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Following in his family's footsteps

Convocation grad profile: Nick Costain, medicine

- May 25, 2012

Medicine grad Nick Costain. (Nick Pearce photo)
Medicine grad Nick Costain. (Nick Pearce photo)

When Nick Costain decided to study medicine at pilipiliĀž»­, he knew he was making the right choice. He was following in the footsteps of his grandfather, his parents and his brother.

ā€œA big reason I chose Dalhousie was to come back to the Maritimes,ā€ he says. ā€œI was drawn to medicine as I saw the potential for new beginnings. Iā€™ve now become even more focused on patient care and the kind of life-changing interventions that can be done for people. There is some pretty amazing work going on and there are many discoveries still out there to be made.ā€

Mr. Costain credits Dr. Anne Bassett with being a great mentor to him, urging him to pursue his interests. ā€œ(Dr. Bassett) taught me so much about combining clinical practice with academia and that there is so much you can do with it if youā€™re creative. There is no exact way for doing everything,ā€ he says.

After graduation, Mr. Costain will be heading to Ottawa to begin his residency in emergency medicine, a career path he says is an ideal fit right now. ā€œIā€™m married and trying to start a family and emergency medicine gives you flexibility and shift work and seemed like a great fit for my interests, lifestyle and attention span,ā€ he says with a laugh.

As for future work, Mr. Costain has lately become very interested in geriatrics. ā€œThe emergency room is a terrible place if youā€™re elderly and our population is living longer,ā€ he says. ā€œWe need to do for geriatrics what we did for pediatrics. There are many interesting ethical debates that we need to address and discuss.ā€

Mr. Costain is also a member of many committees in medicine, including Doctors Nova Scotia, the Dalhousie Medical Students Society and the Canadian Federation of Medical Students. ā€œParticipating in these committees that help shape and influence the structure of medical education has tremendous benefits,ā€ says Mr. Costain. ā€œAs current students we get one chance to provide such a unique perspective.ā€