Student successes
Kristie Foreman has a clear goal to become a doctor
I need to help, I have to help!
Kristie Foreman wears her heart on her sleeve and is determined to use this passion to help save lives around the globe. Her comment “I was in tears” is typical of the pain she feels when she sees people suffering. It was during a visit to St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada when she knew she wanted to be a doctor – a ‘Doctors Without Borders’. “Witnessing a stroke victim in a hospital with only one CT Scanner, who desperately needed a scan but couldn’t afford one, broke my heart; I need to help, I have to help!”
“As a teen, I was inspired by a series of books by Lurlene McDaniel about terminally ill children and my all time hero is James Orbinski, the Canadian physician and humanitarian activist who was past president of MSF (International Council of Médecins Sans Frontières (aka Doctors Without Borders). I’ve read his book, An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action for the 21st Century and I’d love to have a face-to-face with him.”
A three time award winner and Dean’s Honour Roll student of the School of Arts & Science, Kristie is in her 2nd year of the Associate of Science Degree program and is busy working on her entrance to pre-med school at St. George’s.
Tell me what you like best about Camosun?
“The teachers here are awesome! You can relate to them; they know your name and they’re willing to help and the new library is beautiful. ”
And she has related to them. Both she and Jamie Doran, her Immunology instructor, watch ‘Being Erica’.
“Kristie sits in the front row of every class. She is extremely hard-working and has an unrelenting drive to succeed academically at the highest possible level. Her recent test paper was a virtual answer sheet for the exam” states Jamie.
Kristie’s belief in the power of positive thinking and motto ‘excellence is a habit’ is clearly working.
I understand you volunteer a lot. Can you describe to me one of your volunteering efforts which touched you the most?
“It was definitely my visit to St. George’s Hospital this past summer. Volunteering has had a huge impact on me and my career decisions. I have spent time listening to the elderly on the wards of Victoria General Hospital and washing children’s toy on the pediatric floor observing the sick kids as they fight for survival. I hope my next volunteer job will be in Africa!”
Someone close to us always seem to have a significant influence on what we do with our lives, who is that person for you?
“My mom…she’s my rock. We have something not a lot of mother/daughters have – we are best friends and I couldn’t be where I am today without her. She’s the strongest woman I know and she knows about life and has always been there to listen and give advice.”
Cadavers and sutures, travelling, saving lives, London School of Tropical Medicine, living as an intern-in-residence in New York and leaving Victoria are all in the cards for Kristie. She’ll miss her mom when she starts on her humanitarian journey but we can feel comforted to know that those in most need will benefit from her love and compassion. Think of Haiti and the Cholera epidemic and when Kristie is trained and ready, we’ll see her at the frontline in a similar situation.
