Medical Lead, Innovation and Development Comox Valley, Dr. Sarah Scott
We are pleased to welcome Dr. Sarah Scott as the new Medical Lead, Innovation and Development Comox Valley, effective November 23, 2020.
Dr. Scott completed medical school in Victoria, in UBC's Island Medical Program (IMP) in 2010. She then went on to complete her Family Medicine residency in Ottawa, followed by the Emergency Medicine program at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. While working through her schooling she paused twice to have the first two of her three children during these years as well!
When asked Dr. Scott says she was always drawn to emergency medicine, even in childhood. Knowing what to do in an emergency, feeling useful when things were chaotic, and being a "helper" in the worst of times has always been important to Dr. Scott. The best aspects of her job include knowing a little bit about a lot of things, seeing undifferentiated patients and getting to put on a "detective hat" to try and sort out what's wrong.
No one chooses to go to the emergency department, when working there physicians get to see the youngest to the oldest, the richest and the poorest. The most rewarding moments are being with people at their most vulnerable, helping to ease their suffering and sometimes being able to treat or even cure what ails them.
Professionally, Dr. Scotts enjoy teaching (both on-shift and giving more formal lectures), continuing to expand her ultrasound skills, and disaster response and emergency preparedness. Pandemic preparedness and response fits nicely in that last category!
In residency, Dr. Scott completed a literature review in active shooter response in the hospital setting, and helped inform the Active Shooter Protocol at the Ottawa Hospital. Notable achievements include leading the Comox Valley emergency department through the early months of the pandemic in 2020; being a Master Instructor in CORE ultrasound skills and an Instructor in Resuscitation ultrasound skills; and being a UBC clinical instructor in the Department of Family Medicine.
Dr. Scott’s hope for the future of healthcare is that we can continue to offer compassionate, evidence-based care to all individuals regardless of social standing, capacity, race, religion, creed or other defining factors. “Healthcare for all” is at the heart of the ethical practice of medicine and she is hopeful that we can continue to make it ever more accessible, practical and humane.
