2008 Honourable Mentions

Dr. Jan Tollefson

 Dr. Jan Tollefson

When did you graduate?

1976

What is the most rewarding part of your current projects?

I find it rewarding to personally meet the people who are affected by our projects and hear first hand the impact the projects have made on their lives. It is exciting to be on the ground, getting to know people by their first names, and not being in an impersonal office setting.

How did you become involved in/with this project?

I have known since I was 13 that I was meant to work overseas. Initially, I was afraid of what that actually might mean so I avoided pursuing this challenge. I re-specialized in Community Medicine (after working as an Emergency Physician) and yet still felt that I needed to go further – to work in the developing world.

As I switched careers, I also worked hard psychologically and spiritually to recover from a serious bout of depression. In fact, I consider myself fortunate to be alive today.  Gradually, I found new things that gave me joy, one of which was speaking Spanish.  I started working in orphanages in the Dominican Republic and other opportunities began to open up.

My projects have gradually evolved and my organization currently provides primary schools, Biosand water filters and LED/solar lighting systems to the Dominican Republic. I travel there three times a year for about about 2 weeks each trip. When I am at home in Calgary, I am on the phone every day to the Dominican team. In the end, my work is about giving people the capacity to take care of themselves. My goal is to eventually make myself obsolete, that is, work myself out of a job.

What is the greatest challenge facing your work?

Our greatest challenge currently is actually other organizations that think that donating to people, ie. to give hand-outs, is the right way to “do development” or is good policy. As we try to help people become independent and self-sustaining, we are constantly undermined by other groups who promote dependency and irresponsibility.

Who made the greatest impact on you during your time in Medicine?

Dr. Betty Flagler is someone whom I admired for her kindness & intelligence. Her professional approach was very compassionate and ethical.

Who do you look to for inspiration?

I admire Dr. Muhammad Yunus (Nobel Laureate 2006) for his work in micro-lending, an area in which I have a great amount of interest. Life of the Beloved  by Father Henri Nouwen was an important book and turning point for me.  Stephen Lewis is also an inspiration to me. I feel like one of my purposes now is to raise awareness among students that suicide and burnout rates are high in our profession, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the road. I feel blessed that I came through the depression and survived. Now I feel it is time to give back and give hope to people who are struggling with negative, self-destructive feelings.

What was your most unrealistic expectation of medicine prior to medical  school?

I think that I was unrealistic regarding how I would find a balance between work and family. I was pushed to apply to medical school at a very young age. I was 16 when I began my undergraduate degree and entered medical school after three years. By the time I was 22, I had an MD. It was unreasonable to think that I could cope well with practicing medicine at such a young age – it requires a great amount of maturity and socialization. However, this doesn’t mean that everyone will find achieving balance difficult – I simply didn’t have the right sets of coping skills. In the end, I am who I am today because of the trouble that I had in medicine. So it all worked out for the good.

Dr. Jan Tollefson is the founder of Add Your Light Charitable Foundation.