Kelly Foss

Ryan Greene never planned on earning a PhD.

But this week, he will receive his doctorate in clinical epidemiology from Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine and is graduating as a fellow of the School of Graduate Studies.

‘I wanted more’

Born and raised in Blue Mountain, N.S., Mr. Greene first obtained a bachelor of science degree in biology from St. Francis Xavier University.

After a year off where he considered, and then dismissed, applying for a master’s degree, he returned for another undergraduate degree, this time in business.

“I wanted to go to graduate school, but I didn’t think I had a competitive application at the time to get in,” he said. “I finished the business degree, but I was really dissatisfied. I knew I wanted more.”

Important work

Still uncertain, Dr. Greene took another year off and went to work in a fish hatchery doing lab work.

“I was working in the hatchery at 3 a.m. and thought, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ I had just seen an article from a professor in the epidemiology program at Memorial about her work and I thought it was fascinating. It talked about how she helped patients and how important her work was.”

He thought if he could do something that was “even a fraction” as helpful, it would give him a lot of meaning in his life.

That desire for purpose spurred Dr. Greene to apply to Memorial, where he was accepted into the epidemiology diploma program and eventually transitioned into a master’s degree under the supervision of Drs. Diana de Carvalho and Holly Etchegary in the Division of Population Health and Applied Health Sciences.

‘Opportunities I couldn’t imagine’

After graduating, he returned to his home province with his wife, a fellow Nova Scotian whom he met while both were living in residence at Signal Hill Campus.

There he took on a new position at Dalhousie University’s Division of Neurosurgery.

Within a few months, he realized the work he wanted to do would require a PhD, so he reached out to Dr. Etchegary.

She put him in touch with Dr. Amanda Hall in the Primary Health Research Unit. They became his co-supervisors.

“What really stood out to me from my time at Memorial is how friendly and collaborative people they are.”— Ryan Greene

Mr. Greene’s doctoral degree focused on helping patients recovering from spine surgery get out of hospital more quickly through a program called Enhanced Recovery After Surgery.

“It’s a set of protocols and ways to work with different health-care providers to expediate the recovery process,” he said. “It lowers the risk of adverse events in hospital for patients, and reduces the financial burden of lengthy inpatient stays on the health-care system.”

He is currently working to implement his doctoral work into actual practice in Halifax, N.S.

“What really stood out to me from my time at Memorial is how friendly and collaborative people they are,” said Dr. Greene. “I have nothing but positive things to say about the people I worked with. The training and opportunities I received at Memorial propelled my career, and provided opportunities I couldn’t imagine when I first applied.”