Last Updated on August 9, 2024
Few oral and maxillofacial surgeons have an academic CV that rivals Dr. Louis Bourget’s. The owner and proprietor of two medical practices in Canada’s Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland holds a B.Sc., two master’s degrees, a Ph.D., and multiple fellowships—and that’s without mentioning the 1200 continuing education courses he has completed over his career.
But beyond his educational achievements, Dr. Bourget excels at the all-important elements of bedside manner, empathy, and an innate desire to alleviate human suffering.
Q: What do you find to be the most rewarding part about your career as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon?
Dr. Louis Bourget: The reason I became a doctor is to help people. In my case, as an oral surgeon, I’m healing those with unfortunate conditions or afflictions and making their lives better. It’s certainly satisfying to execute a particularly tricky procedure well, to put all my training to use, but the most rewarding part is the follow-up, when I hear from patients about how much their quality of life has improved.
Q: Are you saying that an inherent love for people is a prerequisite to becoming an effective doctor or surgeon?
Dr. Louis Bourget: I don’t know about a prerequisite, but for me as a surgeon, being a humanitarian and cultivating genuine care for my patients is a huge part of maintaining my focus and drive. I think it helps tremendously to have a great deal of compassion and empathy for others. However, I will say that if you don’t possess this specific characteristic, or at least not in abundance, it’s still possible to become an effective doctor, although perhaps not one who treats or deals directly with patients. There are plenty of talented medical doctors involved in research who do an immense amount of good for the world, for example.
Q: Is there a person you can cite as a particular inspiration in your career, or even in your life generally?
Dr. Louis Bourget: Yes. My little sister. She’s a physician, but she’s also a woman of the cloth. She studied to become a nun at age 17, and since then she has spent the vast majority of her time in the developing world where she provides aid, comfort, and medical attention to some of the least fortunate souls on Earth. Her overwhelming need to help others and her extensive track record of doing so is a constant source of inspiration to me. Whenever she calls me up and asks if I can lend a hand with her endeavors, I always find a way to make the time to meet up with her for a week or two and undertake a mission of mercy.
Q: What form do these missions take exactly?
Dr. Louis Bourget: I assemble a team of other medical professionals to join me and my family, and we head down to meet my sister wherever she happens to be working. In the past, it’s been Brazil, Benin, and other countries in Africa. We pack up some shipments of medical supplies to take with us—some to use during our journey and some to leave behind after we’ve left. But while we’re there, we treat people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to the medical services our team can perform. As for myself, I conduct a lot of facial and jaw surgeries, as well as some dental work. We do what we can to help out in the amount of time we have, and we try to leave the communities we visit in better shape than how we found them.
Q: Finally, is there any advice you’d like to impart to the next generation of surgeons?
Dr. Louis Bourget: I think bedside manner is extremely important. Patients need to implicitly trust their surgeon, and the best way to encourage that is through cultivating a demeanor that inspires comfort and confidence. Try to genuinely put yourself in the place of the patient in front of you. Imagine how vulnerable and anxious they must feel to be put “under the knife”. They are placing their health and often their lives in your hands. A practiced bedside manner—or, put another way, a bit of humanity mixed in with some reassurance and a healthy dose of professionalism—will make your patients feel much more at ease.
