Cool job: Dr. Paul Dhillon, reservist medical officer, Canadian Armed Forces

What does a reservist medical officer do? There is work in traditional clinics but also the opportunity to participate in overseas operations, giving a great amount of variety to the job. I’ve been lucky enough to do some basic dive medical training and qualified as a flight surgeon. I’ve had the opportunity to be the physician for the Antarctica Marathon and more recently as a physician on a team hiking to base camp and to the summit of Kilimanjaro. Clinical decisions definitely change when you are in those remote areas. You are also a family physician in Sechelt, B.C. How much time does your reservist role take? The beauty of being in the reserves is that while there is a minimal commitment of roughly one night per week and one weekend per month for eight months of the year, there are many opportunities available to spend more time working in a military environment. I probably spend four to five months participating in military activities, research, teaching and expedition medicine. What have been your top three assignments? I had the opportunity to serve on HMCS Victoria, one of Canada’s hunter-killer submarines. It was exciting to think that for a single moment in time, I was the only Canadian physician 200 metres under the sea. On my first day on the submarine, we had a medical issue as we were heading out to sea, and I had to ask the captain of the sub to turn it around and arrange a medevac. It was an interesting and challenging experience. I am happy it happened while we were still above the sea! More recently I did a short stint on Operation Impact in Kuwait, which gave me incredible insight into the sacrifices and challenges that Canadian military members experience when deployed overseas. I'm also heading off shortly to be the expedition physician for a small group summit in Kilimanjaro to provide medical care and summit one of the seven peaks. What is the coolest thing about this job? Being in the military exposes you to an entirely different human ecosystem that operates around the world 24/7. There are challenges in this job that you will simply never see in any other environment.

Cool job: Dr. Paul Dhillon, reservist medical officer, Canadian Armed Forces

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