Jen-Ai has been enjoying beautiful BC for the last 9 years, ever since a fateful phone call from UBC altered her life path. Offered a full scholarship to UBC, this small-town Ontarian girl would eventually forgo her childhood dreams of becoming a long-haul truck driver, to attend UBC medical school.
For over a decade, Jen-Ai has run a non-profit organization dedicated to improving global health inequities. Like any good emerg resident, Jen-Ai always goes the extra mile(s). Five flights, two buses and what can only be described as “a bit of a walk” later, she arrived in rural Tanzania. From single-handedly fighting off hordes of mosquitoes to sleeping rough without running water or electricity, extreme conditions have only strengthened her ability to engage with and advocate for underserved communities. Fuelled by this same passion for advocacy, she fell in love with Emergency Medicine for its unique opportunities to serve marginalized populations.
Outside of medicine, Jen-Ai is a gardening guru who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. Her pet orange tree is one of the world’s most well-travelled (it has flown across Canada more times than we care to count), and she is the only EM resident to have successfully grown a tropical pineapple in gloomy Vancouver. Can’t find Jen-Ai in the garden? She’s probably in the kitchen cooking up some fiery exotic cuisine with one (or more) of the 18 types of chilli peppers growing in her garden.