Dr Marla Gordon: For the love of teaching

For Dr Marla Gordon, working with the elderly is a joy she wants to share with other doctors new to residential care practice.  “I love hearing their life stories and lessons,” says Dr Gordon. “Medically I find it very challenging and rewarding to help people in their later years when they are faced with many challenges and losses.”

It is Dr Gordon’s dedication towards broadening her colleagues’ awareness of elder care that earned her the BC College of Family Physicians Award of Excellence at the BC Family Physicians Conference last October. The award of excellence recognizes physician members who have made an outstanding contribution to a specific area – and in Dr Gordon’s case, it is teaching.

More peaceful, caring end-of-life care

Dr Gordon recently assumed the position of Vancouver Community Medical Director of Residential Care and is currently working on a number of projects to make end-of-life experience in residential care be a peaceful and caring one for clients.

One of the educational projects she is facilitating is a mentorship program for new doctors in residential care. Partnered with the Vancouver Division of Family Practice, Dr Gordon matches new doctors with more senior physicians who plan to retire in the next few years.  She hopes this will help offset a potential shortage in residential care practice and benefit Vancouver residents.

“I actually got this idea from teaching medical students and residents,” said Gordon. “I found that most of my family practice residents who I taught went onto residential care work solely because of the exposure they had with me. A good mentor can influence and inspire new doctors into becoming passionate, innovative leaders.”

New elective course for medical students

Dr Gordon also volunteered to teach an elective course in residential care at UBC to medical students. Until then Dr Gordon said there was no residential care training save for one afternoon in first year, which is a visit to a nursing home.

Through her teaching efforts, Dr. Gordon has touched the lives of many. “We need more teachers like Marla,” says Dr Janice Wong, a physician at Brock Fahrni residential care facility in Vancouver and mentee of Dr Gordon’s. “With her passion and enthusiasm for elder care she is drawing attention to an area of great need and showing younger physicians, like me, the joys, rewards, and deep satisfaction of serving and bringing quality of life to our patients and their families.”

With files from PHC News