BY JAMIU BUSARI (@JOBUSAR)
Dr. Savannah Silva, MD
General Surgeon, Cambridge Memorial Hospital;
Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Deptartment of Surgery at McMaster University
Email: drsilvageneralsurgery@gmail.com
Dr Savannah Silva is a general surgeon and adjunct assistant professor of surgery at McMaster University. She developed her love for anatomy and physiology during her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at Queens University, Kingston, Canada (2015). The appeal in understanding the complex workings of the human body drew her to science, she said, and the desire to use that knowledge for a good purpose drew her to medicine. Dr Silva obtained her medical degree from McMaster University (2018) and went on to do her residency in General Surgery, which she completed in 2023. She followed this with a fellowship in Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery at the University of Ottawa (2024) and is currently working in Cambridge, ON, as a full-time community General Surgeon. Dr Silva is also an adjunct assistant professor at the Department of Surgery at McMaster University.
Before medicine, Dr. Silva worked in a corporate banking role, which honed her leadership skills and gave her a systems-level perspective on complex problems. In her current work, she uses these skills in various roles, whether it is as a medical education lead or as a member of the committee managing the hospital’s transition to an electronic medical record system.
Dividing her Time
Dr Silva was asked how she spreads her time across her various clinical, teaching, research, and administrative activities. In response, she said, “I have a wide breadth of practice and enjoy playing many roles within my community; however, the majority of my time is spent on clinical work. I would estimate that I spend 70% on clinical work, 20% on teaching, and 10% on research or administrative work.” Dr. Silva says she truly enjoys the work of being a surgeon. The joy of operating, the remarkable impact she can have on patients, and the satisfaction of being a trusted member of the community she serves bring an unparalleled sense of fulfillment. “Enjoying what I do clinically allows me to also enjoy teaching and helps me to feel that I have something worth sharing with learners,” she concludes. Academically, Dr. Silva spends her time teaching medical students at the McMaster Waterloo Campus and McMaster General Surgery residents.
When asked how she enjoys the diversity in her career, she responded, saying that no two days are ever the same, and no two weeks are either. “Some weeks I am entirely focused on clinical work, running everywhere from the operating room to the ER to the ward to the endoscopy suite. As a community general surgeon, however, I can truly be found anywhere in the hospital. Medical education weaves around the clinical work and, at times (often) into it. I am always delighted to have a trainee at work, though sometimes the rewarding parts of being involved in medical education are the parts outside the clinical context. I have had the privilege of having strong mentors that lift me up and inspire me, not just as a surgeon but also as an educator. “My hope is that I am able to do the same for my colleagues still in training”.
Managing difficulties
When asked about the challenges associated with the diversity in her role as a CE, Dr Silva responded : As someone not working at a large academic hospital, I find it challenging to integrate medical education into my work at a higher level. It requires intentional effort to maintain that part of my life, which would be easy to lose among the others. It is possible to imagine that, as a surgeon, I may be an overachieving perfectionist, and that may be true. However, as I advanced through my training, it became increasingly clear that the only things I have time for are the ones that bring me joy. I have learned to focus on a few things to be able to do them well. Ultimately, the key to navigating this “challenge” is to prioritize this work, and one of the best ways I found to do this was by being part of the ICRE community. I first attended ICRE as a medical student and was inspired to become a resident co-chair. Though no longer a resident, I was delighted to continue serving as a co-chair of the conference and to find it an excellent way to maintain a high-level medical education component in my portfolio. Through this role, I can engage at the forefront of medical education while building connections with medical educators around the world! I have always said that connection allows for better problem-solving. Although we all work in different contexts, the problems we face in an increasingly complex medical environment are remarkably similar, and comparing notes and experiences can lead to creative solutions.
Three tips for junior CEs:
- Make yourself a priority in your life. Our work is in service to others, but we cannot do that well if we are not well ourselves! Remember to take your own medical advice: hydrate, exercise, maintain a high-fiber diet, and see the sun (while wearing SPF). You have dedicated yourself to your training – now dedicate yourself to your health, so your career can be a long one.
- The tree is sometimes the whole forest: The small things are often small at first but turn out to be big in the end. Remember that your small interactions with learners may be the thing they will remember years later when they reflect on their training. Every “teachable moment” is a building block that learners will use to construct their understanding of the medical world. In this way, there are no small moments. Use your “why” for being in medical education to remind you of your purpose when it becomes challenging to integrate teaching into your work. Remember the mentors that guided you, took the time to teach you, and sacrificed other parts of their day to make you the doctor you are today. The landscape in which we teach shifts on a daily basis, for educators and learners. We must work together to ensure we don’t miss key opportunities for growth.
- Choose to be kind. Maintaining your humanity despite the rigors of medicine is a skill. Long hours, decreasing resources, and increasing administrative burden all chip away at capacity for collaboration. Despite this, it is possible to be both excellent and kind. In a world where knowledge is increasingly accessible, the value that we hold as doctors lies in the ability to use knowledge with compassion. Looking beyond the surface at your patient or learner allows for human connection, and this connection is what brings joy to the work of medicine. When you choose to be kind to colleagues and learners, you move medicine forward.
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