Physicians Making an Impact: Dr. Kamil Haider

Growing up, the conversation around the dinner table at Dr. Kamil Haider’s house often revolved around medicine. His two older brothers were studying to become doctors, and they were eager to share their experiences and the cases they studied as part of their training. “I could see how passionate they were about medicine and how rewarding they found it,” Dr. Haider says. “I absorbed a lot of those conversations.”

After following his brothers to the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine, Dr. Haider went on to complete postgraduate training in family medicine and emergency medicine. He loves working in the emergency room at William Osler Health System (WOHS), where he has practiced for over 20 years. “You have to shift gears in a second: one minute you’re seeing a small child with a cold, and the next you’re running to manage a trauma case,” he says. He values the opportunity to work with a very diverse population in Brampton and the GTA through his practice in the emergency room and several high-volume urgent care centres. “I feel that being able to appreciate the experiences that others are going through makes me not only a better doctor, but a better human being.”

Dr. Haider truly appreciates everything he has learned from his mentors over the years, and he believes in passing that knowledge on to medical learners. He was chief of emergency medicine for seven years at WOHS, during which time he worked with a group of preceptors to take on undergraduate and resident medical learners from several universities; he has continued to work with learners to this day through his clinical faculty appointment with McMaster University. “There is such a positive culture of supporting learners and medical education,” he says. “All of the preceptors I have worked with are passionate about passing on their knowledge and experiences to the next generation of doctors.”

More than benefiting students, Dr. Haider points out that taking on medical learners has also made him a better clinician. “Because of how rapidly the medical field is evolving, learners often provide me with information that I didn’t know, and they help to ensure that my care is based on the latest evidence,” Dr. Haider says. At WOHS, the presence of learners also helped the emergency department to grow. “We developed a clinical teaching unit that is now one of the strongest teaching programs in the hospital,” he says.

Dr. Haider is also the interim executive medical director, academic affairs at WOHS, a position he has held since Osler’s affiliation with TMU’s School of Medicine was announced, meaning he has been involved from day one. He feels strongly about the school’s mission and its potential benefits for the community. “Brampton is fast growing and culturally diverse, and the School of Medicine will offer a pathway for locally trained physicians who reflect that diversity to practice here,” he says. He also looks forward to the new models of care and patient pathways the school plans to develop, which he hopes will lead to better outcomes for patients. “I’m proud to say that school is being designed to fit the community’s needs,” Dr. Haider says.

Today, Dr. Haider is moving the School of Medicine’s mission forward as interim associate dean, clinical faculty relations. He recently became one of the School of Medicine’s first clinical faculty members, and he hopes his fellow GTA physicians will follow suit when clinical faculty recruitment opens in February. The benefits, he notes, are many. “Our clinical faculty members will foster the growth and development of physicians who not only understand the cultural context of Brampton and its surrounding communities, but who are eager to practice medicine there,” he says. On a personal level, joining the clinical faculty offers physicians outstanding opportunities for growth, from leadership roles to faculty development programming. “No matter how you are involved with the School of Medicine, you will be encouraged to grow and become a stronger clinician,” Dr. Haider says.