Jason W.G. Kwok MB BS CCFP

William M. Glenn

Life is all about change. Few know that better than Dr Jason Kwok. After working as an orthopedic surgeon in Hong Kong for almost 20 years, he moved to Canada in 1995 and—with a wife and 2 teenage sons to support—made the switch to family medicine. While his patients in Toronto’s burgeoning Asian community were pleased to find a doctor who spoke Cantonese and Mandarin, practising medicine in Canada required some adjustment.

“The Asian and Canadian cultures are so different,” says Dr Kwok. “It would be considered taboo by many Chinese doctors to openly discuss mental or psychological problems. My patients are also much more conservative about sex. And—to be honest—so was I,” he grins. “It took me some time to become comfortable talking about these things.”

But perhaps the biggest change since coming to Canada is the way Dr Kwok spends his time away from the clinic. “I was crazy about soccer in Hong Kong, but it was too cold to play outside during the Canadian winter,” Dr Kwok says. Instead he turned to tai chi, a “year-round sport” that he says is “good for the whole body, improving coordination and elasticity.”

A daily practitioner and a certified instructor with the Hong Kong Tai Chi Institute, Dr Kwok teaches classes 6 times a week—to both the elderly and the young, the healthy and the disabled, and Asian and non-Asian enthusiasts. “While everybody knows the importance of regular exercise,” he says, “perhaps the best role model is the doctor himself.”

He has also been able to indulge a lifelong love of Scouting. “I wanted to join when I was a boy, but we didn’t have the money,” Dr Kwok says. “When we arrived in Canada, Scouting forced me to get out of the house, practise my English and meet more Canadians.” Today, there are weekly meetings to attend, camping and hiking trips to plan, and community service projects to organize. Scouting is also something he can share with his wife, a leader with a local Markham troop.

So how does Dr Kwok balance a busy practice with tai chi classes, lectures, Scouting, his extensive charity work, and the weekly medical column he pens for the Ming Pao Daily News? “Some things never change,” he says. “I still need my 8 hours sleep every night, so maybe the greatest gift God gave me is time management.”

“Perhaps the best role model is the doctor himself”

PHOTOS (LEFT): Dr Kwok in uniform as Medical Officer for St John Ambulance Brigade (top). Dr Kwok giving a health talk in a community centre (bottom).

PHOTOS (RIGHT, TOP DOWN): Dr Kwok in uniform, displaying a tai chi fan, practising tai chi in the park, and teaching tai chi at the community centre.

Notes

THE COVER PROJECT Canadian Family Physician has embarked on a project to assemble the portrait of family medicine in Canada. Each cover of the journal features a family physician chosen at random from our membership list, along with a short essay—a brief glimpse of the person and the practice. Over time, the randomness will become representative and the differences, taken together, will define what it is that all family physicians have in common.