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In Conversation with Dr. Jennifer Li, General Surgeon, MSH

Q: How far back does your connection to MSH go?

A: I started as a medical student through an Emergency Department (ED) and surgery rotation. I continued to come to MSH for rotations throughout my residency. The friendly environment and teaching were very beneficial to my professional and personal growth.

Q: What is your current role at MSH? What makes you proud to come to work each day?

A: I’m part of a team of more than 40 surgeons. We collectively perform more than 23,000 procedures each year. I treat 30-40 patients each week in both the Oncology Clinic, and the Graham & Gale Wright Breast Health Centre. I like interacting with patients of various diagnoses and supportive staff who are critical in supporting us through their daily work.

Q: How long have you worked at MSH? Is there something special about working at a community hospital?

A: I’ve been an official staff member for eight years, plus two years for my training. I find the urban community hospital to be the best worlds of both teaching and clinical practice.

Q: What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a doctor at MSH?

A: Trying to accommodate expanding population, ever-increasing complexity of oncology patients, and the increase in referrals with limited resources.

Q: Why is it important for people to support MSH and help fund vital equipment and technology? And why should donors give again?

A: Our surgical oncology clinic is seeing an increasing number of referrals every year. We are struggling to accommodate everybody in a timely fashion and trying our best to shorten the time between referral to consult, and decision-to-treat to surgery. We are in need of additional clinical staff to keep up with the volume.

We hope to purchase a “breast seed” to localize small breast cancers that are not palpable. This technology compared to current “wire-localization” can last in patients for months and can prevent up to 2-3 painful procedures for patients, while reducing the resource burden on radiology, and make it more efficient to coordinate breast cancer surgeries. Unfortunately, the cost has been a limiting factor.

Q: Is there a story you can share of a patient who especially touched your heart? How did you perhaps go the extra mile for them?

A: Appreciation of care goes far in maintaining motivation and preventing burnout. It always lightens my heart to get Christmas cards from cancer survivors even after the 5-year surveillance is over, to know that their lives continue on and that they are well.

Q: What message of thanks would you like to send to donors who support patient care at MSH?

A: Your generous donations will help us purchase new technologies and equipment so that we can continue to serve our community — this will touch the lives of many cancer patients.

David White

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