area of interest is in children with medical complexity and social determinants of health in clinical practice (e.g. newcomer and refugee health). He does one to two week stretches on service which includes some evening home call. He notes being ‘pretty new to practice’, having just started his second year as a staff physician and faculty member. Victor graduated from medical school at the University of Alberta in 2020 and then completed pediatric residency training at the University of Toronto/Hospital for Sick Children where he was co-chief resident in 2024. Victor also completed an MSc in Systems Leadership and Innovation at the Institute of Health, Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.
Victor has been extensively involved in leadership roles in Canada. He was the president of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students in 2019-2020, where he worked with the medical education community to adapt during the height of the COVID pandemic. He has served on the board of the Canadian Medical Association, the governing council of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and currently serves on the board of the Canadian Society of Physician Leaders. Victor also co-chairs the Culture of Academic Medicine initiative (CAMi), which supports all Canadian medical schools in adopting and implementing the Okanagan Charter, focusing on creating health-promoting learning and working environments in medicine. Victor has been recognized with various awards, including the University of Alberta Alumni Horizon Award, the Canadian Medical Association Young Leaders (Resident) Award, and the Resident Doctors of Canada Puddester Award for Resident Wellness. Furthermore, his recognitions include the Canadian Association of Medical Education Rising Star Award (2023) and the University of Toronto Department of Pediatrics Christopher Ondaatje Award (2023), which is awarded to a PGY3 resident for excellence in teaching, as selected by their peers.
Dividing his Time
When asked how he allocates his time to cover his various responsibilities, Dr. Do explained that 40% of his time is dedicated to clinical work, 60% to academic endeavors, primarily clinical research, with opportunities for teaching and administration as well.
“In actuality, like most of us, a lot of this work blends together and overlaps. As someone who really subscribes to the idea of developing and fostering learning health systems, it’s actually important to me that these different roles overlap and aren’t siloed” Victor does not think you ever are ‘just’ a clinician or educator, researcher or administrator. He believes that all of the different perspectives, opportunities and challenges that come with these roles ultimately make him a better person.
When Dr Do was asked how he enjoys his work and his response was “I love my work…..really the statement ‘do what you love and you may never work a day’ is really true for me. Of course, there are some things that are annoying, but for the vast majority of the time, I feel so, so lucky to get to do what I do.” Victor finds his clinical work very fulfilling. “I love the acuity of patients and the opportunity to work with learners and the interdisciplinary team.”
The academic work really helps Dr Do ‘round out’ his career. He loves that he can address both the systems issues and the direct patient concerns that he encounters in his clinic practice through his academic work, whether it be research or education. Dr Do is also heavily involved in health equity work. For example, he is currently investigating how providers assess health literacy of patients and families, with implications including opportunities to introduce and improve our teaching of these skills amongst medical professionals and better design a medical system that can support patients of different health literacy levels. “I can go from this to my wellbeing and culture work,” he says, where I co-chair the Culture of Academic Medicine Initiative (CAMi) that aims to support the adoption and implementation of the Okanagan Charter at all faculties of medicine in Canada.
Managing difficulties
When asked if he has any difficulty with the diversity in his work, Dr Do responded saying “As much as its an amazing opportunity to get to do all of these different roles, its definitely a challenge to ‘balance’ the different activities.” Victor often wonders whether he is doing a good job at all of them….”you know, can you really be a great clinician, educator, researcher etc…..and I know when I actually reflect on things that for me, doing all of these things does make me better overall and at each of the roles individually”. In a world that likes to label and assign ‘identities’ to people, it can sometimes be confusing to the rest of the academic world if you don’t fit exactly into a specific mold of being a ‘clinician educator’ or ‘clinician scientist’, for example. Victor is still trying to find and figure out his identity with all of these different roles (and try to break the mold of people having to primarily focus on one area/field).
Three tips for junior CEs:
- Know your ‘Why’ … As a learner and junior faculty member you get asked to do a lot of things and there are endless opportunities. It can be difficult to know which things you should and should not do. It’s important to understand your purpose and vision for your work. what’s your passion?, why did you want to become a clinician educator to begin with? The answers to these questions are your guiding light as you navigate the interesting and confusing journey of academic medicine. They keep you humble and honest through the highs and lows of your career. You also may find that these change over time for many different reasons (e.g. personal health, world events), so it is helpful to revisit these periodically.
- Ask Why Not … so many times, especially early in your career, people might say things like ‘oh that’s not possible’ or ‘oh you have to wait a few years before you do that’. I’ve been lucky to have had mentors and sponsors who helped him realize that if someone tells me ‘No’ or ‘Not right now”, you ask “Why not?”. Institutions are very good at placing artificial barriers and creating extra hurdles for things and its up to us to ask why not? Many of my opportunities have come simply as a result of me not accepting a simple ‘no’ as an answer. Be strategic, be thoughtful, be respectful, but don’t be complacent. Ask why not and often times the answers will be ‘mmm….just because’, ‘it’s just the way we do things’, ‘we aren’t sure actually, it’s just what we do’. Capitalize on this to open new doors for yourself, demonstrate your creativity and dedication and help you achieve your ‘why’.
- Everything is Change Management (well maybe not everything, but lots) I’m really lucky to have been introduced to the book Our Iceberg is Melting, by Kotter and Holger. This fable teaches important lessons about the 8 steps of change management. You can have the best (most scientifically proven and well thought out) ideas, but it’s all about implementation and how you get others on board with the ideas. Learning about change management, strategies for effectively initiating and fostering change, and continuing to practice leading and collaborating in change management activities will be critical for you to achieve your goals (and at least reduce some frustration). I encourage everyone early in their career to learn about change management principles and actively utilize them
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