Thanks for that intro, Doug.
I’m very pleased to be the BC Cancer Foundation’s guest blogger for the month of July and to share with you a bit about my work as the Head of Gynecologic Oncology and with OVCARE at the BC Cancer Agency.
I was born in Princeton, B.C. and because my father was in the mining industry, our family moved around to several B.C. towns during my youth. I spent my elementary school years in Greenwood (a town that recently won an award for the best drinking water in the world!) and attended Boundary Central High School in Midway before moving to Vancouver.
I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BSc in Microbiology and Immunology, received my MD from UBC a few years later and then interned at Toronto Western Hospital. This was followed by a two and a half year period in Yellowknife, NWT, where I worked as a family doctor.
In 1988, I completed my certification in Obstetrics and Gynecology at UBC, and it was around this time that I caught the cancer “bug” and decided to pursue gynecologic oncology, with a dual focus on clinical work and research.
A pivotal moment for me was going through the Obstetrics and Gynecology rotation at the BC Cancer Agency. I was impressed with the organization and the care that patients received. I also noticed the evidence-based medicine happening here, long before it gained popularity.
In 1990, I was fortunate to be sponsored by my colleagues at UBC and the BC Cancer Agency for a McLaughlin Fellowship to study gynecologic oncology in Toronto, and when it finished, I came back to work in B.C., where I have been ever since.
I can hardly believe how quickly the time has passed! I have been doing this work for nearly twenty years, and it feels like only yesterday that I got started. But as long as there are more questions to answer, I will keep pushing forward for better outcomes for patients in B.C.
Thanks for reading,
Dianne
