Faculty spotlight: Dr. Lenna Morgan - Paediatrics
What is your academic background?
I did my undergraduate medical degree and postgraduate training in paediatrics at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
Did you have mentors during your medical school training, and if so, what advice did they give you that has stayed with you today?
I did not have a formal mentor but I did have several consultants who inspired me during my medical training. I did a selective in paediatrics during my first two years of medical school with Dr. Jim Boone who was the Chief of Paediatrics in London at the time. He was very passionate about paediatrics and had a very strong connection with his patients and their families.
I wanted to do paediatrics even before starting medical school but working with him reassured me that I had made the right decision.
He told me that you learn more from studying your patients than you do from studying text books. By that, I think he meant that you need to listen to your patients and take what you get from their history and physical exam and formulate a diagnosis that fits the patient rather than trying to fit the patient to textbook diagnosis. That definitely stuck with me and has been very helpful when the story doesn’t quite fit with a specific diagnosis.
How long have you been a faculty member with the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and what first inspired you to get involved?
I have been a faculty member since 1992, when I finished my training. I spent the first five years of my practice doing one weekend a month in the Paediatric Emergency Department at Children’s Hospital in London. I enjoyed doing acute care, but I also enjoyed having the opportunity to teach medical students and residents. I was eager to bring that teaching back to Windsor. I wanted learners to experience the challenges and fulfillment of practising outside a tertiary care centre. So we worked with the department in London toward what is now an integral part of training for general paediatrics at Schulich Medicine.
What do you learn from your patients?
I care for a large number of children with a variety of complex medical problems and developmental challenges. They have taught me to find joy in the simplest things, to accept people for who they are and to realize that no matter how sick children are all they really want is to play. We should all see our priorities so clearly.
What do you learn from your students?
Students remind me to continue to question and explore. To realize that you can never know everything and that there is always something new to discover. Their enthusiasm reminds me of why I got into medicine in the first place.
If there could only be one piece of advice you could give to students when they are working paediatrics, what would it be?
If I could give students one piece of advice when working in paediatrics it would be to remember that kids may cry when you are trying to help them, but they still need your help. And even if they can’t thank you, their parents will when they are feeling better.
What do you do when you aren’t working?
When I am not working, I am baking or working in my garden.
