Damian was born in Ottawa but raised by the mountains in BC and New Zealand. How, might you ask? Well, refusing to become an adult, Damian graduated high school then hopped on a flight to Vancouver. Although Whistler Park was a softer place to fall than the ice in Quebec, he needed more, so he travelled between Kelowna and Queenstown, New Zealand, for a few years and worked in the snowboard industry.
After five back-to-back winters, Damian decided it was time to hang up his snowboard and hit the books. He moved back to Vancouver for an undergrad in Life Science and Chemistry at UBC and bought himself a fixed gear bicycle. Given that his resume was still essentially a series of snowboard shops, he could not believe his eyes when he saw the offer of admission email from UBC Medical School.
Considering his favourite pastimes—he has even worn bike shorts on shift—you might think that choosing emergency medicine was obvious. However, what really inspired him was being able to help people no matter what their need may be.
Matching to UBC Emergency Medicine Interior is second only to his greatest achievement of winning the prestigious preceptor-chosen award for the medical student with the shortest pants in the world. Rumour has it he cycled over the Coq and walked into the department with a POCUS in one hand and his bike helmet in the other. When not on shift, Damian can be found trying to become an academic emergency physician and hanging with his partner playing fetch with their ferocious toy poodle.