Team Members

Nanaimo Staff

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  Dr McMeel has been working in the NRGH emergency department since 1990. He also works in rural centers with limited resources for a similar duration. A clinical professor with the UBC department of emergency medicine, Dr McMeel has been delivering bedside clinical and ultrasound teaching to residents and attending staff for 20+ years. Dr McMeel oversees the development of the program and liaisons with other departments, UBC and the Ministry of Health to ensure and promote opportunities for emergency education.

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  Skye has been working as a full time Emergency Physician in Nanaimo since completing her training in 2013. Skye has taken on the challenge of designing and organizing the academic curriculum for the NEEP program. She seems to have an unbelievable knack for being on shift during disasters, leading to the phrase "The sky is falling" being thrown around when she is on shift. She loves exploring the outdoors with her husband and children.

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  Dr Delany works as a full time Emergency Physician in NRGH and locum at WCGH. He is also actively involved in developing and delivering medical simulation curriculum for the UBC Family Medicine program as well as the NEEP program. When Drew is not in the ED or Sim Lab you can usually find him on his mountain bike exploring Vancouver Island’s many trails.

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  Dr Ho is a master ultrasonographer and experienced Emergency Physician. Dr Ho has been actively involved in bedside ultrasound research, teaching and development since it’s inception into ED practice. Dr Ho teaches advanced level ultrasound skills and is valuable resource not only to your ultrasound skills but in general emergency medicine knowledge and resuscitation. Dr Ho is often found loudly singing Justin Bieber songs in the department or waiting for the perfect windy conditions for his first passion – kitesurfing.

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  Natalina has been working in the emergency department as a unit clerk for the past 20+ years. With this experience, Natalina has taken on scheduling and coordinating many of the Nanaimo Educational experiences. With the NEEP team, Natalina will be responsible for sending out program information, scheduling during the program and managing the many logistics of the NEEP program. Natalina will be your primary contact. If you have any issues or challenges contact Natalina at: neepdocs@gmail.com.

Prince George Staff

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  Kali is an emergency physician and trauma team leader at UHNBC. She grew up in Kelowna and then spent 9 years in Vancouver doing various undergraduate activities before going to med school at U of Calgary. She completed her family medicine training in Calgary before moving back to Vancouver to get her CCFP-EM with the St Paul's program. She has an interest in trauma and health ethics. When she's not at the hospital she enjoys playing sports and having dance parties with her family.

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  Hi everyone. Welcome to the NoEEP program! My name is Melissa Dymond and I am the academic curriculum lead for the NoEEP program. I am an ER physician and Trauma Team Leader at UHNBC in Prince George. I'm originally from Edmonton, AB and grew with an Emergency Nurse as a mom and my dad was an Infantryman in the army. I have a BSc. and M.D. from the UofA and I completed my CCFP-EM through the UBC Prince George Family Medicine and UofA CCFP-EM programs. I am also currently completing a Masters in Medical Education through the University of Dundee in Scotland. I have been involved with a variety of Emergency Medicine education over the past several years involving learners from the medical student level to practicing medical staff. In my relatively limited free time I enjoy being active, traveling, reading and occasionally binge watching tv shows. I have also recently picked up Crossfit and am looking forward to the day where I am not perpetually sore!

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  Matthew Wahab is an emergency physician at UHNBC in Prince George, BC. He completed medical school and family medicine residency at UBC. His professional interests include point-of-care ultrasound, simulation, and medical education. Outside of work he enjoys biking and skiing with his wife and two young children.

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  Kardy grew up in rural Manitoba and later completed his undergraduate degree at Brandon University, followed by his medical degree at the University of Manitoba. His love for the outdoors brought him to Prince George in 2019 where he completed his family medicine residency. Keen to further develop his emergency medicine skills, Kardy completed a CCFP-EM enhanced skills residency in Saskatoon. Returning to Prince George, Kardy maintains his passion for working alongside the fantastic team in the UHNBC ED. Outside of work, he avidly enjoys running, mountain biking, backcountry skiing and all things outdoors

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  Jayleen has been with Northern Health since 2011 and is the Rural Continuing Medical Education Community Coordinator. She loves supporting rural health care in any way that she can and is passionate about her job and her teams. As the NoEEP Admin, Jayleen will be assisting the facilitators with scheduling, sending out program information and managing some of the logistics for the NoEEP program. While not at work, Jayleen enjoys over night hikes, camping, baking, gardening, and spending time with her two sons, family, and friends. Jayleen can be reached at noeepdocs@gmail.com

Kamloops Staff

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  Ravi Sunder has worked as an ER Physician and Trauma Team Leader in Kamloops since 2011. Holding a UBC appointment as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, he has been involved in education, transport medicine, rural simulation training and the development of an inpatient trauma service over the last decade.

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  My name is Alan Vukusic. I am CCFP(EM) trained and have worked as a full-time emergency physician for 20 years, mostly at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) in Kamloops, BC. I worked as a staff physician in Nunavut for several years, and served as the Medical Director of Emergency Care for the territory for a year. I have been a SIMS educator and a Trauma Medical Director for RIH. I currently serve as a High Acuity Response Team Transport Advisor, and for the past 2 years have been the Physician Lead for the ER Design Committee responsible for the design and build of the new emergency department underway in Kamloops. I have presented at the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians annual conference, the St. Paul’s Emergency Medicine update, UBC CPD Video Outreach rounds, and the Simulated Trauma Resuscitation Course. Clinical teaching is important to me. We are excited here at RIH to help provide a launch pad for the KEEP learners to bring their EM skills and knowledge to a level they will be proud of and our communities will benefit from.

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  I am one of the ED physicians in Kamloops and am involved in student and resident education here. My main interest is in simulation education and I will be providing much of this curriculum to the KEEP cohort. I did my family medicine and emergency medicine training in Calgary and became interested and involved in medical education there. I am very much looking forward to teaching and learning from this incoming cohort of KEEPers!

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  Erin has been working for the UBC Southern Medical Program in Kamloops for the last eight years. Primarily responsible for scheduling and coordinating the Year 3 Medical Students at RIH. Her favorite part of the position is supporting the growth and development of students during this formative Clerkship year. Erin will be assisting the facilitators with scheduling, sending out program information, and managing some of the logistics for the KEEP program. Erin can be reached at keep.prg@gmail.com

Coastal Staff

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  My home base is Lions Gate working as an Emergency Physician and Trauma Leader. Also split time at Royal Columbian and BC Children’s Hospitals. Provide rural ED support through RUDi and locum in Coastal Rural ED’s. On the clock, stoked about resident education, simulation, ultrasound, resuscitation and procedural teaching, as well as global emergency medicine education with residency building projects in Ethiopia and Kenya. Off the clock, second homes on the Kits Beach Volleyball Court,North Shore Mountain Bike Trails or Tofino Surf Lineup. When it’s raining in the city, it's snowing in the mountains and escaping the Vancouver rain to the BC BackCountry, Whistler slack country or a local hockey rink.

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  Ben Wilson completed a Family Practice residency in Victoria in 2010 but later transitioned to emergency medicine by finishing the EM program at St. Paul's Hospital. During his early career, he worked as a rural GP, facing challenges that he remembers well. He has facilitated numerous REAP-funded rotations for doctors at Lions Gate to date, and is looking forward to his part in developing the CoEEP program to further enrich the education of rural EM physicians in British Columbia. Ben continues to occasionally work in rural EDs while also splitting his time between Lions Gate Hospital ED and Surrey Memorial

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  Averil Ivsins is a graduate of UBC Medicine and Family Practice as well as the R3 in Emergency Medicine. She had been a leader and facilitator in the ED SIM program for the last 4 years. She lives on the North shore with her husband and daughter and spends her time reading good books, walking her dog in the rain forest and napping

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  Derek works as a full time Emergency Physician at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. He is very excited to co-run the ultrasound component of the coeep curriculum! He completed the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine POCUS fellowship in 2016 and has continued US teaching with learners as well as staff at LGH. He is keen to help facilitate and support CoEEP learners in their US knowledge and skill development. Further US discussions can always be had later while skiing!

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  Jessica is an emergency physician currently splitting her time between Lions Gate and Squamish General hospitals. She saw the (ultrasound) light early in residency and has been hooked ever since. She is a recent graduate of the Nanaimo ultrasound fellowship program. In her spare time, you can find her skiing or running the trails of Squamish.

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  Rebecca is an Emergency Physician with a special interest in trauma and critical care. She splits her time between Lions Gate Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital in the ED, ICU and as a Trauma Team Leader. She has a keen interest in rural medicine, and has worked locum positions in the Northwest Territories and the BC Interior. She loves the outdoors and recently completed her Diploma in Mountain Medicine. When not on the job, you can find Rebecca in the forest or in the mountains – splitboarding, trail-running and hiking.

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  Tamar has been working in the UBC Family Practice Postgrad Department for 16 years and is currently the Site Coordinator for the UBC Family Practice Coastal Site based at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. With her vast experience of scheduling and coordinating, Tamar has taken on the role of managing many of the logistics for the Coastal Emergency Education Program (CoEEP) and will be its primary contact. Please connect with Tamar at: coeepprogram@gmail.com