FELLOWS’ CORNER
TAKING ST. MICHAEL’S SURGERY TO
ECUADOR
from left to right: James Waddell and Santiago Ponce
Santiago Ponce was a medical student in Ecuador in
2006 when he met Jim Waddell at the Orthopaedic
Congress in Ecuador (Sociedad Ecuatoriana De
Ortopedia Y Traumatologia). The Congress originated
as a course started by University of Toronto graduate and
Sunnybrook physician Paul Roberts, who made heroic
contributions during and following 11 years as a medical
missionary to Ecuador from 1949 to 1960. Recognizing
the need for orthopaedic training, the Toronto orthopaedic
surgeons elected to teach 100 surgeons rather than
perform 10 operations, a very productive management
decision. Canadian doctors pay for their own transportation
and the Ecuadorian doctors provide housing. The
teaching program is presented every 2 years.
Santiago: “An orthopaedic doctor on the faculty told
me to attend the congress, but the fee was $80, a very
large expense for a medical student. My mother, who
has been my constant advocate, told me to attend and
paid the registration fee. I met Drs. Jim Waddell, Dave
Backstein, and Tim Daniels. I contacted Dr. Waddell
via e-mail to ask for a chance to come to Toronto as a
medical student observer. I spent 6 weeks at St. Michael’s
in 2006. It was an amazing experience. Later in 2007,
I took the MCCQE1 (Medical Council of Canada
Qualifying Examination) and came again to work with
Tim Daniels on a foot and ankle surgery observership.
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I hoped to get in to the Orthopaedic Surgery residency
program in Toronto, but the paperwork was obstructive,
so in 2008 I went to Madrid, settled there, and I did my
residency in Orthopaedic Surgery in a 5 year program.
I kept in touch with Dr. Waddell by regular e-mail and
in March 2012 I asked for a fellowship post. I arrived
in July of 2013 for a fellowship position in Lower Limb
Reconstruction and Trauma at St. Michael’s Hospital.
This has been an amazing experience. When I was here
in 2006, I spent time in the operating room, the clinic
and the office. I was impressed with how well organized
and how well resourced the service was, and how personal
the relationship was to the patient. The doctors
cared for the patient as a person, and the efficiency was
astonishing.”
Santiago attended the Faculty of Medicine in Quito,
at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. His
mother is the Director of the Language Department at
Universidad San Francisco de Quito. His father is an
agronomical engineer. “I studied medicine in Quito,
at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. I
have always been close to my family. I got married in
2010 to Danitza, who is currently doing her residency
in Geriatrics in Madrid, and will finish next May. She
is currently on an observer rotation at St. Michael’s
Hospital. My mother has been an important pillar of my
support, and inspiration in everything that I have done.
She pushed me to approach Dr. Waddell and he put me
in touch with St. Michael’s Hospital, and now serves as
my mentor and preceptor. This fellowship has been the
best thing that happened to me in my career. It is the
“cereza del pastel that perfects my training”.
Jim Waddell: “We have a very good observership program
at St. Michael’s, facilitated by Medical Staff Liaison
Officer Narisha Jiwa, who does the coordination for
observers. It has been great to watch Santiago develop
and then take his skills back to Ecuador - that’s what it’s
all about. He is well trained and has done good academic
work, including a review on hip fractures. The most
important part of the educational experience in my view
is the life experience living in Toronto, to see the country,
the city and meet other fellows.”
M.M.
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