New faculty
Dr. Surya Shah
Assistant professor of pediatrics
Dr. Surya Shah has
accepted a full-time faculty position after several years of association with the medical
school and the Janeway Child Health Care Centre. A specialist in pediatric cardiology, he
is one of two physicians (along with Dr. S. Virmani) who meet the needs of the province's
young cardiac patients.
Dr. Shah did his medical degree at Makerere College in Uganda, followed by postgraduate studies in pediatrics where he met Memorial's Dr. Don Hillman. In 1985 he moved to St. Anthony to join the Grenfell Mission, where he and his family learned to enjoy a different climate and the joys of winter sports like skiing and skating. During this time, Dr. Shah travelled extensively along the coast and Labrador, bringing pediatric care to small communities.
He came to the Janeway in 1990 to do a residency in pediatrics to faille Canadian requirements. Recognizing that there was a shortage of pediatric cardiologists in the province, he pursued a fellowship in pediatric cardiology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton starting in 1994. He returned to the province in July of 1996 to take up a position at the Janeway Child Health Centre. He has always enjoyed teaching, and welcomes his new responsibilities as program director for pediatrics. The pediatric postgraduate program has 16 residents.
In terms of clinical work, Dr. Shah's practice largely involves non-invasive interventions -- echocardiography and some cardiac catheterization. Children have to travel to Ottawa or Halifax for major cardiac surgery although cardiac surgeon Dr. Cornel does come twice a year to St. John's to operate on simpler cases. Dr. Shah is also involved in outreach clinics in Corner Brook, Grand Falls and Goose Bay. Plans are to include Gander and St. Anthony in these outreach efforts. He also helps out with pediatric coverage at the Janeway and at Goose Bay.
Dr. Rhonda Vardy
Assistant professor of psychiatry
Dr.
Rhonda Vardy (class of 1989) is one of four child psychiatrists based at the Janeway Child
Health Centre; all are now full-time faculty members. Ideally, there should be six child
psychiatrists at the Janeway and 10 in total to serve the province.
The shortage means a heavy workload, plus the necessity of providing services through travelling clinics.
Besides obtaining her medical degree at Memorial, Dr. Vardy also did postgraduate training here, including an extra six-month fellowship in child psychiatry. She did not enter the psychiatry program immediately after graduation; she first completed an internship at the Ottawa Civic Hospital and worked as a general practitioner in Ottawa for several years before returning to Newfoundland.
Dr. Vardy was born in Labrador City and keeps up her connections with that area of the province by travelling there for psychiatric clinics several times a year. She recognizes that most areas of the province have little access to child psychiatry services, and would like to see the number of clinics increase if the number of child psychiatrists increases.
The impending move to the Health Sciences Centre will give the child psychiatrists a better location with hopefully more room for children and adolescents. Dr. Vardy also sees it as an advantage because it will cut down the amount of time spent travelling between the Janeway and the medical school for academic duties, as well as providing easier access to facilities like Health Sciences Library.
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