FHS alumnus, physician and researcher accepted to UBC family medicine IMG residency

By: Sharon Mah

Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) alumnus, Dr. Adedolapo Abe-Dada, started a new chapter on Canada Day. The recent Master of Public Health (MPH) alumnus was accepted into University of British Columbia’s Family Medicine residency program, and joined fellow International Medical Graduates (IMGs) as they begin two years of training on July 1, 2022.

Her entry into Canadian medical residency training is the culmination of a years-long dream for Abe-Dada, who received her MBBS medical training in Nigeria. Early in her clinical career, she was interested in doing more than one-on-one patient diagnosis and treatment in a clinical setting. Abe-Dada wanted to help systemically reduce the burden of disease and illness in her community by addressing social determinants of health such as food security, stable housing, and improved access to vaccines. “I could see in my community that if some patients had access to better living conditions or better access to early treatment and medication – to primary health care – they wouldn’t be as severely ill when they came to our clinic.”

When Abe-Dada and her family immigrated to Canada, her medical designation did not allow her to practice clinical medicine without additional Canadian training and certification, a common barrier faced by many international medical providers, even those with many years of experience. Canada’s residency training program is extremely competitive, with more than 4,800 applications for a limited number of seats at 17 medical schools across the country. The majority of the residency positions are designated for MD graduates from Canadian medical schools, leaving a small slice of seats available to Canadian and non-Canadian graduates who have completed their MD equivalency studies outside of the country.

Abe-Dada felt strongly that she wanted to continue to serve in medicine, even if it wasn’t in a clinical setting. Her passion for public health led her to apply for the FHS Master of Public Health program which she completed in Spring 2022. During this time, she also volunteered with the Canadian Red Cross supporting community engagement efforts, as well as MARI (Misdiagnosis Association and Research Institute), engaging in supportive research activities and coordinating the publication workflow of other volunteer authors.

“Public health is as interesting to me as clinical medicine, and I find teaching and research to be very satisfying as well. I’m pleased to be able to continue doing all of the activities that I am passionate about: seeing patients and helping them access what they need to be healthy in their lives, and working with researchers to improve our collective knowledge, while teaching and learning the art and science of medicine. I’m excited for where my career will take me.”