“Unlike a lot of my other peers, I didn't always know I wanted to do medicine,” Noah Bennell recalls. He is Métis from the Northwest Territories, though he was born in Ottawa. His mom grew up in Inuvik and he has family throughout the territories. He’s currently a second year medical student at the University of Ottawa. In his spare time, he enjoys basketball, Formula One, movies, video games and he does a lot of soapstone and antler carving. When he’s in school, he’s also busy with extracurricular activities.

During his pre-clerkship, Bennell attends classes to prepare himself for his clerkship when he will do different rotations in hospitals in different departments before he becomes a full-fledged doctor. Before his pre-clerkship, he did his undergraduate studies at Carleton University in Ottawa in neuroscience and mental health.

On top of his classes, Bennell has independent learning modules and case based learning sessions where he works with a small group of medical students as well as a physician on a case based on real life. He also takes physician skills development classes to learn to do physical exams. Once he got the hang of his study schedule and found his friend group, he was he made the right career choice.

Bennell only started thinking about studying medicine after his first year of his undergraduate degree. He wanted to do something fulfilling and help others. He discovered his passion for medicine in a research internship when an edler in Northwestern Ontario talked about the challenges she faced travelling to Toronto to receive treatments. From there, Bennell volunteered in hospitals, family medicine clinics and with Indigenous youth in the community and in other health related areas. Those experiences reinforced his passion for medicine and when he was accepted into medical school, he knew he made the right call.

When it comes to obstacles, Bennell has been very focussed academically and sacrificed a lot of time with friends, family and other relationships. He shut down emotionally until he realized changes were needed like spending less time one school and more time with friends, playing sports and on things that mattered to him like working at the Indigenous Resource Centre at the university, and at a local alternative high school for indigenous youth.

When med school started up he found himself back in the same boat, but he made shifts again, befriending other Indigenous medical students. Spending more time socializing, going to events, and participating in meaningful projects, he realized that school wasn’t everything and he didn’t have to be the best of the best, he just had to do what needed to be done. In the end, his grades actually improved. Bennell focussed on himself and his wellbeing knowing that being a well-rounded physician meant being a well-rounded person and not being so focused on school all the time.

His advice for Indigenous students considering medical school is to be aware of the application process and how important grades, extracurricular activities, references and standardized test scores like CASPR and MCAT factor into admission decisions in the context of a well-rounded application. He also advises volunteering in the medical field to determine if you’re really interested, asking lots of questions of people already in the field, and doing your research. While he’s framed medical school as scary and challenging, Bennell says, “I want to encourage other Indigenous youth to follow this path so that they can experience the same joyful experiences that I have, and learn more about medicine and to grow as a person.”

As far as times of stress, doubt and uncertainty, Bennel manages his mental health as much as he can by avoiding getting in difficult situations by managing his time well, prioritizing to do lists and leaving time each day to do things that aren’t school or work related. He makes commitments to sports leagues and signs up to art workshops so that he shows up for his commitments and creates balance. When time management and scheduling himself in don’t work, he has people he can talk to to decompress and find support from. Spending time with his dog has also been a gamechanger. Staying active and getting plenty of sleep have also been important for his wellness.

Thinking of what inspires him, Bennell draws inspiration for himself and thinks of everything he’s already overcome so far to get this point when he faces new challenges. He also thinks of his history, his family and ancestors and everything they’ve endured. Also, he gets inspired by others and by the future. In speaking with people in the North about the barriers they face in accessing medical care, he hopes to be able to move up and provide care to those who have been historically under served.

In closing, Bennell thinks back to the times he’s felt inadequate pursuing a dream and recommends, “if you just try to ignore those feelings, to the best of your ability, and then really engage yourself in opportunities and things that are directed towards your passion, you're really able to achieve a lot more than you think you might be able to and through that process, you'll learn a lot about yourself. You'll learn a lot about confidence, and how to be a better version of yourself. I'd encourage anyone who is passionate, literally about anything, medicine in particular, obviously, if you have any passion for it, just put all your feelings aside and just go for it. Because that's what I did, and this is where I ended up, and I'm extremely happy with with how things turned out.”

He didn’t always know he wanted to do medicine, but now that Noah Bennell does, it’s turned out in the very best way. Inspired to provide care in the underserved North, he’s driven not just to succeed as a doctor but also to become a well-rounded physician and person. He discovered his passion for medicine in a research internship and when he was accepted to medical school, he knew he made the right decision.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.