Doctor in training juggles studies with family

Chantal Barry has it all. She’s worked hard to get it all.
She lies down with 18-month-old daughter Ena, settles her for a nap, while doing a telephone interview about her choices, both personal and professional.

“It has definitely been tough and I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices,” Barry said from her home. “But I trust I have a mission in life and part of that is being in service for others . . . being a steward for our people.”
On June 4, Barry graduated from the University of Alberta in Edmonton with her medical degree.

It’s been years of hard work that brought her to that point and more years of hard work are ahead of her.
Barry lives in Calgary with her daughter, son Toryn (three), and husband Tyler. On July 1, she begins a family medicine residency at the University of Calgary.
It’s easy to understand why Barry has chosen to specialize in family medicine. Aside from the variety it offers, such as obstetrics, pediatrics, dermatology, and chances in the emergency department and surgical, there’s the longevity that goes along with it.

“There’s also the continuity of care. I can see mothers in prenatal care and then I can deliver the baby, then I can see the baby, watch them grow up and then deliver their babies,” Barry said.

Originally, Barry had hoped to practice medicine in a rural clinic, but her husband’s computer training means they need to stay closer to an urban centre. To meet both their needs, Barry said they’ll likely purchase land on the outskirts of the city so she can practice rurally while he commutes to work. She plans to work for a couple years before she and a fellow physician open a rural clinic and offer general practitioner services.

“Aboriginal people are everywhere, so I don’t only have to be in a rural setting,” she said.
Barry is Métis from Saskatoon.

She earned a science degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a master’s degree from the University of British Columbia, before entering medical school at the U of A in 2005. She said the university drew her both because of its reputation and its proximity to her home town of Saskatoon.

While she was attending medical school, she had her son, and almost two years later she had her daughter. She said the school was understanding of her situation and always accommodating.

Juggling education and family life has presented challenges, said Barry, who admitted having to give up friends, personal time, and a social life in order to focus on her priorities.

“My highest priority was my children. My next priority was my education,” Barry said. “Being able to balance the two, my kids had to give up a lot because I was gone a lot at night quite a bit for the training.”
Education, she added, is empowering.

“When I first went into medicine, I wanted to make a difference for Aboriginal people,” said Barry.

Barry sees herself as a role model for other Aboriginal people who may want to pursue health as a career, and also as an ambassador for an Aboriginal approach to medicine.

“The majority of physicians are not Aboriginal, so to bring an understanding of some cultural values to non-Aboriginal physicians is another way I can contribute,” she said.

She also noted that where her patients are open to it, she’ll try a more holistic approach to her medicine, discussing traditional ways, spiritual growth and discovering their cultural roots.

She noted that sweats and ceremonies for healing are ways to reduce stress in people’s lives and to control high blood pressure.

“I knew before I had kids if I was meant to be in medicine it would happen. Everything went very smoothly. I worked hard at it and I always trusted that if this is what God wanted for me, I would get through it. I would have the strength I need every day.”

Her “mantra,” said Barry, was the Philippians 4:13 verse which says, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.”

Barry and her husband plan to add two more children to their family.