A brother and sister pair of past valedictorians from South Delta Secondary School were last week reunited briefly in Boston at a ceremony marking the 200th anniversary of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Paul Dhillon graduated from SDSS in 1999 and completed a bachelor's degree in political science at the University of B.C. before attending the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland for his medical training. He later obtained his masters degree in disaster medicine in Italy.
Jessy Dhillon was nominated as valedictorian of the 2002 graduating class and completed a degree in interdisciplinary studies before commencing her medical training in the Caribbean.
The New England Journal of Medicine was started in Boston in 1812 and is the oldest continuously published medical journal in the world.
The journal hosted a symposium last week to highlight its accomplishments over the last 200 years and to look at the interface of society and medicine and how it has improved people's lives over the past two centuries.
Harvard Medical School in Boston hosted the daylong event to which both Dhillons were invited after answering a question posed globally to medical students, medical residents and allied health care trainees.
Respondents were asked to answer the question: In the last 20 years, the Internet and social networking have brought profound changes in how information is communicated. How can we harness this technology to improve health?
The essay competition allowed for 600 entries from which 40 were chosen as NEJM scholars in each category of training, and another 33 were awarded NEJM gold and platinum awards in addition to their invitation.
Both Paul and Jessy were pleased to accept certificates as NEJM scholars from Jeffrey M. Drazen, the editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine at the event held on the campus of Harvard Medical School.
Paul is currently completing his family medicine residency at the University of Saskatchewan and Jessy is attending Aureus University School of Medicine and completing her internal medicine rotations at Northwest Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
