Dr. Rhea D’Souza: The Foundation of Our Health Care

The foundation and underpinning of an efficient health care system is family medicine. Dr. Rhea D’Souza is that foundation.

The pressure that family doctors face is monumental. The administrative work like completing medical forms, updating electronic medical records, running an office, challenges from an aging population, and more patients are some of the challenges that family doctors are facing. A shortage of family doctors leads to patients turning to the emergency departments putting a bigger strain on the health care system.

I am grateful for Dr. Rhea D’Souza who is embracing these challenges.

I am a difficult person to please. I am even more difficult to impress. I have unrealistic expectations and standards.

Dr. Rhea D’Souza is impressive. She is kind, gentle, compassionate, patient, maintains eye contact while carrying on a conversation, is humble, intelligent, witty, and damn right smart. I ran into her after a long time at a wedding ceremony. She had done a night shift in ER and she was all bubbly. She and her sister (also a med student) took time to spend time with my daughter and made her comfortable.

Dr. Rhea D’Souza embraces family medicine. I am confident that our health system is in great hands with doctors like her who are taking over. Dr. Rhea D’Souza represents everything Four Columns stands for. She is confident, self-assured, knows her boundaries, is aware of self-care, and is a game changer.

Dr. Rhea D’Souza, I am super excited to have an MD at Four Columns. Talk to me a little about you. 

Hi Jerry, thank you for having me on your blog! For all the readers, my name is Rhea and I’m a second-year family medicine resident. I’ve completed my Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees and am looking forward to this final year of my training. Outside of medicine, I love painting, reading, and expanding my ever-growing collection of earrings from my travels.

Walk me through the process when you finally realized you wanted to become a doctor and why.

Since I was little, I’ve always entertained the idea of becoming a doctor. One of my favorite pastimes as a young girl was reading a book called “The Amazing Book of Questions and Answers.” My favorite section was on human physiology and I used to love reading about how the body worked and all the intricacies that make humans so extraordinary. As I grew older I realized that medicine is about more than just science, as my family attempted to navigate the complexities of the health care system to help my grandparents. I remember wondering- if I was a doctor would I finally understand how to help and support the people I care about?  Even after all that, becoming a doctor always felt like such a remote possibility until I was in university and faced with the option of writing the admissions test. I sat down for a long think and it finally hit me this could be a very real possibility for me. Once I started down that road, however, it was patients who kept me on it more than a love of medicine itself. I enjoy the ability to connect and understand people’s stories, share in some of their greatest joys, and support them through the tragedies of life. The dynamic and ever-changing nature of medicine and the inherent problem-solving abilities I get to apply every day are additional bonuses, but my patients are really what makes me happy to be in this field.

Rhea, getting into Med school in Canada is one of the most difficult things to do. You got in, you graduated, and now the residency. Help me understand the journey of becoming Dr. Rhea D’Souza.

The journey certainly hasn’t always been as smooth or as easy as I hoped. Just getting into medical school itself is quite a labor-intensive process with many hurdles to jump and each one daunting in its own way. To start you have to write a 7.5-hour long medical college admissions test (MCAT), which evaluates reasoning skills and basic scientific knowledge. Studying and writing the exam is a marathon, one that I did not make easier for myself by compacting my study time into 8 weeks and working full time while I did so. Next comes applications, which required round after round of edits, advice from as many people as I could find, and sometimes just a comforting hug from my family. The last step is the interviews, for which my amazing friends took turns running through practice questions and always reminding me to present the best and most authentic version of myself that I could. After all that, I felt like I had scaled a mountain and that the final acceptance letter was the peak. I quickly learned, however, that medical school is its own mountain, one that was equally as big as what came before. There’s a lot of learning to do and a relatively short time to do it, which pushes you to strive for continuous improvement and to be better than you were just the day before. With the end of medical school came another exam, this one 9 hours long, and whole new rounds of applications to fill out for applying to residency. I was lucky to match into family medicine at the school I wanted to attend, and this time went into it prepared to be faced with a whole new challenge.

I want to know why you chose family medicine as your specialty. I personally believe you will make an amazing family doctor, Dr. Rhea D’Souza.

Family medicine is everything I always wanted out of medicine and as a resident in the field now, I can’t believe I ever considered otherwise. I feel that family medicine is such a fun specialty since you get to apply yourself in so many different ways. Every time you walk into the room you’re faced with a different situation and I love having that variety in my day-to-day life. You also have a variety of career opportunities open to you and can explore new things as your interests evolve. There are family doctors who work only in the hospital or others out in the community. Some also deliver babies, run the ER, work in the operating room, or all of the above! There’s so much you can do within the field which is a really exciting aspect of the future. My favorite part of family medicine, however, is the patients as mentioned earlier. As a family doctor, I get to understand the people I speak with and can follow their care throughout their lives. I always enjoy seeing patients I know and getting to build on that relationship with every visit.

Talk to me about women’s health. What should a woman at 18, 35, 50, and so forth be on the lookout for?

Excellent question! Usually, for my teenage and young adult patients, I advise getting the HPV vaccine and touching base with your doctor as to when to start your cervical cancer screening. HPV is one of the biggest risk factors for cervical cancer and for those who haven’t received the vaccine in school I always make sure to recommend it. Any step that reduces your risk of cancer is a step worth taking, in my opinion. Additionally, those under the age of 25 are also considered to be at a higher risk for STIs, so I usually offer to test all my patients as well.

Lastly, the pandemic has certainly done a number on everyone’s mental health but I find that depression and anxiety are becoming more common for those in school or starting school. My advice is to make sure to take care of not only your physical but your mental health as well. Make sure to set aside time for yourself and reach out for help when you need it.

Similarly, for women age 30, I encourage staying up to date on Pap tests and the HPV vaccine for cervical cancer prevention. Women in this age group also often present to the doctor to discuss pregnancy, whether they are already pregnant or are considering becoming pregnant.  After age 35, it is more common to struggle with fertility and pregnancy-related complications, for which your family doctor or OB/GYN is available for support. For those who are considering or planning for pregnancy, I recommend starting a multivitamin containing folic acid as it helps prevent brain and spinal cord defects during early fetal development.

Lastly, the 50th birthday is a major life milestone and one which often brings many celebrations. From a health perspective, 50 also brings a whole new set of screening recommendations. Although it may vary slightly from country to country, 50 is commonly an age at which women should begin their breast and colorectal cancer screening. This of course also depends on your personal risk, therefore anyone with a family history of breast, ovarian or colorectal cancer should consider speaking to their doctor about when screening is appropriate for them. 50 is also around the age at which menopause usually begins and brings with it a whole host of changes!

Help me understand what is self care for women.

I’ll be honest, self-care is a pretty broad concept and I hardly know where to begin! I think my general advice for men and women both is to make sure you’re getting an adequate amount of restful sleep, eating a well-balanced diet, and regularly exercising- which not only benefits you physically but mentally as well. Mindfulness meditation is also often a topic we discuss in medicine, usually in the context of preventing burnout. Taking time in your day to reflect and be truly present at the moment is something I think we can all use a little more of. In terms of specific self-care tips for women- setting boundaries, speaking up, and learning to say no are important things to target. Society as a whole often conditions women to take on many responsibilities and to be agreeable and polite, which unfortunately sometimes means not putting ourselves first. You should always feel you can (and should!) say no when you feel uncomfortable and speak up for your thoughts and your needs, which should hopefully help everything else fall into place.

I have to be honest about something. As I get older, I find mother nature is tougher on women. Is that true or is it a figment of my imagination?

Aging is something that we all go through and certainly brings about its own set of challenges for men and women both. However, I will say that the hormonal changes of menopause are certainly nothing to scoff at and unfortunately not a figment of the imagination. Some of the most common issues of menopause include hot flashes, sleep issues (usually due to the hot flashes), and mood changes amongst other things. As estrogen levels decrease so does bone density, which unfortunately also puts post-menopausal women at a greater risk for osteoporosis and subsequent fractures. Lastly, stress incontinence becomes a more common issue which certainly doesn’t help the experience at all! That being said, there are lifestyle and medication options available and as your friendly neighborhood family doctor, we’re always happy to chat about just that.

My daughter turned 18 and she heads off to residence. Give her some advice on food, diet, partying, and taking care of her health.

Hey Jean! University and living away from home can be strange and stressful at times and it’s an experience that changes you. The person I was going into university was certainly not the person who came out, and I encourage you to embrace those opportunities! You’ll meet new people, try out new things, and hopefully learn a bit along the way. That being said, being on my own was the first time that I had to learn to make good decisions for myself without my parents there to back me up. You’ll have to make these calls now- when to say you’ve had enough, choosing to eat healthy even when the opportunity for something fast is right there, and when to prioritize your well-being above all else. That’s where moderation and balance come in; an important aspect to remember for food, partying, and at least in my case sometimes studying as well. I wish you the best of luck!