2021 Annual UBC Chan Gunn Lecture with the World's Greatest Athlete

2021 Annual UBC Chan Gunn Lecture with the World’s Greatest Athlete

Changing hearts to co-create spaces of belonging

UBC Dialgoues: What is the cost of care? on October 13, 2021

Webinar replay: The complex reality of caregiving

Mallory White, BKin’12, MPT’14

Supporting the health of athletes has been a passion for Mallory, starting with her time as a student trainer with UBC varsity athletes to being the lead therapist for the Canadian women’s national soccer team. Learn about her experience at UBC and her journey to helping Canada get its first gold medal in women’s football at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics!

What drew you to pursuing a Master of Physical Therapy (MPT) degree at UBC?

Having completed my undergrad at UBC in Kinesiology, I knew that the city, campus, and school were great. I started working as a student trainer with the UBC Men’s Rugby program in my last year of Kinesiology and knew that I would love to continue working with them throughout the MPT program. The practical experience and the UBC Athletics community was a huge draw to pursue the MPT program at UBC.

What is one thing that you are taking with you from your experience in the MPT program?

Two main ones would be time management and ‘people skills’!

What did you enjoy most about the program?

The diversity of the placements that I had were the highlight of the program for me. UBC MPT program has so many opportunities, some that might help rule out areas of focus (which is valuable!), and other which may open doors which you did not know you were interested in. I had the opportunity to complete an international placement in Sri Lanka – it was an amazing experience and a highlight of the program for me.

What is one piece of advice you have for students entering the MPT program?

Use the program as a learning opportunity and stay open minded – it is tough and it is not always going to be easy, but if you follow your values and what you are hoping to get out of the program then I believe you’ll succeed.

For a more concrete piece of advice, have an outlet outside of the program – family, work, sport- whatever it is for you! Continuing to work as a student trainer with UBC Rugby was my place outside the classroom and looking back, it was exactly what I needed, despite it feeling very time consuming in the moment.

As you look ahead, who inspires you?

Currently, it is Canadian athletes and the staff who support them. Elite sport in Canada can have its challenges and seeing these athletes inspire others is inspiring in itself. Go Canada Go!

Name one thing on your bucket list. Have you completed it?

Supporting a Canadian team at the Olympics – completing it now!

Who do you work for and what is your job title?

I work for the Canadian Soccer Association as the lead therapist with the Women’s National Team.

What are you doing at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics?

Supporting the Canadian Women’s soccer team and helping ‘change the colour of the medal’ as a team staff member.

How did your experience in the MPT program prepare you for working with Olympic athletes?

The practical experience of working with others in a professional setting and completing diverse placements, as well as volunteering with a sport team while completing the program helped lead to varying work experiences post-grad. It was those work and volunteer experiences which eventually prepared me for working with Olympic athletes.

What does it mean to you to be able to work as a physical therapist for the Olympic team?

It means everything to be able to be a part of Team Canada – when your day-to-day for years is supporting athletes, being able to help them achieve their dreams is very rewarding. Being a part of Team Canada where over half of the athletes are female and working with a sport where the majority of the staff are also female, makes me feel extra thankful to be a Canadian physiotherapist working in sport.

Working in elite sport is not a quick process – it takes time, a lot of hours and prioritizing it over other aspects of life which you also value. It also is not all ‘glamorous’, but it is definitely rewarding, and I couldn’t be more thankful for my experiences and my ‘key people’ that have gotten me here as well as the current opportunity that I have with this impressive group of players and staff. Go Canada Go! And all the best to all of the UBC MPT students!

Samantha Smith, BHK’15, MPT’18

Competing at the Olympics has been one of Samantha’s goals for a very long time and her dream becomes a reality this year. Learn about how her UBC MPT degree set her up for success as she heads to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics competing in trampoline gymnastics.

Who do you work for and what is your job title? 

I work as a physiotherapist. I work in private practice at a clinic called East Vancouver Sports and Rehabilitation clinic. I also work as a community physiotherapist with Vancouver Coastal Health.

What drew you to pursuing a Master of Physical Therapy (MPT) degree at UBC?

I was drawn to the field of physiotherapy because I love sport and activity. Therefore, I wanted to work in a capacity where I could enable others to live healthy active lives. I completed my undergraduate degree at UBC Okanagan. I had a really fantastic experience, and so I wanted to stay at UBC Vancouver to complete my Master of Physical Therapy (MPT) degree.

What is one thing that you are taking with you from your experience in the MPT program?

I am taking with me a great crew of colleagues! Physiotherapy school was a team effort. With my classmates, we practiced our techniques on each other, supported each other, and shared resources and strategies to succeed. We formed really strong bonds and post-graduation have maintained a close network of competent physiotherapists.

What did you enjoy most about the program or what is your favorite memory from your time in at UBC?

Samantha competing at the Pan American Games where she won gold in the Trampoline Women’s Individual event. Photo courtesy of Samantha Smith.

My favorite memory from my degree is from my clinical placement in Prince George, BC. It was a really amazing chance to get to know my classmates, and to really feel integrated in the community. There were about 5 UBC students at various clinics and hospitals in the city, and we explored places like Powder King and Jasper together on our weekends. I lived with a really great family who was absolutely wonderful to me. The clinicians at my placement went out of their way to include me in after-work activities. The faculty in Prince George had all the students over for dinner. The local gymnastics club was also really welcoming and lovely. Plus, I got to take my classmates to drop-in gymnastics and share my love for the sport with them! It was my first time living in a smaller community, and I had a really fantastic experience.

What is one piece of advice you have for students entering the MPT program?

My one piece of advice would be to be to keep an open mind regarding your clinical placements. I remember poring over the list of placement options, really hoping I got my top choices.  On multiple occasions, I was matched with placements that were not even on the list. These turned out to be some of my best experiences. The field of physiotherapy is so wide! Though many of us come into the program with a strong idea of where we would like to work afterwards, it is critical that we be open to all the possibilities.

As you look ahead, what (or who) inspires you?

My teammates inspire me! This past year has been a rollercoaster in the gym. We have faced many challenges imposed by COVID-19. We also had additional challenges with finding a facility after we lost our gym in New Westminster; the roof collapsed during a snowy winter in my first year of grad school. Through it all, my teammates have continued to show up and support each other. We have become really close friends this year. They have inspired me to do my absolute best here in Tokyo, and to keep working hard in the gym when I get home.

Name one thing on your bucket list. Have you completed it?

Competing at the Olympics has always been on my bucket list! I am so fortunate to be able to check this one off here in Tokyo!

What are you doing at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics? 

I will be competing in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. My discipline is Trampoline Gymnastics. We compete on July 30th (July 29th in Canada).

Samantha being welcomed at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Photo courtesy of Samantha Smith.

How did your experience in the MPT program prepare you for working with Olympic athletes? 

My clinical experiences at UBC have taught me many valuable skills. For example, my placement at the Vancouver Sports and Physiotherapy clinic taught me really great techniques, but also helped me build local connections in the sport physiotherapy community. My preceptor there actually recommended me to the sports clinic where I currently practice.

What does it mean to you to be able to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics?

For me, competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics shows me exactly what I am capable of when I persevere. My original life plan involved competing in the 2016 Olympics before starting graduate school that fall.  When I failed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics, I kept training during my degree, and now have the opportunity to compete here in Tokyo!

What else do you want to add about your experience? 

I am thankful for the opportunity to have completed my schooling at UBC! Nestled between Wreck beach and Pacific Spirit Forest Park, UBC was a beautiful setting to complete graduate school.

The creation of the MSAC from eyes of one of its founders, Dr. Richard Beauchamp, MD’71

Dr. Richard Beauchamp, MD’71 was the third President of the UBC Medical Alumni Association (MAA), established in 1984 by a group of alumni committed to creating a building specifically for medical students to form connections and sense of belonging. The UBC Faculty of Medicine Alumni Engagement Office recently reached out to Dr. Beauchamp to hear his recollections of the Medical Student and Alumni Centre (MSAC) and the early days of the MAA.

Passersby often look at the building on the northeast corner of Heather Street and West 12th Avenue in Vancouver with curiosity. This low, stone building situated among tall, glass research centres and hospital buildings, is the MSAC, an integral part of the UBC medical school experience for over 30 years.

Dr. David Hardwick, MD’57, LLD’01, a pediatric pathologist and professor, special advisor, and alumnus of the UBC Faculty of Medicine for more than 60 years, spearheaded the idea of creating the MSAC. He recognized the importance of social and recreational space for students to build belonging and community, and felt alumni had the responsibility to making a lasting impact on the lives of students. In the early 1980s, Dr. Hardwick recruited alumni to join him in this endeavor, including Dr. Richard Beauchamp, MD’71, a budding pediatric orthopaedic surgeon at that time.

“A core group of alumni would meet in the Vancouver General Hospital Heather Pavilion cafeteria and kind of became a family,” Dr. Beauchamp recalls. “We were a very collegial group. I think that’s why we were successful in building the MSAC.” This group included Drs. Curtis Latham, BA’58, MD’62, Chuck Sloneker, William Webber, MD’58, LLD’00, Hardwick, and himself, and in 1984, MAA was established to formalize this group of alumni volunteers. While Dr. Beauchamp was the third President of the UBC MAA, there was no hierarchy between this group of friends as they worked diligently to create the MSAC, emboldened by their passion to make a difference. Two important parts of this massive undertaking were money and the location. The MAA organized three highly successful fundraisers where over 20 students and alumni phoned alumni across British Columbia.

From left, Drs. David Hardwick, MD’57, LLD’01, William Webber, MD’58, Richard Beauchamp, and Curtis Latham, BA’58, MD’62

“I would get off work and we would get on the phones from 7 to 9 pm at the General Services Administration Building on Westbrook Mall and University Boulevard,” Dr. Beauchamp remembers. “Dr. Hardwick was cheerleading and rallying us on. It was a lot of fun.”

The phone fundraisers raised $160,000 in total pledges, equivalent to over $300,000 in 2021 terms, enough to construct Phase One of the building.

The other part of the equation was the location. At the time, alumni had few opportunities to visit the Point Grey campus after graduation. UBC Hospital was not built yet, so alumni would receive their training in hospitals in central Vancouver. The more accessible location was near Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), where most alumni were working after graduation. When the property at West 12th Avenue and Heather Street became available, Dr. Hardwick negotiated with VGH to lease the land. At groundbreaking, a research laboratory near the MSAC site wanted to expand their facilities and offered a room on the top floor for medical alumni and students. But the alumni group was adamant that the centre needed to be a self-contained, singular building, and the rest is history.

In 1990, the MSAC Vancouver grand opening included a ribbon cutting ceremony led by then Dean of the UBC Faculty of Medicine, Martin Hollenberg. “It was a sunny day and the grass was green. It was a wonderful feeling,” recounts Dr. Beauchamp.

MSAC Vancouver on opening day, March 17, 1990

During fundraising and construction, students did not know much about the MSAC. But as third and fourth year-students worked in their clerkships at VGH, the building’s exposure to the students grew and the building was more heavily used. In addition, MSAC became the space to hold Friday evening parties called “weepers,” leading to more interactions between students, residents and alumni.

The MSAC grew from there, with Phase Two of the building opening in 1996 creating a fitness gym and offices for staff, and in 2004, an underground locker room and a time capsule wall for medical classes to keep special memorabilia. As the MD program expanded to the distributed sites, the need to provide space for students in those areas also grew. In 2015 and 2017, the MSAC expanded to the Victoria and Prince George respectively, providing students in the Island Medical Program and Northern Medical Program access to space for non-academic activities.

Dr. Beauchamp, now retired and living between Galiano Island and Tsawwassen, is glad the MSAC exists for future generations of medical students. He grew up in Nelson, B.C. and remembers feeling apprehensive about moving to Vancouver to attend medical school in 1967. His fears were alleviated as he quickly became friends with his classmates.

“At the time, our medical class was only 60 students,” Dr. Beauchamp recalls, “It was really easy to get to know one another as we spent most of our first and second years constantly working, studying and doing labs together.”

Today, the MSAC is a “home away from home” that allows thousands of medical students a greater opportunity to create connections with each other through social and recreational activities. And if the bonds between Dr. Beauchamp’s classmates is any indication (they recently celebrated their 50th anniversary with a virtual reunion with 36 classmates across Canada, the United States and Australia), future medical students can expect to form even stronger connections.

As a gym, student lounge, space for collaboration, place for students to flourish and create lifelong friendships, and so much more, the MSAC Vancouver is a vital part of the medical school experience and stands as a legacy to the cooperation between UBC students and alumni.

Webinar: Translating discovery to transform health: Untold stories from medical research on July 14th