Resident Physician of the Month

The Resident Physician of the Month Award is meant to recognize and reward outstanding resident physicians who make exceptional contributions in their academic field while still maintaining their work/life balance.

Interested in nominating someone? Fill out a nomination form here.

December 2020
Dr. Ryan MacIsaac
University of Calgary
Adult Neurology

I grew up in Calgary, AB, and completed both my undergraduate degree in applied mathematics and medical school at the University of Calgary. I was fortunate to be able to pursue my neurology residency training in Calgary where we have an outstanding group of neurologists, resident physicians and extraordinary collaboration with other specialities within the department of clinical neurosciences. I am currently in my fifth and final year of residency and will be stepping foot outside of Calgary next year to pursue an Epilepsy Fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, NY.

When I’m not studying for the Royal College Exam, I enjoy gaming with friends, playing basketball and cheering on the Phoenix Suns. I also love spending time with my wonderful wife, walking around the Bow River and Prince’s Island Park. I am very grateful for her patience and support throughout my years of training.

I am truly honoured to receive the PARA Resident Physician of the Month Award. I want to thank all the excellent faculty members for their mentorship over the years. I also want to thank my exceptional co-resident physicians as they played a major part in my growth during residency. With a busy schedule and while trying to secure a fellowship, I held the role Chief Resident during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when there were numerous uncertainties and challenges. The patience, flexibility and support from my fellow resident physicians made a difficult situation much more manageable and I could not have done the job without their help.

A colleague had this to say about Dr. MacIsaac:

“I am delighted to nominate Ryan for the PARA Resident Physician of the Month Award. This past year, Ryan has been chief resident for the adult neurology program at the University of Calgary. As the COVID-19 pandemic began, this led to significant uncertainty within the program and medical community, requiring flexibility and leadership that Ryan demonstrated with grace. His leadership allowed for the collective calm of the other resident physicians in our program, as he navigated the implications on residency of a global pandemic. His quick thinking brought important changes to our program, including a plan for backup call, regular wellness checks and the opportunity to work on consultation services normally operating without resident physicians in order to make up for cancelled ambulatory clinics. Despite how demanding this role has been, he simultaneously earned a fellowship position in Epilepsy.

Beyond COVID-19, Ryan is an amazing colleague and friend. His time is spent balancing residency with epilepsy research, basketball and Animal Crossing with his wife. He is always available to listen to how his friends are doing and offer advice when needed. Ryan has been such a strong support in my life and absolutely deserves to be honoured as Resident of the Month.”

Congratulations Dr. MacIsaac!