A Clinician Scientist in the Making – Patricia Hizo-Abes

To Patricia Hizo-Abes MEDS 2013, her grandfather, who was a physician, was one of the kindest and smartest people she had ever known. Growing up, she wanted to be just like him. So it's not surprising that she followed in his footsteps and pursued a medical career. Hizo-Abes launched into her undergraduate studies at Western with the same passion and fervor she had for so many things in her life. Following completion of her undergraduate degree, she began her studies in medicine. With a keen interest in research developed during her undergraduate studies, she was excited to take part in the Summer Research Training Program (SRTP) which is specifically designed for undergraduate medical students.

Working in the Kidney Clinical Research Unit, and supervised by Dr. Amit Garg, Hizo-Abes was involved in a number of research projects. She participated in various areas of epidemiological research, from ethical discussions of kidney transplantation from living donors to public health research in cardiovascular disease. Her most recent paper was a 10-year follow-up study using health databases to track cardiovascular outcomes after the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in Walkerton, ON in 2000. This paper was published as the lead article in the CMAJ in November.

Her achievements have not gone unnoticed. She received the Dr. Glen S. Wither Award for outstanding participation in the SRTP, and a John and Agnes Adams Summer Studentship from the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Grateful for the opportunity to be part of the program, Hizo-Abes believed it provided the perfect opportunity to incorporate research into her medical training. "I was ecstatic and so fortunate to be a part of a study of this calibre at this stage of my training," said Hizo-Abes. "I doubt I would have been able to participate without the funding and support from the SRTP."

She is also grateful to Dr. Garg who took an early interest in her career, while she was an undergraduate student providing constant support and encouragement. "I owe a great deal of my success in medicine to him."

Hizo-Abes has plans to pursue family medicine, and is confident that her experiences at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry have prepared her well for residency. Part of the Windsor Program, she credits the School for providing access to world class academic instructors and researchers while offering the benefits of training in a community setting, with virtually one-on-one clinical instruction and endless hands-on learning opportunities. "The faculty and staff at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry have done an excellent job at integrating the two programs and have provided the highest quality of distributed education."