By Malika Ladha
Seventeen University of Calgary medical students shaved and donated their hair at the seventh annual Faculty of Medicine Head Shave on Feb. 15. Hosted at the U of C Foothills Campus, the event raised over $21,500 for gastrointestinal cancer treatment and research.
“We decided to raise money for GI cancers through the Canadian Cancer Society,” explained co-organizer Megan Blades.
Blades and her team have been planning the event since November.
“It was a bit intimidating because I wasn’t sure if we were going to pull it off as well as it had been done in the past years but I am so proud of what everyone has done,” said Blades.
Calgary Medical Students’ Association member Robert Schultz said the participation of his classmates speaks to medical students’ dedication to patients.
“It’s a ‘put your money where you mouth is’ kind of deal. We are taking the steps to join our patients — we are just not showing up to the job,” said Schultz. “We want to join patients in the fight.”
Fifteen others — two of whom decided to shave their heads upon spontaneous donation collections at the event — joined Schultz and Blades in the head shave.
First-year medical student and participant in the headshave Simran Shergill applauds his four female classmates for their participation.
“It’s extremely courageous [of them] to shave their heads. It’s enough of a commitment getting me to shave my short hair and surely it will grow soon enough. But for them, going from their long hair to heads shaved, it’s a big commitment and I really commend them for that,” said Shergill.
Shergill hopes to share his excitement of the event with future medical students.
“I would let them know about the tradition and hopefully they can be part of the tradition in the future,” he said.