Life behind the knife: An interview with Dr Rob Leeper

Dr. Rob Leeper is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Western University. After completing his training in surgery, critical care, and trauma in Baltimore, Maryland, he returned to London to join the staff at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and the Department of Surgery in 2015. We sat down with him to discuss his work as a trauma surgeon, as well as what it is like for him to live life behind the knife

CSTAR, Robotics, and Minimally Invasive Surgery: An Interview with Dr. Christopher Schlachta

Dr. Schlachta received his undergraduate and medical degrees from McGill University. With a keen interest in various types of surgery, he then completed a surgery internship at Toronto General Hospital before choosing to pursue residency in general surgery here at Western. Subsequently, he returned to Toronto for a fellowship in advanced minimally invasive surgery and subsequently worked as a staff surgeon at the Wellesley Hospital and St. Michael’s Hospital, where he was the head of the division. Finally, Dr. Schlachta was recruited back to London to serve as the medical director of Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics (CSTAR) in 2005. He presently holds this position, as well as cross-appointment as a Professor in the Departments of Surgery and Oncology. He has been involved in numerous Canadian and world firsts in robotic gastrointestinal surgery. We had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Schlachta to discuss his surgical practice, current research, and the technology at CSTAR

A focus on POCUS: An interview with Dr Rob Arntfield

Dr Rob Arntfield is a trained emergency physician, intensivist, and traumatologist here at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). Passionate about the use of ultrasonography and teaching, Dr Arntfield co-authored Point of Care Ultrasound1 (POCUS), which was published in 2014. A self-described London “townie”, he attended Western for medical school and continued in his hometown for a double emergency medicine and intensive care residency before pursuing a fellowship in New York City. We sat down with Dr Arntfield to discuss his work in critical care, trauma, and the rise of POCUS in trauma medicine

The complexity of cross-sector healthcare teams: An interview with Dr Shannon Sibbald

Dr Shannon Sibbald is a health systems researcher specializing in implementation science, the study of factors that affect the implementation and success of new practices, as well as interprofessional teamwork in healthcare settings. She also spends time teaching students in the Masters of Public Health program and has held faculty positions in the Department of Family Medicine, Schulich Interfaculty Program of Public Health, and School of Health Studies since 2013. We were able to sit down with Dr Sibbald for our interview to discuss her work in health systems and policy

The Schulich Pain Medicine residency: An interview with Dr Geoff Bellingham

Dr Bellingham completed his medical school and anesthesiology residency at Western University. He followed this with a fellowship in Chronic Pain Management at the University of Toronto, with a focus on interventional pain management using fluoroscopy and ultrasound guided techniques. Dr Bellingham returned to Western University to work in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine in his capacity as an anesthetist and as a chronic pain specialist. Here at Western, he directs the Pain Clinic at St. Joseph’s Health Care and also played a key role in the development of Canada’s first Pain Medicine residency program. We had an opportunity to chat with Dr Bellingham and discuss a wide range of topics including his choice of career path, the Pain Medicine residency program, and other pain medicine topics in the context of the current opioid epidemic