Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) is pleased to welcome two new Family Medicine Residents.
Dr. J. Andrew Lanz-O’Brien and Dr. Brent Rowden, residents from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, began their post-graduate training at CKHA in early July.
“Residencies are an excellent opportunity to showcase Chatham-Kent Health Alliance and everything that Chatham-Kent’s rural setting has to offer young physicians and their families,” says Lori Marshall, President & CEO, CKHA.
For the next two years, these residents will live in Chatham-Kent and gain experience with local physicians who provide support and direction to complete the hands-on portion of their medical training. The Chatham-Kent program offers the opportunity to learn and practice medicine in a more rural environment with a variety of learning opportunities in both inpatient and outpatient medicine.
Dr. Lanz-O’Brien grew up in Blenheim, Ontario and attended Western University where he obtained his Honours Specialization in Actuarial Science and worked as a researcher from 2011 to 2012. He worked for two years as an Actuarial Analyst and Programmer before attending Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry where he earned a Doctor of Medicine. Upon graduation, Dr. Lanz-O’Brien was awarded the Dr. R. Gibb McGugan Award for being accepted into a Family Medicine Rural/Regional Training Program.
“The main attraction of any place is the people who inhabit it – and Chatham-Kent has some of the best I’ve known,” says Dr. Lanz-O’Brien. “I love the sense of community found in small town life. I can greet everyone I walk past because I’ve known them for years, and people feel they can still drop in and visit without having to call ahead.”
Dr. Rowden grew up in St. Thomas, Ontario. He obtained a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Environmental Science at Western University in 2012 and then attended Queens University where he earned a Masters of Public Administration in 2013. Also in 2013, he worked in Accra, Ghana, at the Ghana Coalition of NGO’s in Health as a Program Developer where he developed a monitoring and evaluation system for an AIDS reduction program. Dr. Rowden then attended Wayne State University School of Medicine, in Detroit, Michigan where he earned his Doctor of Medicine in 2018.
“I always knew I wanted to work in a small town, rural setting. Coming from St. Thomas I could appreciate the charm and opportunities CKHA and the Chatham-Kent community could offer to my wife and myself,” says Dr. Rowden.
“After touring the CKHA facility and meeting some of the people, I knew that Chatham-Kent was the only place I wanted to train at and we couldn’t be happier to join the community.”
Dr. Lanz-O’Brien join second-year Family Medicine Residents Drs. Aaron Gross, Adam McDowall, and Hina Jhawer, as well as, first-year resident Dr. Rob Wismer.
For more information about CKHA please visit, www.ckha.on.ca.
