( continued from page 27 ) ewan ’ s tuberculosis , which is endemic in the population . A disease most people think of as being bygone isn ’ t , because it has to run its course , and they got their first exposure a couple hundred years after the Caucasian population .”
Coming in to contact with leprosy was eye opening for Dr . Seneshen , as well as almost every young physician who set foot on the island . So there was some minor enjoyment to be had in seeing confident physicians suddenly faced with what they least expected .
“ On bedside rounds , the concept of pimping is to humiliate ( and illuminate ) the trainees on their lack of knowledge on any topic ,” she recalled . “ So , the doctors would ask these guys from Harvard , from Yale , ‘ Tell us about Hansen ’ s Bacillus ( the bacteria that causes leprosy ). And no one from a Western university knows anything about it because they ’ re never going to see it ! So they have a look of panic , and we ’ re all snickering because we were here last week when they asked the guy from Princeton the same thing .”
Fiji was immediately followed by New Zealand , which Dr . Seneshen fondly recalls as ‘ probably the most beautiful place in the world .’ “ Now , because of the Lord of the Rings films , everyone else knows that too . But I knew it before !” she laughed .
Before that once in a lifetime trip in her fourth year , Dr . Seneshen met her husband-to-be , Dr . Michael Eldemire , who hailed from Montego Bay , Jamaica . In their graduating class of just 59 doctors , Drs . Seneshen and Eldemire were one of five couples to get married and four who have stayed together ever since .
Today , Dr . Eldemire practices family medicine here in Louisville , just across the river from his wife . They have two children , Adam and Katharine , who are 21 and 18 respectively .
But how did they end up in Louisville ?
After medical school and an internship in North Vancouver , British Columbia , Dr . Seneshen returned to Saskatchewan for her residency in general surgery , which took place in Regina at the Plains Health Centre . When she arrived , there were no other female attendings or residents in the department .
“ I have to mention the worst discrimination I got as a trainee … At the end of my residency , all the residents were sitting and talking , and they said the head of the department , Dr . Keith , had such a mouth on him . But I had never heard the man swear . He never swore in front of me . That was the only discrimination I encountered . I was taught by a bunch of gentleman ,” Dr . Seneshen said . “ In terms of acknowledgement and how to behave with patients , I was taught by a good bunch of human beings .”
Once she finished residency and looked to start a career , bureaucracy got in the way of what should have been a simple decision . “ There was a 2-year span when all of the Canadian Health Administration was enthralled by a couple of health economists who determined that
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