Posted on: March 8, 2023
Gastroenterologist, Island Health
Dr. Jennifer Williams grew up in Newfoundland, affectionately known as “The Rock," with a loving family and a supportive friend group who always had each other's backs and were
lifting each other to be their best. She grew up at a time when Newfoundland was a “have not province" and we were the topic of many Newfie jokes. So, we were always sort of the underdogs, fighting to prove people our value.
She graduated from Queens University with a degree in Life Sciences and Psychology and then moved back to Newfoundland and completed medical school at Memorial University. Like many Newfoundlanders, she moved to Calgary, where she completed internal medicine and gastroenterology training. Initially she worked on the general medicine medical teaching unit and as a gastroenterologist. After about three years she shifted to focus on GI.
She has held numerous leadership roles including on the Alberta Medical Association Board of Directors where she was integral in in the development of the AMA's Healthy Work Environment Framework, was a founding member of the Specialty Care Alliance and courageous ally and advocate for physicians and patients. She has completed additional leadership and wellness training through the Haskayne School of Business and Chief Wellness Officer certification from Stanford and has served in leadership roles in Alberta Health Services in the Diversity, Wellness and Development and co-chair of the psychological health and safety committee, as a physician associate and collaborator with Well Doc Alberta, and as the Deputy Department of Medicine chair (clinical).
In 2021 she started a new adventure and now works as the first gastroenterologist in Nanaimo with Island Health. She is a member of the Endoscopy Quality Council and Working Group for Creating Trauma Informed Endoscopy Units.
Why did you go into the field of medicine?
I am really drawn to the human experience and I went into medicine to promote healing, wellness and compassion.
I decided I wanted to become a physician in Grade 4. We had a career week at school and I took it very seriously. I interviewed family members (my dad was a physician and my mom was a nurse). At the end of the week, I was going to be a physician, nurse or astronaut because I knew I wanted to help people.
Looking back after practicing for over 15 years, I have a deeper understanding of the reasons I went into medicine. I am drawn to humanity. I am a connector of people and ideas, a courageous ally when people may have lost their voices and advocate for transforming the status quo. I went into medicine to promote wellness and healing. Now I reflect on how much of that we actually do in our reactive system. Sometimes it feels like we manage disease. So, I have found a renewed passion to find opportunities to promote healing and transformation in patient interactions and interactions with providers and the public through initiatives such as SAFER trauma informed leadership (Ó 2022 Ploquin and Williams) and Empowering H.O.P.E. in healthcare.
Is there any particular accomplishment that you are most proud of with regards to your work?
I am most proud of maintaining my integrity, behaving according to my values, having the strength for new beginnings and involvement in teams that aim to empower and transform the status quo from a place of trauma inducing to a place of healing, belonging and transformation
When thinking about accomplishments I am most proud of in regards to my professional life I think about my character and movements to which I belong. I am proud that I maintained my integrity to stay true to my values, illustrated ongoing courage (to stand up and speak up, sit down and listen) and respectfully challenged our culture to evolve. I am also proud that I have maintained the strength to apologize when I mess up and the strength to recognize when to walk away.
I am proud to be part of the Nanaimo Hospital Endoscopy unit team which really is role modeling leadership as a way of being and compassion to each other and our patients.
I feel inspired a privileged to be part of initiatives aimed at culture shift in medicine and there are two particular groups I am especially proud of: a colleague, Jodi Ploquin and I have created SAFER trauma informed leadership (Ó 2022 Ploquin and Williams) and we offer leadership training courses and workshops aimed at developing the awareness, knowledge, desires and skills to create trauma informed workplaces. I am also a founding member of Empowering H.O.P.E (Humanizing and Optimizing the Person Experience) aimed at empowering healing, restorative and ultimately transformational teams and systems by placing the person experience at the core and weaving humanity into everything we do.
How do you manage work/life balance?
This is a constant journey. It takes a village. And it's based on human connection and compassion, for self and others.
I would love to be able to say I have work/life balance all sorted out. The truth is that this is an area of constant learning and intention. Telling you I can “do it all" is untrue. I am human. Work/life balance is a work in progress, a constant journey and sometimes I am better at it than others. I am doing my best to keep my cup full so I can be my best self and share that with others.
So what does that look like? I try to get restorative sleep. I also try to eat well although sometimes the carrots stay in the bag and I get a baked good from Drip instead. (But hey, an opportunity for self-compassion, right?).
I incorporate mindfulness into my daily life. I am mindfully present with my children and try to enjoy every single minute with them because soon they won't want to hang out with their mom. And while I am practicing establishing healthy boundaries, I am also learning to let go of perfectionism. Finally, “I get by with a little help from my friends". None of us can do this alone and so I ask for help and offer help where I can. I intentionally create human connection as that is what gets us through (if you can double up on connection and “to do" lists, even better - how about grocery shopping with a friend?). Just a few tips I have tried to incorporate over the years.
What is your favourite way to decompress after a busy day of work?
Short answer: Intentional Human connection
Prior to kids and when I was on both the GIM and GI call schedules, I used to often turn to retail therapy (which means I have a lot of shoes from that period of my life). I also used to do a boot camp with friends and colleagues.
Now I find the best way to decompress after a stressful day at work is to build human connection - a phone call with a friend or family member on the way home from work, a walk on the beach with my kids, anything that builds connection helps mitigates the stress of the day.
What does Canadian Women's Physician Day mean to you?
Canadian Women's Physician Day is an opportunity to understand the experience of Canadian Women Physicians and in doing so create supportive environments where the strengths and values that women physicians offer can be recognized, appreciated and elevated to thrive. It's about having the courage to build empathy - the most powerful human emotion that drives transformation.
For me this comes back to humanity. Humans are hardwired for empathy and connection. Women physicians currently often have a different experience in healthcare environments including gender pay gaps and leadership gaps as examples. The first step in transformation is to understand the human experience. This day is an opportunity to highlight the strengths women physicians offer and understand our differential experience due to things like system design and bias.
This day offers the opportunity to build empathy and ultimately the compassion to work together to ensure that women physicians can be fairly recognized, respected, supported and valued.