Editor’s note: In celebration of National Philanthropy Day on Nov. 15, Western News features the story of one student who benefited from one donor, a story repeated thousands of times across this campus.
Talk to Dr. Alison Fine, MD’13, and it’s no wonder she’s humbled to have received an award named for an exceptional mentor.
“During my family medicine clerkship, I observed the way Dr. Winterburn was so amazing in being present and available to her patients,” said Fine, who completed her medical training at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. “She went above and beyond to help others, accepted everyone as they were and treated them with great respect and care.”
Fine first met Family Medicine professor Dr. Dana Winterburn when she invited the doctor to address Western students involved with an aboriginal health advocacy group.
“She talked passionately about helping those who lived at residential schools and the huge challenges they face today,” Fine said. “And she shared how she related to them with empathy, trying to understand their history, culture and lives and what care they would need. For me, she demonstrated that every person, no matter what they’ve experienced in life, needs to be heard.”
That encounter – and her family medicine clerkship with the doctor – left an impression on Fine, the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Dana Winterburn Memorial Award.
“She was always willing to give of herself, offering a gentle approach to her patients,” Fine said. “I want to take that legacy – of respect, compassion and care – with me into my future medical practice.”
These are the same values the late Winterburn carried through life. The first Aboriginal graduate from the University of Alberta medical program, she completed her certification in Family Medicine at Western in 1996. After serving as a family physician in southwestern Ontario for many years, she joined Schulich’s Department of Family Medicine in 2004 and worked as a teaching doctor at the Byron Family Medicine Clinic (BFMC) in London. The 50-year-old Winterburn was killed in a car accident in April 2012.
Her sudden death prompted an outpouring of grief from family, friends, patients and colleagues – but also a tremendous wave of generosity.
“When I heard the news of her death, like everyone else, I was completely shocked to lose such an exceptional doctor and friend,” says Dr. John Sangster, a physician at BFMC, who had known Winterburn since 1994. “She was one of those rare individuals who integrated the art and science of medicine.”
For Sangster and his colleagues, they wanted to honour her memory in some way. With the support of Winterburn’s family, they helped establish a memorial fund at Western. In the days and weeks after the tragedy, family members, patients and friends contributed to the fund, each one giving as a tribute to what Winterburn had given to them.
More than 100 donors contributed a total of $26,000 to the endowed fund (enough to present a $1,000 memorial award every year in perpetuity). The following May, Fine was named the first recipient.
“Our team lost an exceptional colleague and wonderful physician, but we’re pleased that promising doctors, like Alison, will continue Dana’s passion for family and Aboriginal health,” Sangster said.
Fine is doing just that. She is completing a two-year medical residency focused on aboriginal health. During her first year, she received training in Winnipeg hospitals, all in preparation for going to remote and fly-in communities in northern Manitoba, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Over the next 12 months, she will be spending a week or up to three months providing medical care for the people in these isolated areas, sometimes being the only resident in the community.
“My hope,” she said, “is to approach everyone I meet in these isolated communities with patience and understanding.”