Today, 29 departments and services at Sainte-Justine have established Academic Funds. Total contributions surpass the $30 million mark, and over 500 fellowships have been awarded.
Your contribution to these Funds enables Sainte-Justine’s best and brightest minds to complete their subspecialty training at prestigious institutions abroad. It also gives rising stars in maternal and child health care from around the world the opportunity to share their expertise with the teams here at home, as well as hone their skills at the bedside of patients in Quebec, which contributes to Sainte-Justine’s mission of excellence and enhances its international reputation.
Each of this year’s 46 scholarship recipients has an incredibly inspiring career path. Now that they have the combined support of the Sainte-Justine medical community and donors including the Fondation J.A. DeSève, we can expect them to accomplish even greater things going forward.
Dr. Elyse Potvin
“I’ve followed my heart throughout my career, all the way to CHU Sainte-Justine,” says Dr. Elyse Potvin, a kidney transplant and pediatric urology specialist who recently completed a nearly three-year fellowship funded by a matching-fund scholarship, both in Quebec City and in Edmonton.
For Dr. Potvin, the health care field was a no-brainer: she has a passion for science and a decidedly people-first philosophy. She had already earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing and was working in a hospital when she began studying medicine at the Mauricie campus of Université de Montréal, initially with the intention of practising family medicine and focusing on vulnerable patients. “During my externship, I was skeptical about the surgery rotation because it didn’t seem like a good fit, but I ended up loving it!”
She went on to pursue urology, a surgical specialty that concerns disorders of the genitourinary tract. It wasn’t until the fifth year of her residency that Sainte-Justine came on her radar: “That rotation changed everything. At Sainte-Justine, excellence truly meets compassion. We handle the most complex cases from all four corners of Quebec, but also the Maritimes and even French-speaking Ontario. Our approach is unique, and we take our time with each patient.”
Dr. Potvin didn’t want to leave Sainte-Justine at the end of her internship, and neither her supervisor, Dr. Julie Franc-Guimond, nor the head of the urology department, Dr. Diego Barrieras, wanted to see her go. She was quickly offered a position. She also received a scholarship and, in a little under three years, she completed fellowships in pediatric urology and kidney transplantation at CHU de Québec-Université Laval and University of Alberta Hospital, the second-largest transplant centre in Canada. In mid-July, she officially returned to CHU Sainte-Justine.
After I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of 6, I was treated, hospitalized, and had multiple surgeries at Sainte-Justine. Thanks to your support, I’m proud to be able to give back to the institution that helped me so much and, in turn, transform the lives of patients in need. Thank you!
Dr. Paola A. Rouge Elton
Dr. Paola A. Rouge Elton, a native of Switzerland, began her career in the University of Geneva faculty of medicine. Her quest for knowledge led her to explore various avenues; she completed a year in pediatric surgery at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), then spent two years in the pediatrics department of the Hôpital Cantonal de Fribourg (HFR) before finally joining the pediatric emergency department team at CHUV in May 2022.
“During my training at the HFR, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Cosette Pharisa and Dr. Céline Ritter Schenk, two former fellows in the pediatric emergency department at CHU Sainte-Justine,” explains Dr. Rouge Elton. “I was inspired by their career paths, and in July 2023, I myself was given the opportunity to complete a fellowship at Sainte-Justine, thanks to the generosity of the Foundation’s donors.”
This opportunity goes beyond financial support for future specialists. It is proof of the trust we have earned and a chance to realize our long-held dreams in an exceptional environment. Fellowships give us the unique opportunity to hone our skills and further our collective knowledge with the goal of bettering the lives of as many children and families as possible.
Thank you for supporting Dr. Rouge Elton, Dr. Potvin, and so many other fellows from Canada and abroad who, thanks to your support, are building the future of medicine and amplifying CHU Sainte-Justine’s impact throughout Quebec—and beyond.