Dr. Frank Battaglia is a fifth-year resident specializing in emergency medicine. As a leading teaching hospital, HHS welcomes about 250 new residents each year in partnership with McMaster University’s postgraduate medical education program. Combined with returning residents, this amounts to more than 1,200 residents working at HHS sites at any one time.
Medical residents are often called doctors in training. While true, this can also sound misleading because it implies they’re training to become physicians when, in fact, they’ve already earned medical degrees and the title Doctor.
After graduating from medical school, new doctors are required to spend two to six years or more in a residency training program. The length varies depending on their area of focus. For example, a family practice resident trains for two years, while a neurosurgery resident trains for six years.
“Residents are essential to academic teaching hospitals like HHS.” — Dr. Alison Fox-Robichaud, HHS director of medical education
Residents work at teaching hospitals like Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) where they hone their skills in the area of medicine they’re specializing in and provide around-the-clock care to inpatients under the supervision of a senior physician. The level of care residents provide, and number of patients they care for at one time, depends on their years of training.
As a leading teaching hospital, HHS welcomes about 250 new residents each year in partnership with McMaster University’s postgraduate medical education program. Combined with returning residents, this amounts to more than 1,200 residents working at HHS sites at any one time.
Most HHS residents earned their medical degrees in Ontario, while some are from other parts of Canada, the United States and international medical schools. Once their residency is complete, some will go on to independent practice while others may pursue fellowships, which provide additional training in their specialty, before seeking a credentialed appointment at hospital, setting up a private practice or some combination of the two.
“Residents are essential to academic teaching hospitals like HHS,” says Dr. Alison Fox-Robichaud, the hospital’s director of medical education. “They’re the front-line providers for many patients, and they are the doctors providing night-time care for our inpatients. This includes working shifts of up to 24 hours to provide care.”
At the same time, they’re also learners with varying degrees of experience and independence depending on what year they’re in. “There’s always a most-responsible physician on site or on-call to support residents, and these senior physicians are ultimately responsible for overseeing patient care,” says Fox-Robichaud.
But senior physicians aren’t the only ones responsible for supporting residents as they gain hospital experience. Everyone who works at a teaching hospital plays a role, from nurses to allied health-care professionals like respiratory therapists, x-ray technicians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers.
“We’re all lifelong learners regardless of where we are on our careers,” says Fox-Robichaud. “It’s everyone’s responsibility as part of a teaching hospital to support learners at every stage of their development.”
Meet three resident doctors, and find out more about their contributions to HHS:
Dr. Frank Battaglia, fifth-year resident, emergency medicine
“Everyone we work with teaches us something different, and this makes us better physicians and better team members.”
“We truly learn from everyone inside the hospital,” says Dr. Frank Battaglia, who’s in his fifth and final year of his residency specializing in emergency medicine. “Everyone we work with teaches us something different, and this makes us better physicians and better team members.”
Battaglia says he’s especially grateful to nursing colleagues. “They share their advice and knowledge, and I absolutely value their input and their willingness to work as a team. It makes patient care better and it makes residents feel well supported.”
Respiratory therapists have also been valued teachers, he says. “They’re incredibly knowledgeable, and excellent trouble-shooters.” They’re responsible for assessing, caring for and monitoring patients who have difficulty breathing to ensure they get the support they need. This includes inserting breathing tubes, managing ventilators and breathing masks, and monitoring medication.
Battaglia also has high praise for the teams of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers supporting his patients. “These health-care professionals are a wonderful collection of altruistic and caring individuals who work together to support the psycho-social aspect of medicine,” he says. “Some of my most meaningful conversations in medicine have been with this group.”
Battaglia’s first year of residency started in July 2020, just a few months after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. “The first two years were very much COVID-focused. As a junior resident I got really excellent medical training as an emergency doctor. It was challenging, but I think it made me a better doctor.”
Battaglia is also passionate about the management and leadership aspects of emergency medicine, and is on the board of directors for the Professional Association of Residents of Ontario (PARO), the organization representing residents across the province.
Dr. Ghazal Haddad, third-year resident, internal medicine
“This specialty, in particular, can involve a lot of detective work when diagnosing patients.”
Third-year resident Dr. Ghazal Haddad loves solving medical mysteries. It’s what attracted her to internal medicine, caring for patients in hospital for reasons other than surgery, such as cardiac and respiratory illnesses or gastrointestinal issues.
“This specialty, in particular, can involve a lot of detective work when diagnosing patients,” says Haddad, who also enjoys opportunities that internal medicine provides to build close relationships with patients and their families. “I really enjoy the human aspect of providing care.”
Haddad grew up in Iran, coming to Canada for her undergraduate and medical school degrees at University of Toronto before being accepted into McMaster’s residency program.
Once she completes her residency, she plans to take additional training to pursue a subspecialty as a critical care doctor working in intensive care.
“With medicine, learning is lifelong,” says Haddad, who also appreciates opportunities to learn from a broad range of health-care professionals at HHS.
“We absolutely ask questions of nursing teams and allied health teams,” she says, adding, “This is something we’re very encouraged to do as residents. For example, intensive care units are staffed with highly-experienced nurses who understand where residents are in their learning pathway, and they are always willing to share their expertise.”
Dr. Pearl Abdulkadir, first-year resident, medical microbiologist
“Reaching this point involved a lot of studying, learning, writing exams and understanding a new health care system and culture.”
Each year of residency begins on July 1, and Dr. Pearl Abdulkadir is among the newest cohort to work at HHS having started just a few weeks ago. Her goal is to complete a five-year residency that will qualify her to practice medicine as a medical microbiologist in a hospital or public health lab.
Abdulkadir earned her medical degree in Nigeria, where she worked as a general practitioner caring for patients before moving to Canada four years ago with a dream to qualify as a doctor here.
“I didn’t feel that I could practice medicine to my full potential in Nigeria,” says Abdulkadir, who worked in the private sector after coming to in Canada, in infection prevention and control role for a private long-term care organization, while studying for and writing the licensing exams to practice medicine here.
Though she wasn’t working as a physician initially, experiencing the world of infection prevention and control inspired her to pursue this specialty through her residency, with the goal of working as a physician in a microbiology lab.
But she’s not working in a hospital lab yet. Her first placement was an internal medicine rotation at HHS Hamilton General Hospital, caring for patients, and she will visit other hospital sites for rotations involving direct patient care before specializing in lab work.
“It’s been a really good experience good so far,” says Abdulkadir, who’s happy for all the experiences her residency is providing.
“Reaching this point involved a lot of studying, learning, writing exams and understanding a new health care system and culture,” she says. “But I’m grateful I’m here now.”
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