Like mother, like doctor: second generation surgeon starts residency at Sudbury's Health Sciences North

Dr. Kara Nadeau stands ready to chat with reporters outside Health Sciences North's surgical unit after finishing a 26-hour shift.

The extended shift— being on-call for all general surgeries— is just another part of her "grueling" residency at the Sudbury hospital. 

But she doesn't appear to show any signs of exhaustion. 

It could be because she has the full support of her mom, who is standing next to her.

"I'm following in the footsteps of my mother who is also a general surgeon here in town," Nadeau said. 

Nadeau's mom is Doctor Michele Brule. And Nadeau said it's been a rewarding experience, having mom as a mentor.

"She has so much to teach me and it's really been a special experience for us."

Having such support, and being familiar with your surroundings has been a blessing, Nadeau said. She is starting her residency at HSN, a program that is expected to take 5 years to complete.

"My family and my fiance's family are all from here and so it kind of felt natural to come back and be surrounded by those people," Nadeau said. 

"Residency is a really tough training program. We work rigorous hours and having support like that around is so important."

Brule said there's never been an issue working with her daughter, even in a stressful environment like the surgical room, although the mother in her still has a "stronger voice."

"There's a sort of a hierarchy in their medical training, so you know obviously whoever has more experience, it's not really an issue," Brule said.

Dr. Brule added that her daughter has always been comfortable in a hospital setting, having accompanied her mother on her rounds, sometimes last-minute.

Brule was the primary caregiver in the house, her own mother living with the family to help out after Brule's husband died when the kids were young.

"Often we had to stop at the hospital, while we were on our way to their dance lessons," Brule said. "It was quite common for them to come in, you know, and be sitting in the surgeons' lounge or drawing at the desk while I was doing rounds."

Nadeau said those times were influential, eventually motivating her to go to medical school in Ottawa. But she did not have any doubts her future was in medicine, she said.

"I had first-hand experience with what it could be like, watching my mom do it, growing up," she said. "We would see people, from the very ill and to [being able to] go home and live their lives like they were before."

"That was a really exciting thing and so I want to be part of that myself ."

As for Brule, the hope is that Nadeau will replace her mom when the time comes. Until then, she's enjoying the time mentoring her daughter.

"It's very rewarding, and very interesting," Brule said.

"It's sharing all that knowledge and passing it on, which is the circle of life."