Dr. Jessica Otte

Dr. Jessica Otte is a first year resident in the Family Medicine Program at the University of British Columbia's Nanaimo site. Active in International Health, she started blogging in 2006 as a way to prepare for an elective with the Himalayan Health Exchange and another with a small Nepali-run clinic in Chapagoan, Nepal. Since then, she has done electives in Cambodia and Vietnam, and now maintains a blog about life as a resident at http://drottematic.wordpress.com. Playing hockey, being involved in resident politics on the Board of Directors of PAR-BC, and work with Canadian charities (most recently fundraising with the Ski for MS event) occupies the rest of her time.

CAIR asked Dr. Otte the following questions:

When did you realize you wanted to practice medicine?

I'm not really sure when it clicked. I knew that I needed a career to require my heart, my hands, and my mind, and I think sometime early in university, I realized that medicine was the only thing that offered it all.

Why did you choose your specialty?

It was down to the wire with CaRMS, and I knew that I wanted my life to be full of variety. The only specialty that could allow me to constantly grow and change, and even alter my career path drastically as I saw fit, was Family Practice. Needing to connect with patients is a fundamental part of the job, and the appeal of that privilege was undeniable.

Who inspires you, as a physician?

There are so many: Atul Gawande, for his sharing inspiring and unique ideas in medicine with the general public, V.S. Ramachandran because he oozes passion about mysteries of the brain, and Roberta Bondar because she worked her butt off to get into outer space. Of those I've worked with, I look up to Kevin Patterson, a physician/author who cares about peoples stories and Jeff Beselt, a small town GP who moved his whole family to a desolate place (Fort Ware) where he is making a true difference. Even though he's not a physician, my dad has had a lot to do with my career; he got laid-off from a labour job in his 40s, so he decided to go back to school and became an OR nurse; the window into his world at work was probably my first real exposure to the joys and grief - and humour - of medicine. My mom still groans when I visit, as my dad and I resume our medically graphic discussions over dinner.

Where would you like your medical career to take you?

While I will always call Canada home, I am a wanderer. I do love participating in Global Health, but I think we have to adopt a careful strategy of capacity building for sustainable projects, rather than promote brigade-style medicine. Part of my heart was left in Nepal and I'm hoping to return. Down the road, I would be pleased to find locum tenens that put me in the great white north, or placements overseas where I could improve my German or French. I really enjoy working with a team, and wouldn't be surprised to find myself working as a hospitalist at some point, and I foresee that my passion for writing will persist.


What is your favourite on-call food?

Vending machine Kernels' popcorn.

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