Meet Michael Negraeff

Anesthesiologist and Pain medicine specialist at VGH

Your VCH contribution. Tell us what you do at VCH:
I work on Spine Unit CP9 treating the more complex patients with acute pain and chronic pain.  They have spinal cord injury, or major spinal corrections, or cancer in the spine.

Many of these patients come to see me later in my outpatient pain practice in the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre in the Brenda and David McLean Integrated Spine Clinic.
I have worked in these settings since January 2003, after returning from Sydney Australia where I completed a Pain Medicine Fellowship and was the first Australian certified pain medicine specialist in Canada.  There was no Canadian certification at the time, and still isn’t, but that will change by 2014 with a new Royal College pain medicine specialty coming online.

The other aspect of my work is as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Pain BC, a non-profit society in BC since 2008, whose mission is to reduce the burden of pain on individuals, families, and society through the use of advocacy, engagement, education, and knowledge translation strategies. I am extremely proud of our Board, Executive Director, and countless volunteers on our committees that make this endeavor worthwhile and rewarding.  Our annual interdisciplinary education conference is coming up in Burnaby Oct 19-20th.

Three things you always have in your fridge:
Chopped veggies (thank you, my wife); maple syrup; and beer!

Your favourite hobby:
Birding.

Most healthy habit:
Riding my handcycle to work whenever I can.

What makes you happy:
Having time to behave like a flaneur, sitting idly in a coffee shop, journaling, reading, and watching the world go by.  (This is better in Tuscany, one of my favorite vacation spots)