A unique resource in the province, Colorectal Surgery at St. Paul’s Hospital provides complete care for people living in British Columbia with all kinds of colorectal diseases.
The services at St. Paul’s include colorectal cancer screening and prevention with colonoscopy, a variety of diagnostic services and of course, a full spectrum of treatment and care, including surgery.
The colorectal surgeons, surgery residents, ostomy specialists and nurses work as a team, sharing information and forming care plans tailored to each patient. We work closely with medical cancer specialists at the BC Cancer Agency to provide state of the art care for patients with colorectal cancer. Furthermore, we collaborate with gastroenterologists at St. Paul’s Hospital and throughout British Columbia to provide optimal treatment for patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
In addition, St. Paul’s Hospital is a large general hospital that offers the support of a critical care department and emergency services. Thanks to the concentration of colorectal surgeons – and their participation in world-class research – our centre offers many cutting-edge technologies, such as laparoscopic colorectal surgery and other incision-sparing surgical techniques.
St. Paul’s Hospital is the only centre in the province where specific complex colorectal procedures are performed and is an important referral centre and resource for all people living in British Columbia.
Meet OUR TEAM
PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS
Click on an image to read the team members biography.
Dr. Carl J. Brown
Colorectal Surgeon
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Dr. Carl Brown is a colorectal surgeon and the current Chair of the Section of Colorectal Surgery at the University of British Columbia. He is also the Provincial Lead for Surgical Oncology at BC Cancer. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the timeliness, safety and quality of surgical care of cancer patients throughout British Columbia. In 2012, Dr. Brown was named one of the “top 40 under 40” in Vancouver by Business in Vancouver magazine.
Education
Dr. Brown completed medical school at McMaster University in 1998. He completed general surgery training at the University of Calgary in 2003 and subsequently worked as a general surgeon at the Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary. In 2004, he moved to Toronto to train as a subspecialist in Colorectal Surgery. Concurrent with his fellowship, Dr. Brown completed his master’s degree in clinical research at the University of Toronto. In 2006, Dr. Brown was recruited to St. Paul’s Hospital and the University of British Columbia.
Clinical Interest
Dr. Brown’s primary clinical interest is the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer.
Further, he is a member of the BC provincial colon check colonoscopy initiative and travels to communities in BC to evaluate colonoscopy skills of surgeons and gastroenterologists.
Dr. Brown is also an advisor for the Canadian Cancer Society Network of Expert Reviewers and co-Chaired the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) Committee that developed the Pan Canadian Standards for Rectal Cancer Surgery.
Community Service
Dr. Brown is a member of the Health for Humanity medical group, which annually travels to Guatemala to perform surgery for underprivileged citizens. He volunteered as a general surgeon on call for the Olympic Athlete’s Village during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Research
Dr. Brown has published over 100 peer reviewed research papers focused primarily on surgery for colorectal cancer. He has also taught courses in laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery and transanal endoscopic microsurgery.
Dr. P. Terry Phang
MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS, FABCRSProfessor of Surgery at UBC
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Dr. Phang is a Professor of Surgery at the University of British Columbia where he has taught many surgeons in British Columbia and Canada on rectal cancer and laparoscopic colon surgery, and many medical students and family physicians on colorectal diseases.
Education
His medical training was received at the University of Toronto. He received surgical training at Memorial University of Newfoundland and specialized colorectal surgery training at the University of Minnesota in 1996-97. He holds American Board certification for Surgery and Colorectal Surgery. He has a Masters of Science degree in biochemistry and clinical research training in critical illness and colorectal surgery with a research fellowship in rectal cancer at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
Designations
He is the program director of the UBC fellowship subspecialty training in colorectal surgery and the inaugural chair of the Canadian Royal College exam board for colorectal surgery.
He is a member of the British Columbia Cancer Agency Surgical Oncology Network committee on colon and rectal cancer that has the mandate of improving outcomes for colorectal cancer through programmatic development in BC, and a member of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons committee on fundamentals of rectal cancer surgery.
He is the current president of the Canadian Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and is facilitator for a Canadian clinical trials network in colorectal surgery.
Research
Dr. Phang’s current research includes diagnostic imaging of rectal cancer, advanced techniques of rectal cancer surgery including laparoscopy, sphincter-preserving rectal cancer resection, and transanal microsurgery endoscopic resection.
Dr. Amandeep (Anu) Ghuman
MD, MPH, FRCSCSpecialist in colon and rectal surgery
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Dr. Amandeep (Anu) Ghuman, MD, MPH, FRCSC
Dr. Anu Ghuman is a specialist in colon and rectal surgery at St. Paul’s Hospital and a clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, Department of Surgery. She is also the incoming Discipline-Specific Site Leader for the General Surgery Clerkship rotation of University of British Columbia Undergraduate Medical students.
Education
Dr. Ghuman was born and raised in the Lower Mainland. She graduated from medical school at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and finished her residency in General Surgery at UBC. During her surgical training, Dr. Ghuman completed a Masters in Public Health in Clinical Effectiveness with an interdisciplinary concentration in Public Health Leadership at Harvard University. She subsequently went on to complete subspecialty fellowship training in Colon & Rectal Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Florida.
Interests
Within the field of colorectal surgery, Dr. Ghuman has a particular interest in minimally invasive/laparoscopic surgery, colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, including pelvic pouch procedures, colonoscopy and anorectal diseases.
Her research interest is surgical quality improvement. Among other efforts, her early career work has included the study of surgical site infections and urinary retention after colorectal surgery. Her goal is to build a broad collaborative network of surgeons to continue identifying areas where surgical patient safety and care can be improved.
Dr. Ghuman also enjoys teaching and mentoring medical students and residents.
Dr. Manoi J. Raval
MD, MSc, FRCSCSpecialist in colon and rectal surgery
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Dr. Raval is a specialist in colon and rectal surgery at St. Paul’s Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of British Columbia.
Education
He was born and grew up in the Vancouver area. He graduated from medical school at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1998 and finished his residency in General Surgery at the University of Calgary in 2004.
He then went on to subspecialty fellowship training in Colon and Rectal Surgery at the University of Toronto. While in Toronto he also completed a Master of Science degree in Clinical Epidemiology.
He was recruited to the Department of Surgery at St. Paul’s Hospital and UBC in 2006, and is proud to work in the center of excellence in colorectal surgery that has been developed over time at St. Paul’s Hospital.
Designations
Dr. Raval also works closely with radiation and medical oncologists at the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA).
Within the BCCA’s Surgical Oncology Network, he is the Chair of the Colorectal Surgery Tumour Group, whose mandate is to promote excellence in the surgical treatment of colorectal cancer for British Columbians. He has headed a number of initiatives through the BC Cancer Agency, including development of Colorectal Cancer Care Pathway maps for patients and management guidelines for colorectal cancer for physicians.
Interests
Within the field of colon and rectal surgery, Dr. Raval has a particular interest in laparoscopic colorectal surgery, colorectal cancer, colonoscopy, inflammatory bowel disease and the pelvic pouch procedure.
His research interests include patient outcomes in these areas, collaborating with his fellow colorectal surgeons at St. Paul’s and other surgeons across Canada.
Dr. Raval also enjoys teaching medical students, residents in general surgery and other specialties, and fellows in colorectal surgery. He also trains other general surgeons in special operative techniques for colon and rectal surgery.
Dr. Ahmer A. Karimuddin
MD, MAEd, FRCSCColorectal Surgeon
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Dr. Ahmer Karimuddin is a Colorectal Surgeon working at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. He is Co-Director of the General Surgery Residency Training Program and an Associate Professor (Clinical) at the University of British Columbia. He has special expertise in the management of cancer of the colon and rectum, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and proctology (hemorrhoids, anal fissures, fecal incontinence).
Education
Dr. Karimuddin completed medical school at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario 2001. He completed general surgery training at the University of Saskatchewan in 2007, with a year completing a Masters in Adult Education, with a focus on surgical education and CanMEDS. He completed a fellowship in Colon and Rectal Surgery at the University of Toronto, with research focusing on clinical outcomes of early rectal cancer.
Interests
Within the field of colon and rectal surgery, Dr. Karimuddin has a particular interest in laparoscopic colorectal surgery, colorectal cancer, colonoscopy, inflammatory bowel disease and the pelvic pouch procedure. His research interests include patient outcomes (clinical and PROs) in these areas and improvements in patient care, with a focus on quality improvement of outcomes and optimizing patient care and recovery through Enhanced Recovery After Surgery. Dr. Karimuddin is also focused on surgical education research, with a focus on leadership, diversity and wellbeing in postgraduate surgical education.
Designations
Dr. Karimuddin has maintained a strong focus on surgical education in his practice, and served for three years as the Discipline Specific Site Leader for Surgery at the Island Medical Program of the University of British Columbia. He has received the Excellence in Clerkship Teaching award of the University of British Columbia twice (2009 and 2011), along with the Preceptor Teaching Excellence award (2012). He is currently the Co-Director for the General Surgery Residency Program at the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Karimuddin was one of the first surgeons in Canada to have completed the Train the Trainer program for colonoscopy and serves as an assessor of Colonoscopy skills for the Colon Screening Program in British Columbia.
Dr. Karimuddin is the President of the British Columbia Surgical Society, and has been past president of the General Surgeons of British Columbia. He served as the Surgical Lead for the British Columbia Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Collaborative, and is currently on the Governance Committee for Enhanced Recovery Canada, a Canadian Patient Safety Institute Initiative. Dr. Karimuddin has also participated in activities of Crohns Colitis Canada in the development of guidelines and provision of research grants.
He is an active member of the Colorectal Cancer Tumour Group, and has participated in development of Clinical Guidelines for Colorectal Cancer at the BC Cancer Agency. He is also involved in the development and maintenance of screening guidelines for colorectal cancer in BC.
Dr. Elizabeth Clement
MD, MSc, FRCSCSpecialist in colon and rectal surgery
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Dr. Elizabeth Clement in a specialist in colon and rectal surgery at St. Paul’s Hospital and a clinical instructor with the University of British Columbia. She recently finished the colorectal surgery fellowship program at St. Paul’s Hospital and is thrilled to be joining the group for the next year.
Education
Dr. Clement grew up in rural Alberta, and completed a Bachelor of Science and Master’s Degree in Neuroscience at the University of Alberta. She received her medical degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and then completed her residency in general surgery at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
Interests
Within the field of colorectal surgery, Dr. Clement is interested in colon and rectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and anorectal conditions. She is trained in laparoscopic/minimally invasive surgery, pelvic pouch construction and colonoscopy.
Dr. Clement’s academic focus is on communication, and she recently completed the Media and Medicine course from Harvard University. Her research includes novel methods to explain operative and perioperative processes to patients. She is the recipient of the Canadian Society of Colorectal Surgeon’s grant, which is helping to fund a project on the use of a graphic narrative – also known as a comic – to help consent patients for surgery.
Outside of the hospital, Dr. Clement enjoys running along the seawall and spending time with her husband and son.
ASSISTANTS
Our office is filled with wonderful and patient staff, whose responsibilities include scheduling, communications, taking referrals and generally making sure that the department runs smoothly. They can be reached at the office phone: 604-806-8711.
Emily: Assistant to Dr. Carl BrownTrang: Assistant to Dr. P. T. Phang
Anne: Assistant to Dr. Manoj Raval
Tina: Assistant to Dr. Ahmer A. Karimuddin
Lindsay: Assistant to Dr. Amandeep (Anu) Ghuman and Dr. Elizabeth Clement
FELLOWS
The colorectal surgery team at St. Paul’s enrolls one fellow each year into a two-year fellowship program, consisting of one clinical year and one non-clinical year. The clinical year of training is at St. Paul’s Hospital, while the non-clinical year consists of classes at UBC.
Dr. Christine Li
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Dr. Christine Li completed her undergraduate and medical school training at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. She then went on to complete General Surgery residency at the University of Alberta. She has been slowly moving further west and is now rounding off her training in Colorectal Surgery.
Dr. Li will also be concurrently completing the Master of Health Administration program while here at UBC. Her research interests include surgical innovation, medical education, and addressing areas of need in surgery with a systems-based approach. She places a priority on mentorship within surgery and has been extremely lucky to work with many strong personal and professional mentors through her training. She is excited to have the opportunity to work with some of those very same mentors throughout her fellowship.
Dr. Olivia Hershorn
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Dr. Olivia Hershorn is originally from Montreal, Quebec where she completed her medical school training at McGill University. Moving west, she joined the University of Manitoba for general surgery residency where she also completed a Master of Science in Surgery. Finally landing on the west coast, Olivia is excited to be joining the team at St. Paul’s Hospital to complete her training in colorectal surgery.
Dr. Hershorn’s research focus has been in mixed-methods, applying quantitative and qualitative methodology to learn how to bridge the gap in communication amongst multidisciplinary specialists.
She is interested in patient centered-care, enhancing communication and ally ship between care teams, and improving patient outcomes.
Fellowship Alumni
Dr. Elizabeth Clement
Dr. Ameer Farooq
Dr. Humaid AlAdawi
Dr. Hyea Min Yoon
Dr. Reagan Robertson
Dr. François Letarte
Dr. Dilip Gill
Dr. Ryan McColl
Dr. Magdalena Recsky
Dr. Irene Schornagel
Dr. Thamer Al-Tayeb
Dr. François Rouleau Fournier
RESEARCH COORDINATORS
Research is very important to surgeons at St. Paul’s, which is why we have a dedicated team that manages and runs our research studies. When at St. Paul’s under the care of our surgeons, patients may be approached to participate in a research study if they meet the eligibility criteria. Participation is completely voluntary and patients will receive the best possible care whether or not they choose to enroll in any studies.
Navindi De Silva
Urban Health – Inner City Youth – Foundry
Rhea Sidhu
Urban Health – Inner City Youth – Foundry
Eniola Owonifaari
Xya Parashar
Annie Li
STOMA NURSES
Our stoma nurses offer a variety of services to patients related to education about, and care of, wounds and stomas. These nurses can help with patient recovery and are great resources for anything related to their stoma and stoma bag needs.
Aleza
Heidi
Pam
Joanne
Gwen
NURSE NAVIGATOR
Nhaji Urrutia
Nurse Navigator
Patient care and followup
Our nurse navigator is here to conduct phone follow-ups with colorectal cancer patients as an additional measure to ensure patients are getting appropriate follow-up (e.g., scans, tests, scopes, etc.) for their cancer.Though the exact position has changed since its inception, it was initially created as part of a larger initiative, which won a Patient Safety and Quality Award in 2013, to help improve patient outcomes after surgeries.
REFERRING PATIENTS
All patients will need a referral from a physician to see a colorectal surgeon at St. Paul’s Hospital. Please fax a referral form with all relevant background information: reports from CT scan, ultrasound, MRI, colonoscopy and relevant consultations, to:
Fax: 604-806-9604If the patient has an urgent problem (e.g., colorectal cancer), include this in the referral letter and the patient will be prioritized.
The colorectal surgeons work in collaboration. Unless otherwise specified by the referral, patients will be scheduled to see the first available surgeon, to reduce waiting times for all patients.
For patients
Continuing
Education
American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Annual Meeting
Surgical Oncology Network Annual Update
Resources
& Links
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS)
Canadian Association of General Surgeons (CAGS)
Guidelines & practice parameters from ASCRS
Contact us
Main Office:St. Paul’s Hospital
Room C313, 3rd Floor Burrard Building
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6 Telephone: 604-806-8711
Research telephone: 604-682-2344, extension 66066
Fax: 604-806-9604
Email: crsresearch@providencehealth.bc.ca Hours: 8am – 4pm, Monday to Thursday; 7am – 3 pm, Friday
Closed on all statutory holidays