Page 7 - Annual Report 2016-17

Margaret, Emily

MARVIN NONA This incident made him realize the importance of following
HIGH SCHOOL doctor’s instructions. It was a bittersweet end to Marven’s
5 months here with us at TWH. He became part of the
Marven’s dream is to become an Orthopedic Surgeon. TWH family, formed relationships with staff, patients and
He has always been interested in bones, the skeleton volunteers alike. From waking up early to commute 1 ½
and how it works. But what happens when your dream hours down to Toronto from Brampton every day, to
and your fears coincide? Marven says that he never gaining medical knowledge, and being able to observe the
wanted to set foot in a hospital but knew to become a real hospital experience and not the one shown on
Surgeon one day; he would have to face that fear. television.
Through the Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) This experience enabled him to grow as an individual, meet
Program at his high school St. Marguerite d’Youville in new people, and it nally solidi ed for him, that his dream
Brampton, he was given an opportunity to come to of becoming the orthopedic surgeon he always wanted to
Toronto Western Hospital and see if a career in be is attainable.
healthcare was really for him. The SHSM program lets
students focus on a career path that matches their Page 5
skills and interests while meeting the requirements of
the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. Marven spent
his semester, moving between the fracture clinic,
visiting patients, navigating, the critical care unit, u
campaign, patient surveys, Take Our Kids To Work day
and more.
He remembers that a nurse on one of the inpatient
units told him “Life is 10% what you are given and 90%
what you make of it” and that stuck with him. With this
outlook, he quickly formed relationships with staff in
the fracture clinic, at the information desk, and with
patients in the in-patient units.
Marven’s time in the fracture clinic was his favourite.
From being welcomed by the team with open arms, to
being seen as an equal whose role was vital to the
clinic running smoothly. It was also the place where
one moment with a patient stopped him in his tracks
and caused him to re ect. He recalls a patient who
came in with a broken foot. He was very vocal and
upset that he had to be off his feet for 6-8 weeks. A
few weeks passed then Marven saw the same patient
in the clinic again, but this time he was missing that
foot. It had been amputated because he had refused to
be off his feet as instructed, and, as a result, the foot
became infected.