WEBVTT

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Today we're at the Canadian Forces
Health Services Center, Ottawa.

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We are meeting with Lieutenant Commander
Ajiri Ikede, a Medical Officer

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who has some amazing experiences
to share with us.

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You can come grab me in my office.

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Okay. Perfect.

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Hey, Ajiri You ready to do this?

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Absolutely. So,
as a medical officer, you are.

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What kind of physician? I'm
a family doctor.

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And in the military, I'm providing family
medicine coverage for military members.

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Oh, wow. You're the family doctor
to our forces.

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That's so cool.

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Yes it is.

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So what's on the agenda for today?

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Well, today I have a number of patients
to see and some charting.

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Do all medical officers
work in an environment like this?

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Well, not exactly.

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It depends on what type of base
that you happen to be posted to.

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So you could be working
in a clinic environment.

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You can be working
in the field environment.

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And if you happen to be working on an

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Air Force base, you might be doing
a bit more aerospace medicine.

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If you happen to be working on a Navy
base, you might be doing

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a bit more dive medicine
into some other types of marine medicine.

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Neat. Okay, let's do some rapid fire.

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Go ahead.
Plain scrubs or patterned scrubs?

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Definitely plain.

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Working in a clinic or field hospital?

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Clinic.

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Coffee or energy. Drinks?

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I'm more of a tea drinker myself.

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Nice. Okay.

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What was your experience
in joining the CAF like?

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Well, I joined the CAF
initially as a navigator on the ships,

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and so I got about six years of experience
just learning to sail on both coasts.

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And since I switched over to

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Medical Officer, I've had the opportunity
to deploy to different parts of the world

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and continue to provide medical support
to our military members.

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That's amazing.

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Is there one area of your work
that really fascinates you?

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Yeah, I'd have to say aerospace medicine.

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Oh, that sounds fascinating.

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Can you tell us more about what
you do on the aerospace side? Absolutely.

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So in regular medicine,
you're normally looking

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after patients in a normal environment.

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In aerospace medicine is more of a branch
of occupational medicine

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where you're looking after people
in a more unique environment.

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Anything from space to, elevations

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and also looking at the effects
of acceleration and G-forces

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and how that affects
the human physiology.

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I find it really interesting.
That is interesting.

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Okay, Ajiri, where to next?

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Well, I'm going to head over to my office.

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I have some charting to do.
Want to come with? Yeah, let's do it.

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What's one word that describes you?

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Driven.

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All right.

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And what's your favorite part of the job?

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I say it would be the opportunity
to provide patient care.

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How about your favorite thing
to do outside of work?

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Golfing? Absolutely. Oh, lucky.

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Yes, I'm pretty fortunate.

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The military actually
has some really interesting golf programs

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that allows you to play competitive golf
against other bases.

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And also at the national level.

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Oh that's awesome.

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What's your proudest moment on the job?

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I would say
that would be having the opportunity

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to provide medical care
to our first rotation in Latvia,

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and be able to lead a multinational team

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and set up the first, clinic

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for all of the soldiers
that we're operating at Op Reassurance.

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Oh, good for you.

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What are your first steps
when a patient comes in?

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I usually want to

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make sure
that they feel comfortable and open.

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And so I usually introduce myself
and then find out what has brought them in

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and have a chance
to have an open and honest conversation.

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Do you work more independently
or as a team?

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Definitely as a team,
it's all about teamwork.

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Okay.

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And what would you say to someone deciding

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between being a civilian physician
or a medical officer in the CAF?

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Well, I would say that
they both have their benefits.

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I've found in my experience
that the military does offer

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the added opportunities
to have exposure to occupational medicine.

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The opportunities
to work in multidisciplinary

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teams, multinational teams,
and have a chance to travel.

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Wow, is this new here?

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This is me.
Do you want to come on in? Yeah. Okay,

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So, Ajiri, you mentioned deployments.

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Which was your favorite?

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I'd have to say, Op Jaguar in Jamaica,
we got a chance to deploy

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and provide some support and work together
with the Jamaica Defense Force.

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And the food was amazing.

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Oh, wow. Okay.

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Do you have any
wow moments in your career?

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Yes, the ones that come to mind.

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I got a chance to provide
some medical care to the Prime Minister

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on a couple of trips
across the Atlantic as well.

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I got a chance to work with the NASA
and with the Mayo Clinic

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through my aerospace medicine.

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And finally, during that residency,
I also got a chance to learn

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how to fly a plane.
And solo and live to tell about it.

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Oh, good for you.

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Finish the sentence
for me. This job makes me

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Proud.

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If you retired tomorrow,
what would you miss most?

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The people.

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How do you like to unwind
after a long day at the clinic?

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Well, usually I'd like to go home
and make a nice meal for my family.

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And if time permits, maybe squeeze
nine holes of golf.

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Got it.

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Okay. Last question, Ajiri.

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Would you recommend this job to others?

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Absolutely. It's amazing.

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Well, on that note, I got a jet
because I have another patient.

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Okay. Thanks so much for
your time. You're welcome.