James T'seleie, MD: N.W.T.'s Sahtu region delivers its first doctor

His high school ambition was to become rich, but James T'seleie's family always knew he'd end up doing something to help people.  

After three years of pre-med and four years of medical studies, T'seleie graduated from the University of Alberta's medical school last Friday. 

And according to his father, a former MLA in the region, and numerous people in his home community of Fort Good Hope, it's a milestone for the Sahtu, as well: T'seleie is the first resident of the region to graduate with a Medical Doctorate.

Need for 'trained professionals who know and love the North' 

The 34-year-old started his university career studying biology and didn't originally plan to pursue medicine. 

T'seleie describes the situation in the north as "a bit of a revolving door in terms of the doctors that do come up North" he says.

"There's a lot of research that shows that continuity of care is a very important aspect of medicine and what happens in the North is we have people coming and going frequently and people don't see the same docs over and over again."

He says that's part of what inspired him to become a doctor.

"And then also beyond that... the need for trained professionals who grew up there, who understand and love the place.  And I also just like dealing with people. It keeps your life interesting. 

"Combined with the science side of things, it's something I thought would be a good fit for me."

T'seleie's father, John, served as an MLA in the N.W.T. legislature from 1983 to 1987, and currently works as a negotiator for the territorial government.

There's also a bit of a health-care connection in the family: his mother, Debbie Delancey, is the N.W.T's deputy minister of health.

Family pride

"When he was about eight… people used to say he'd make a great doctor because he is so good with people," says Delancey. "But James' passion when he was in high school was to be a rich capitalist. That was his stated ambition.

"We didn't see him taking this route, but we always thought he would do something that would involve engaging with people because he was just that kind of guy."

Delancey says there's lot of pride in the family this summer. Her other son, Daniel, graduated from law school earlier this year.

"It's exciting, I think it's a milestone not just for James but for the region."

T'seleie has been celebrating with a lot of family time — his parents, his cousin and his girlfriend came down for the graduation.

He's also been getting a lot of email and Facebook messages from people in Fort Good Hope, his home community in the Sahtu. T'seleie says they've been expressing pride and excitement, and some encouragement to bring his skills back to the region. 

Plans to come North

T'seleie says he's looking forward to the challenge of practicing medicine in the North and providing good care to his patients.

"Part of a physician's role is to act as an advocate for their patients," he says. "That is the sort of thing I am going to keep in my mind as I move forward. Trying to see how I can fit into the big picture, aside from those day to day interactions I have with people."

However, it will be some time before T'seleie returns North. First, he has two years of residency training in family medicine ahead of him, in Edmonton. He's also considering training in anaesthesiology.