A young woman is using lessons she learned in her hometown to promote better health-care access for people around the world.
Dr. Hannah Thomas, 28, is pursuing her PhD in health policy at Stanford University with the goal of making surgical care more widely available to people in low- to middle-income countries.
"Five billion people in the world lack access to safe, timely and affordable surgical care. Surgery is crucial and yet an often overlooked component of public health, says Thomas, who was born and raised in Midland.
"I decided to do this because I have a deep passion for improving health-care systems."
At Stanford, Thomas is a 2024 Knight-Hennessy Scholar. Her tuition and a living stipend is covered for three years. In return, she must work on her PhD studies and take part in parallel curriculum with other scholars from around the world.
“I’m really excited to be joining the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program at Stanford. It’s a unique program that allows students to grow both personally and professionally."
It's a leadership training program with an in-person format with guest speakers and group meetings. Scholars must work on projects addressing large challenges in the world, such as climate change, healthcare access disparity and lack of infrastructure.
“For me personally, the emphasis on leadership development really resonates. As I move through my PhD, I hope to advocate for health equity and policy reform, and so the programming that Knight-Hennessey offers gives me the tools to do that,” Thomas says.
Thomas comes by her love of medicine easily. She's the daughter of local family physician Dr. Richard Thomas. Her younger sister Sophie is also a doctor, doing a residency in emergency medicine.
Her father and her home community are her inspiration.
“I feel very proud to have been born and raised in Midland. That area taught me crucial lessons about community and the importance of connection. When you are in a place where everyone knows each other, you feel a strong sense of camaraderie, you know looking out for one another is important. I really saw that in my dad growing up and his service to the community,” says Thomas, who is doing a residency in urology.
Thomas graduated from the former Penetanguishene Secondary School which offered French programming. She enjoyed sports and fundraising activities such as the Relay for Life for the Canadian Cancer Society.
“My parents always made sure to keep me engaged in the community. Those experiences taught me many lessons about looking out for your community and your neighbours, which is really a core tenant of practicing medicine,” she says.
Thomas attained her honours bachelor degree in medicine at St. Andrews University in Scotland. From there, she did her masters in global health at the University of California San Francisco. Then she returned to Ontario and started her residency in urology at the University of Toronto, where she's completed three of five years.
"It takes a long time to be a surgeon," she says, adding that once she completes her health policy PhD, she plans to return to Toronto to complete the residency.
So, she will be both a clinical and an academic urologist, hopefully working at a place where she can pursue both her passions at the same time.
On the clinical side, Thomas wants to focus on reconstructive urology. As the urinary tract is the plumbing of the human body, reconstructive urology is basically removing blockages to create a functional tract between the kidneys and the urethra in men and women.
On the academic side, Thomas wants to work with global, non-governmental agencies such as the World Health Organization to bring more funds, equipment, trained staff and medication to places that are underserved with surgery of any kind.
In May of 2023, Thomas travelled to Malawi and worked with a local urologist. She quickly discovered that the country of 20 million people had only two urologists, creating a "huge disparity" for patients.
While those doctors are committed, Thomas saw that they lacked basic diagnostic equipment such as cystoscope, which is a tube with a camera that gets inserted into the urethra to diagnosis and treat diseases such as bladder cancer, bladder stones and urinary infections. Without it, patients are hindered from receiving a diagnosis and treatment.
"There are many different pieces along the surgical ecosystem that need to be addressed and policy is one way to do so," Thomas says.
Improved access to surgery can be achieved on an international level by better policies that have the power to divert resources to surgery in a way that optimizes patient outcomes, says Thomas.
Thomas chose urology because she was captivated by the complexity of the urinary and reproductive systems and how they affect overall health.
"I've also witnessed the profound impact urologists have on people's lives," she says.
Thomas is a board member of the Society for Women in Urology and mentors other women to pursue urology.
To see her Knight-Hennessy Scholars profile visit the website.
