Community News
Community Faculty Profile: Dr. Donna Watterud, Thamesview Family Health Team
Dr. Donna Watterud was born and raised in Ottawa, where she attended high school, and then moved on to Queen's University for her undergraduate (a three year degree in Biology) and medical school. It was there where she met her future husband, Bob McMahon, who was a year ahead. They married after her first year of medical school and his second.
Originally training in a straight medicine internship at Queen's, and then following one year of a Urology residency, Dr. Watterud remembers begging the Family Medicine department to take her on.
“That was excellent for me. Due to my whole year in Internal Medicine I didn't have to do Medicine or Surgery rotations, and was able to do a truncated Family Medicine program, which included some extra Emergency and Obstetrics.”
Dr. Watterud went on to have her first baby at the end of her internship, and the family hired a nanny from England to manage the child care. This allowed her to complete her residency in 1983. She promptly had her second son in October of that year.
“I was quite pregnant doing my Family Practice orals,” recalls Dr. Watterud.
While waiting for her husband to complete his residency in Ophthalmology, Dr. Watterud stayed home for almost a year and enjoyed just being a mom.
The family then moved to Chatham in 1984 with Dr. Watterud opening her practice in September of that year.
“Solo practice, doing OB and ER, lots of call, surgical assists, hospital rounds, the works. [My] kids got to be well known in the hospital as they would come on rounds, to the DR, etc.”
Dr. Watterud went on to have another baby (a girl) in 1986, getting a locum for four months, then had her final baby in 1991 (her 3rd boy)!
During this time, she managed to gear her practice up to completely fulltime, with quite a lot of Obstetrics.
“I was very busy, but managed to do lots with the kids, attending all their sports and dance, etc.,” said Dr. Watterud. “I got used to managing on four to five hours of sleep a night. And I loved it!”
At the same time, Dr. Watterud also managed to be very active in the Chatham Figure Skating Club, as her daughter had begun skating in 1992, and later became competitive. Dr. Watterud sat on the board and eventually became President. Over the years she did lots of work with the club skating carnivals, working on a volunteer basis in many capacities for the skating events, including championships, leading to Canadians. She was the medical director for one held in Chatham.
Dr. Watterud fondly reminisces about helping out with the ceremony in which they gave Shae Lynn Bourne the key to the city after she and her partner Victor Kraatz won the gold medal in dance at the Worlds in Washington. (Dr. Watterud was also there for that performance). At that ceremony, she also met our future champions, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, as they were being introduced as the possible stars of tomorrow.
Dr. Watterud continues to attend such events and will be heading to Boston with her daughter for the World Figure Skating Championships in March/April of this year.
With three active sons, who played every sport known, many of them competitively, she also keeps pretty well up on most other sports. Over the years, the family did lots of weekend traveling.
“I know my football, hockey, volleyball, basketball, and soccer quite well. My husband has a passion for Formula One racing, so I am somewhat forced to indulge in that a bit too,” says Dr. Watterud.
Just as she did with the skate club, when her one son got involved in musicals at high school, Dr. Watterud ended up volunteering there too, both in building sets and helping with the program.
“I love musicals (and would love to perform, if I had the time) and music in general. I have a bad habit of singing in the OR (just ask Dr. Asher). I have sung in church choirs here in Chatham.”
Recently, Dr. Watterud has become involved with the Hospice in Chatham, and plans to soon be offering medical coverage. She currently serves on its Medical Board and is very excited to work on some of the organizational issues facing a new hospice.
“Before becoming involved in Medicine, I had once thought I wanted to be a teacher,” says Dr. Watterud. “Thus, it was not much of a stretch to end up involved in teaching clinical medicine.”
Although at first she thought she wouldn't have much to impart on medical students and residents after many years away from academic medicine, Dr. Watterud has found that she really enjoys it.
“[I] have a bit more to offer than I had anticipated. I have enjoyed the contact with the young people, and am impressed with all the knowledge and enthusiasm I usually see,” says Dr. Watterud. “It is a great learning and rejuvenating experience for me, as well as hopefully a useful time for the learners and residents. It does help to 'keep me on my toes' in regards to the practice of evidence-based medicine, rather than taking too many short cuts and getting too sloppy.”
After almost 32 years of practice, Dr. Watterud enjoys being able to share her love of what she does.
“I love it when I can convince a learner that Family Medicine is where it's at, and find that they change their plans over to family from whatever else they had in mind. (It happens quite often,)” says Dr. Watterud.
Over the years, Dr. Watterud has developed some friendships amongst the residents she has had, and will be attending the wedding of one of them later this year. She has also welcomed some of them back to work as locums in her practice and really appreciates the help.
“I really appreciate the opportunity to mentor them, and to recommend them for jobs as they move on with their lives.”
