Stephanie McDonald
Northern News Services
Monday, July 9, 2007

IQALUIT - Dr. Luella Johnson has given Kimmirut one more reason to be proud. The 29-year-old doctor, currently doing her residency at Baffin Regional Hospital, spent the early years of her life in the south Baffin Island community.

Dr. Luella Johnson stands in front of the Baffin Regional Hospital, where she has just completed an eight-week residency. Johnson grew up in Nunavut, but it’s her first time back to the territory in 10 years. - Stephanie McDonald/NNSL photo

At the age of one and a half, Johnson moved with her English dad and Canadian mom from England to what was then the Northwest Territories.

Her dad worked as the community co-op manager for four and a half years before making the move to Iqaluit. Johnson attended Inuksuk high school and went on to study medicine at the University of Ottawa.

Johnson has completed four years of medical school and her eight-week stint at Baffin Regional Hospital will conclude her two years of residency in family medicine. She returned to Ontario on the weekend where she plans to take the summer off before starting work as a general practitioner.

"I grew up here and wanted to see what it was like now," Johnson said.

It was the first time she had been back to the territory since leaving Iqaluit 10 years ago to attend university. At that time Nunavut had not yet been created.

Johnson had previously done a residency at Ottawa Civic Hospital and noticed differences between it and Baffin Hospital.

"There are more full-service doctors here," she said. "Here the docs really do it all."

Johnson said that tuberculosis as well as sexually transmitted diseases are more common in the north than they are in Ottawa. Since arriving, Johnson has rotated through anesthesia, obstetrics, and the emergency ward. She also had the chance to work at the Pangnirtung clinic.

"It’s pretty independent here, which has helped to build my confidence," she said.

Dr. Melissa Allan, Chief of Staff at Baffin Regional, said she hopes that having a homegrown doctor working at the hospital will encourage others in the community to pursue a career in the medical field, be it midwifery, nursing, or as a physician.

"It’s good for people from here to know it’s possible to be successful in university and in your chosen field," Allan said. "Going to school here doesn’t limit you in your possibilities. You can be whatever you want to be."

As far as Allan knows, Johnson is the first doctor from Nunavut to have worked at the hospital, although there are several local nurses who have made a large contribution.

Johnson was disappointed that she had not been able to visit Kimmirut during her residency.

As for Iqaluit, she was amazed at how it has grown, noting that the number of cars in the town have increased dramatically.

Johnson said she hasn’t yet made any decisions on where she will practice medicine, and hasn’t ruled out a stint in the North.

But her family now lives in Ontario and Nova Scotia, so ultimately, she said, she would like to be close to them.