Following the Path of Medicine: Dayna Austin '12

Dayna Austin ‘12 is a Family Medicine Resident at the University of Ottawa. When Dayna was deciding which path she wanted to take in her career, there were a lot of factors that attracted her to medicine. She has always been fascinated by science, particularly biology and the human body. During her undergraduate degree she developed an interest in the social determinants of health, which is how larger societal structures affect an individual patient’s health.

“I was lucky enough to volunteer on an emergency response team at McGill, where I really enjoyed the interactions with patients and the training,” Dayna says. “I thought medicine would be something that I could be excited about doing for the rest of my life. That was the most important thing in the end, as the hours, energy, and commitment required for medicine are only worth it if it’s really something you love. And I do love it.”

One of Dayna’s favourite parts of her residency is having more continuity in the care that she can provide for her patients. The Family Medicine program at the University of Ottawa has a longitudinal care component, which means she can follow patients’ health journey rather than seeing them for one-off appointments. “This relationship building is part of the reason I chose Family Medicine as my path,” she says.

A challenging component of residency for Dayna is the increased autonomy. “Compared to medical school, the degree of oversight from staff in residency is much less, which is appropriate for our level of training. However, I found the change to be stressful at the beginning of residency,” says Dayna. Luckily, she had a lot of support from her colleagues and mentors, and adjusted quickly to the change.

We were happy to hear that Dayna’s time at Greenwood helped her pave the way towards her future endeavors. “I developed a lot as a person during my time at Greenwood. I learned the importance of serving my community, the excitement of pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, and the joy of collaborative learning. All of these traits are important for medicine and for life, and I am very grateful to the Greenwood community for helping me to become the person and physician that I am today.”

One piece of advice Dayna would give to someone interested in the field of medicine is to do what interests you and not what’s expected of you. Throughout Dayna’s undergrad, she was often told to do lab research in medical school. She tried it and knew it wasn’t for her, so instead explored other projects and interests. “In the end, having done something I cared about rather than what I ‘should’ do served me well,” says Dayna.