When you were young, did you want to be an astronaut or a doctor? The guests on this episode of The Heart of It were both.
This special conversation features Bob Thirsk and Dave Williams, two Canadians who began their careers as physicians before becoming record-setting astronauts and health care administrators.
Bob and Dave share how space flight and health care might have more in common than you think, from intense training and robotics to virtual health and a responsibility to take care of our home planet.
Chapters
- What led Bob and Dave to becoming astronauts? 2:50
- Canada’s role in space exploration 5:46
- Being a physician prepares you to be an astronaut 8:13
- Space exploration drives innovation in health care 11:30
- We live in a global village 25:05
- Returning to health care after retiring as astronauts 32:24
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Guest bios
Robert “Bob” Thirsk was born in the Fraser Health region, in New Westminster, and holds the Canadian record for most time spent in space, at over 204 days. He is a former engineer, family physician and vice-president of Public, Government and Institute Affairs for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He currently serves as a director on several social purpose organizations.
Dave Williams spent more than 17 hours walking in space – a Canadian record. He is a former emergency physician, director of the Department of Emergency Services at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, and president and CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario. He is currently an adjunct professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto and McGill University.
About The Heart of It
Every episode, Dr. Victoria Lee, president and CEO of Fraser Health, takes listeners to the heart of health care, where passion, dedication and innovation drive individual, community and planetary health.
Listen to and watch more episodes of The Heart of It here. Did you catch our previous episode, which was a conversation about death and dying?
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This episode of The Heart of It was recorded on the traditional, ancestral and unceded shared territories of the q̓ ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), kʷikʷəƛ̓ əm (Kwikwetlem), Qayqayt and Semiahmoo First Nations, treaty lands of the sc̓əwaθən məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen) First Nation, and on the home of the Surrey-Delta Métis Association.