DFCM Alum, Dr. Manveen Puri, now a Medical Officer with the Canadian Armed Forces
ALUM OF FAMILY MEDICINE
Military Medicine: Dr. Manveen Puri, MD ’13, PGME ’15
While still enrolled in medical school at U of T, Dr. Manveen Puri decided to enrol in the military. He spoke with the Faculty of Medicine’s Karen Lee about his career in medicine and the military.
How did you come to work with the Canadian Armed forces?
I grew up in Singapore, where there is mandatory military service. As such, joining the military was never a foreign concept for me; it was always an option. This didn’t change when my family immigrated to Canada.
When I received my offer of acceptance to medical school, I started exploring a career with the military in more detail. One of the pre-conditions for acceptance into the Medical Officer Training Program (MOTP) was the pursuit of a residency in family medicine. During my pre-clerkship years, I made sure to speak with faculty mentors and do lots of shadowing. I came to the realization that I really enjoyed the flexibility family medicine offered and loved the idea of being a generalist and having an approach to a broad range of clinical presentations. At the start of my third year, I made my decision and formally accepted an offer to enrol in the MOTP.