ESTEVAN — When Dr. Edward Tsoi came to Estevan in 1987, he never imagined how wonderful the experience would be for him and his family.
Tsoi, who is Estevan's most tenured practising physician, announced earlier this year he would be retiring. His last day is June 30.
From Belfast to Estevan
In an interview with SaskToday, Tsoi recalled that in 1987, he was in postgraduate training in internal medicine and cardiology in Belfast, where he graduated from medical school. He said he "accidentally" came across an advertisement in the British Medical Journal for a family practice in Estevan that was looking for a family physician with special interests for internal medicine and cardiology.
But Tsoi said he did not have enough training in family medicine, so he sought assistance from colleagues who were senior faculty teachers in obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, psychiatry and pediatrics.
"They were extremely helpful and arranged for the required additional training for me," Tsoi recalled. "For a period of one year, I received very intense training and acquired knowledge and skills in these disciplines of medicine that would normally take other trainees much longer to acquire the same experiences."
He said he was ready to practice the full scope of family medicine by the time he arrived in Estevan.
"I thought I would spend a couple of years in Estevan and then go back to complete my certification in internal medicine and cardiology in Canada. Little did I know, I had a calling for family medicine and enjoyed the multifaceted practice it offered.
"I began to have a flourishing practice in maternity, as well as in internal medicine and cardiology. The longer I was in this multifaceted practice, the more reluctant I was to give it up, and finally decided to make Estevan my permanent home and continue my family practice here."
He spent his entire Estevan career at the Estevan Medical Centre (now the Primacy Estevan Medical Centre), now located on King Street.
Tsoi said he appreciates the ability and opportunity to practise the full scope of family medicine in Estevan. He feels a strong connection with both his profession and community. Besides interacting with his patients, Tsoi said he enjoys teaching and sharing his knowledge and skills with all learners, whether they be medical students, physicians or nursing colleagues.
He characterized his relationship with the other physicians in Estevan as "very good to excellent".
"I received a lot of support from my colleagues," Tsoi said proudly. "For example, I badly needed time off to be with my family recently. I would not be able to get away from work without another colleague covering for me and looking after my patients in my absence. When I asked one of my colleagues to cover for me, she said: 'No problem. I am here and I am not going anywhere. It will be my pleasure to cover for you.' No questions asked. No hesitance."
A champion for Estevan and for teaching
There were times he was tempted to relocate. Tsoi said he went to a community in Alberta twice the size of Estevan that was closer to a big city. The hospital there had more amenities and the administration was prepared to offer him more opportunities to exercise his skills.
"I missed Estevan after two weeks and decided to come home to stay," he said.
He's also recommended Estevan to other physicians. One of his colleagues, Dr. Khalid Sheikh, came to Estevan years ago as a surgeon and has been here ever since. Once Tsoi retires, Sheikh will be Estevan's longest-tenured active physician.
Teaching has always been of keen interest to Tsoi. He started to make a connection to the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine. After a few years, he was approached about being part of the faculty. Tsoi started as a clinical lecturer and worked his way up to an associate professor.
He is also the director of the Saskatchewan Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) Program, in which a medical student spends a full year in a community's hospital and learns different specialties and practices. Estevan has had 10-12 physicians in the community through the LIC since it was brought here in 2019.
"The big advantage of this is they have a continuous longitudinal relationship with each patient," said Tsoi.
His daughter, Sarah, has also become a physician, and after practising in Estevan for a while, she is now working elsewhere. She still comes back to Estevan and other communities in the province. The younger Dr. Tsoi has remained in contact with the staff at St. Joseph's, and has developed strong relationships with some of them, including people who she went to school with.
Despite the challenges associated with being a physician, Tsoi believes if you asked nine of 10 medical doctors about which career they would choose, they would still choose their current profession.
"For me, there is no difficulty at all. That is because I have excellent support and understanding of my family. However, work-life balance can be a real issue for someone who does not have the support I have. I should also say I have excellent colleagues and staff who provided me with invaluable support," he said.
Looking forward to travelling, learning
Tsoi is looking forward to travelling more now that he is retired. There are places that he and his wife, Shao, have wanted to visit, but they never had enough time to make any of those trips. First they're going to return to their respective home areas, as Tsoi is originally from Hong Kong, while his wife is from Malaysia. It's been a few years since they've been able to return home.
"We usually just drop by for two or three days, and then we are gone," said Tsoi. "When we have specific purposes, such as somebody's wedding or some special occasion to celebrate the relatives [we'll go], but we never actually tour the place."
Tsoi said he is also looking forward to seeing more of Canada. It's a wonderful nation, he said, and they have not seen enough of "our beautiful country".
When they aren't travelling, Tsoi said they would still be in Estevan.
He has spent most of his life practising medicine, but they haven't had a lot of time to think about what they would like to do. He enjoys gardening, and sometimes he joins his friends for fishing, but he said he'll have to develop some sort of interesting hobbies.
"I would like to maybe enrol in some sort of university courses … and I'm particularly interested in learning languages. I might be able to speak five words of French," Tsoi said with a laugh.
"I would like to learn a bit more. Maybe some Spanish. Maybe some German. I studied German in my first year of university. I got to be able to speak a few sentences. And then things got so busy, so hectic, that all that I've learned is gone."
Grateful for the community
Most of the people who came to see him after he made his announcement congratulated him on his retirement and said they would miss him, but he understands if anyone is upset.
Tsoi is the only physician currently working out the clinic. Once he retires, the clinic will remain open, with Jenna Kress, who is a nurse practitioner, serving as the manager. Other physicians from out of town have expressed an interest in joining the clinic.
He thanked the community of Estevan for providing the opportunity to serve them. He said his family has become very attached to the community.
"We enjoyed the relationships and the friendships that we developed with our friends, and with our colleagues," said Tsoi.
