A commitment to service
Dr. Shalini Dhir dedicates one month each year to service, travelling the globe to provide training and care where it is needed most
By Jennifer Párraga, BA’93
“My experience working in the South Sudan brought me down to earth. We are so blessed, and we don’t even think about it.”
Dr. Shalini Dhir recently returned from four weeks working with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the African country.
Dr. Dhir in South Sudan.
It was an all-consuming experience for the veteran global physician who has made it a mainstay of her career to give back through training residents abroad, as well as providing clinical care to people living in catastrophic conditions.
“I was there primarily to provide anesthesia support in the hospital and care for patients who came from far and wide,” said Dhir. “We ended up seeing people with gunshot wounds, burn and accident victims, and we also did some obstetrical work. At one point, we had to evacuate the hospital due to the ongoing conflict and the fact that the surrounding villages were being burned.”
Dhir says that this commitment to service is her way of giving back. “For me this is the best type of donation.”
The South Sudan.
Born and raised in India, Dhir began medical school at 16 years of age – in India students typically begin their medical education immediately following high school. Determined to follow in her father’s footsteps as an anesthetist, she came to Canada in 2004 and completed a fellowship at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry in 2006. Today, she is an Associate Professor in Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine.
Dhir took her first volunteer trip abroad when she travelled to Guyana with the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society International Education Fund (CAS IEF) in 2018. The Fund’s goal is to build capacity for safe, sustainable anesthesia and perioperative care globally through education, knowledge translation and advocacy. She was joined by a resident physician from the School, and together they provided clinical training in the operating room, as well as advanced skill development, classroom teaching and journaling. It was then that Dhir decided that moving forward she would donate one month every year to volunteer work of this kind.
Dr. Kevin Braden, MD’17, and resident Dr. Abdulrahman Alboog with Dr. Dhir.
The next year, Dhir volunteered to go to Ethiopia. By that point, her stories had become well known within the Department. Receiving multiple requests from local residents to join her, they set up a competition amongst the learners. Two residents were the lucky winners and were able to travel with her.
The team spent one month in Addis Ababa providing clinical training and teaching the basics of research at the Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital at Addis Ababa University – the largest referral hospital in Ethiopia.
With the onset of the pandemic, the international training program of CAS IEF was on hold and Dhir connected with MSF.
After months of paperwork and a few starts and stops, she joined an international team of physicians and surgeons from Mexico, Canada and Switzerland in South Sudan. Security, logistics and supply teams, as well as a cultural ambassador supported Dhir and the 14-member team throughout the four weeks.
“My experience working in the South Sudan brought me down to earth. We are so blessed, and we don’t even think about it.” — Dr. Shalini Dhir
Since Dhir’s return, she has received an endless stream of questions from residents who are interested in pursuing a similar experience. And she strongly encourages them to seek out opportunities. “Everyone should do this sort of volunteer work at least once in their life,” said Dhir.
Now that Dhir is back in London, she has returned her focus to her role as the Director of Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Services, as well as resident training. She’s also advancing her research work that is focused on pain management after shoulder replacement and obstetrics anesthesia, which explores management for women receiving anesthesia during labour.
And when she’s not doing research or providing training and care, you can find her tending to her prized garden, doing some photography and thinking about re-launching her Indian cooking classes for colleagues in her department.
