JAMES McINNES
Clinical Instructor
Division: Comprehensive & Reconstruction
Site:
Vancouver Island – Royal Jubilee Hospital and Victoria General Hospital
Dr. James McInnes is an Orthopaedic Surgeon and Clinical Instructor at the Royal Jubilee and Victoria General Hospitals with subspeciality training in Trauma, Adult Hip and Knee Reconstruction, and Hip Preservation Surgery. He has built a surgical practice encompassing developmental, acquired, and traumatic hip and pelvis pathology, general trauma, and knee reconstruction.
He is passionate about education and is committed to fostering a positive workplace culture and team-oriented care. He is actively involved in resident and medical student education, working with the Victoria Division of Orthopaedics at RebalanceMD. He is also an acting director for the Juan De Fuca Orthopaedic Association, which hosts its annual orthopaedic conference each fall in Victoria, BC.
This year, the conference will take place on October 4.
Could you share your educational background and journey, and how these experiences shaped your current role?
Ever since I was a young man, I had a strong belief that medicine, and indeed, surgery, was a calling of fulfilment and service worth striving for. My grandfather, Jack, who was a General Surgeon in Sudbury, was a powerful and motivating figure in my early life, espousing ideals of work ethic, dedication, and philosophy. His commitment to his craft and pursuits of excellence were inspiring and greatly influenced my education by providing me with a concrete goal towards which to direct my efforts.
I began my university days with a twofold focus, working towards a degree in Biological Sciences as a stepping stone into Medical School at the University of Alberta (U of A) in Edmonton, while also immensely enjoying my pursuits in Classics with a focus on Greek and Roman History. I completed my MD at the U of A and followed that up with a Residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the U of A, where, with the guidance and example of many great mentors, I decided to focus on orthopaedic trauma and comprehensive specialization in surgery of the hip.
The pursuit of that goal took me to the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for an AO North America Orthopaedic Trauma Fellowship with a focus on Pelvis and Acetabular fracture surgery with Drs Dave Stephen and Hans Kreder. I then continued for a second year in Toronto to pursue Hip and Knee Arthroplasty at Mount Sinai Hospital with Drs Safir, Backstein, Kuzyk, and Gross.
Following such excellent training in trauma and reconstruction, Hip preservation was my remaining focus, and serendipitously, one of my trauma co-fellows at Sunnybrook was able to make an introduction to Prof. Martin Beck, which opened the door for a wonderful experience in Switzerland working with him in Luzern and with Professors Michael Leunig and Reinhold Ganz in Zurich.
I was lucky then to have the opportunity to begin my journey as an attending surgeon with the fantastic Orthopaedic group in Victoria, BC. Here, I have been able to continue with all the facets of my training, including complex trauma and pelvis and acetabular surgery with Dr. David Saliken, my great friend with whom I completed both medical school and residency. The arthroplasty group welcomed me as well and has offered friendship and mentorship in equal parts.
Finally, my colleague, Dr. Brent Weatherhead, our local pediatric orthopedic specialist, has been invaluable in our joint project to build a center for open hip preservation surgery in BC, specifically in Victoria, where we continue to expand our impact on pediatric and young adult patients. Together with the Vancouver Hip Institute and hip arthroscopists across the province, we are striving to provide full-spectrum care for patients with pre-arthritic hip conditions. In addition, over the last two years, we have begun collaborating with the fantastic team at BC Children’s Hospital to offer necessary pelvic osteotomies to pediatric patients closer to home.
What sparked your passion for orthopaedics, particularly in Comprehensive and Reconstruction?
I remember very clearly the moment I knew that orthopaedics was the career I wanted.
I had the great fortune during my undergraduate years, before even starting medical school, to be invited by Dr. John McIvor, one of the pediatric orthopaedic surgeons at the Stollery Children’s Hospital, to observe a day in the OR. As luck would have it, on that very first day, a medical student felt unwell, and a scrub spot became available. I recall clearly the sense of wonder I had, watching as Dr. McIvor and his team carried out an open reduction of a severely dysplastic hip and a pelvic osteotomy. It was a long day standing, under the heat of the lights, wearing lead for the first time, and I remember collapsing into bed as soon as I got home, utterly exhausted and simultaneously amazed at what I was sure at the time was “one of the coolest things” I’d ever seen.
That was the beginning of orthopaedics and my fascination with the hip and pelvis.
What meaningful impact do you hope your work will have on patients, communities, and society as a whole?
I think that as orthopaedic surgeons, we have a great privilege to serve our communities directly, and the ability to often relieve suffering and improve quality of life can be immensely impactful. Our role positions us to be a positive force in our communities by providing opportunities for compassion with our patients, colleagues, and allied health professionals, as well as sharing our knowledge through education, all while delivering quality care.
Surgery is a humbling profession, and the realities of the human condition ensure we can’t win every fight or cure every ill, no matter our depth of dedication or the strength of our intent. But we can try, with every patient, to do our best, to be open always to learning, and to remain kind, compassionate, and mindful of others. I hope to be the kind of surgeon and the kind of person that I would want my loved ones to have in difficult times. To be a teacher that my teachers and mentors can be proud of.
We are living in interesting times with new and unforeseen challenges that make it more important than ever to remember that the more we serve each other with compassion and commitment, the stronger our communities become, and stronger communities rooted in a desire for the common good are more resilient in the face of adversity. Though our first objective as surgeons is and must always be to achieve the best clinical outcomes we can for our patients, I hope that in doing so, I can leave individuals with a positive personal experience that may have some ripples in wider society.
What aspects of your work excite you the most, and what achievements are you most proud of?
I think for me, often the most complex, stressful, and challenging cases are without a doubt the most interesting and engaging aspects of my work. There is a toll we pay as surgeons to take on and strive against any disease or disability, but without a doubt, the reward of seeing a patient do well is hard to beat. Hip preservation, trauma, and arthroplasty all have their share of challenging problems, and I find my challenging cases in young patients to be high stress but high reward. The understanding that I have an opportunity to have a lasting impact on their quality of life and the experiences they may have that might otherwise have been barred to them is both daunting and inspiring.
Over the early years of my career, though I am proud of some clinical achievements, most notably a successful smoking cessation program and building an open hip preservation program from the ground up, I may take the most pride in the iterative journey of my ongoing maturation of a philosophy of life and of surgery and recognizing signs of burnout and being proactive to combat it. Mindfulness and a focus on continuous learning and skill development have had a very positive impact on me.
My newest project, which I certainly hope will one day be in the achievement column, is accepting a position as one of the directors of our local orthopaedic conference—the Juan de Fuca Orthopaedic Association, which will be presented this year as a collaboration with UBC Ortho as Orthopaedic Foundations – Insights and Innovations for Community Orthopaedic Surgeons on October 4.
We hope to continue to expand the educational offerings and are especially keen to build resident attendance, starting with our inaugural Western Canadian Resident Research Spotlight this year. Our goals are to help attending community surgeons stay current and trainees achieve their educational goals, while providing an opportunity for some well-deserved team building and R&R!
What advice would you offer to current trainees embarking on their careers?
Work hard and always expect to learn something, and you will. Look for people who inspire you and challenge you, and stick close to them! Teamwork makes the dream work, so always remember surgery is a team sport—your work will be easier and more fun when you can build a strong, mutually respectful team dynamic, where everyone contributes with a shared focus towards the end goal. My co-residents and I, Drs David Saliken and Ashlee Dobbe, are friends for life. The relationships you build in the trenches of life, and residency with your co-trainees, mentors, and eventual colleagues, will support and sustain you. These relationships deserve your efforts to maintain them.
The pressures of the profession can be overwhelming at times, and it’s essential to take a moment to remind yourself of your passion for what you do and the positive impact you will have on countless people. If you, like me and Shoresy, “hate to lose more than you love to win,” I suggest getting to work on turning that around sooner than later, so you can learn from your failures but not let them overshadow the good you will do!
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
Outside of work, my greatest fulfillment comes from being a husband and a Dad, continually learning from my wife and children. I enjoy getting outdoors, paddling a canoe whenever possible, convincing others to paddle with me as often as possible, exploring the natural world, and generally getting as much outdoor exercise as I can. I’m also an enthusiastic supporter of the Oilers and Team Canada
I cherish spending as much time as I can with family and good friends. I think life is more fleeting than we sometimes realize, and time is the one thing we can never make more of.
