The Faculty & Trainee Spotlight Series shines a light on the incredible people who make up the heart of UBC Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Amidst the remarkable achievements and developments within the department, it is a pleasure to share the stories of the dynamic trainees and faculty who bring passion, curiosity, and insight that drive the areas of anesthesiology, pharmacology, and therapeutics forward. 

Meet Dr. Katrina Genuis! 

Rank: Clinical Instructor 

Site: North Island Hospital Comox Valley

Dr. Genuis’s journey in medicine followed a more traditional path through science, medical school, and anesthesiology residency, but was deeply shaped by her family’s experiences with suffering and resilience. In particular, the story of her Oma’s survival of the Holocaust and her enduring reminder never to “other” other people had a profound influence on Katrina’s approach to medicine and her commitment to seeing each patient as a whole person.

Driven by a desire to better understand the human experience of suffering, Katrina expanded her medical training with a Master of Letters at the University of St Andrews, focusing on theological and philosophical perspectives on suffering. She has brought this broader perspective to her practice in the Comox Valley, where she works in operating room anesthesia as well as acute and transitional pain medicine.

“Anesthesia, in it its very name, is devoted to relieving unwanted sensation. It is a joy each day to shepherd my patients through their perioperative journey, taking away anxiety, pain, and sometimes consciousness.”  

— Dr. Katrina Genuis, Clinical Instructor; UBC 

What drew you to anesthesiology/pharmacology/therapeutics as a specialty or area of research?

My aim entering medicine was to relieve suffering. I hadn’t given anesthesia much thought in medical school, but after my first day of anesthesia during my third-year rotation, I knew it was a perfect match. Anesthesia, in it its very name, is devoted to relieving unwanted sensation. It is a joy each day to shepherd my patients through their perioperative journey, taking away anxiety, pain, and sometimes consciousness. I love that there are also opportunities to balance OR work with pain medicine, to consider the complex question of how to alleviate suffering when pain itself is inevitable.

How did your career path lead you to UBC and to your current position?

I moved to British Columbia – Vancouver Island specifically – for medical school and soon discovered that life is better when you are near the sea. Hardships are more bearable when you can take a seaside walk to reflect on them, and tangled thoughts unwind themselves in the garden – which can be grown year-round in the Comox Valley! I stayed in BC for residency. The program was excellent, the teachers incredible, and the clinical opportunities unparalleled. And now I’m working in rural Vancouver Island where I’ve found like-minded colleagues, flexible job options, and a gorgeous place to live and raise my family.

What have you learned from working with residents and students that has surprised or inspired you?

In an undergrad English class, I read a book describing human interactions as being like a mirror. In communicating with others, I see myself and my doings anew. I love teaching for the sake of the learners – the thrill of sharing exciting cases, the privilege of awakening their newbie energy, and the honor of sometimes impacting career choices and life. But teaching also renews my own appreciation for this work. I’ve been surprised that seeing what we do, through the eyes of learners, renews my sense of joy for the fascinating and wonderful job we have.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?

There is such a beautiful spectrum of rewarding moments in anesthesia. There are small, silly moments – funny dreams patients blissfully report as they wake. There are profound glimpses into the hearts of our patients – once I had a patient begin singing a traditional prayer for the operating room as they fell asleep. There is a particular type of existential awe after an intense emergency OR that goes well and the patient survives beyond all expectation. And there’s a quiet, profound meaningfulness to pain medicine – helping those who are burdened by suffering to heal, or at least suffer a little less.

The Faculty & Trainee Spotlight Series shines a light on the incredible people who make up the heart of UBC Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Amidst the remarkable achievements and developments within the department, it is a pleasure to share the stories of the dynamic trainees and faculty who bring passion, curiosity, and insight that drive the areas of anesthesiology, pharmacology, and therapeutics forward. 

Meet Dallas Genereaux!

Role: Anesthesia Resident, PGY-5

Site: UBC Vancouver

For Dallas, her journey into anesthesiology has been shaped by a strong foundation in science, public health, and a passion for providing meaningful patient care. She completed all of her training at UBC, including a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master of Public Health prior to medical school. Her graduate education has had a significant influence on the way she views healthcare and the broader systems in which care is delivered. It has encouraged her to think beyond the individual patient and consider how we can continue to improve healthcare delivery and outcomes for our population as a whole.

Throughout medical school, Dallas was drawn to acute care, hands-on clinical work, and the dynamic environment of the operating room. She found that anesthesiology brought together many of the aspects of medicine that she enjoyed most. For her, anesthesiology offered a unique combination of technical skill, acute patient care, and opportunities to contribute to healthcare at both the individual and systems level.

“The ultimate goal for me is to improve upon our current systems in order to help improve outcomes beyond the operating room.”

— Dallas Genereaux, Anesthesia Resident, UBC

What has surprised you most about your training?

Beyond how fun anesthesia can be on the day-to-day, I am continuously impressed with the investment that our program has in our development and education; the staff that take time to teach us are dedicated and excited to share their knowledge, and we are so well supported by our administration and program director Zoe. In medical school I wasn’t able to recognize the importance of this, but now as a senior resident I try to counsel current medical students that having a supportive program will make a world of difference in their overall training.

What inspired you to pursue anesthesiology, pharmacology, or therapeutics?

Prior to medical school I worked in research in the NICU at BC Children’s Hospital, which gave me an initial interest in pursuing pediatric critical care throughout early medical school. I knew I enjoyed working in the hospital doing hands-on work with real-time patient impacts, and was very drawn to the operating room setting during clerkship. In the end, it was a general surgery preceptor who recognized the combination of my interests and suggested I might find anesthesiology to be the perfect specialty for me; they were very right and I’ve been happily in this career path since.

What areas of research or practice are you most passionate about?

I am passionate about perioperative medicine, particularly in improving the way that we assess and prepare patients for surgery. We have a wealth of knowledge and research that tells us specific indicators and factors that put patients at risk of poor perioperative outcomes, but often in anesthesia we are not able to capture these patients effectively or early enough to implement strategies to modify these risks. After graduation I plan to pursue a fellowship in perioperative medicine and quality improvement, with the goal to improve upon our current systems in order to help improve outcomes beyond the operating room.

What do you enjoy doing outside of the hospital or lab?

I am a west-coast stereotype in that I spend most of my winter skiing and much of my summer outside biking and camping. I am also an avid traveler and am easily distracted by planning out our next trip (a perfect break from royal college exam studying). We have a couple trips for the next year in the planning stages, but on the bucket list for sometime in staff-life is a bike trip through the fjords of Norway and an overland camping trip through the dark-sky reserves of Namibia and Botswana!