Terrace’s Dr. Zaneta Lim is the new co-director of the Year 3 Integrated Community Clerkship (ICC) program in the Northwest. She became part of the Northern Medical Program team in late 2022 and joins Dr. Natasha De Sousa who is also ICC co-director. 

“I was drawn to this role,” says Zaneta, “because it was an opportunity to showcase the cultural, social, and biological diversity and the unique and soul-filing medicine that comes from our rural remote communities in BC!”

Zaneta is passionate about teaching and even more passionate about rural and remote medicine, noting that the ICC programs are vital in training future Canadian physicians.

“Despite our best efforts, there is a fundamental maldistribution of health care resources in rural and remote communities. Coming to Terrace and other ICC programs gives students an opportunity to not only learn medicine but understand first-hand the role physicians can play in advocating and leading system change.  

“Medical students are the future of our system. I really enjoy guiding, coaching, and mentoring the start of our students’ evolution from scholar to medical expert, and helping them learn to integrate existing classroom knowledge into other CanMEDS roles, such as professional, communicator, collaborator, leader, and health advocate. 

Zaneta immigrated to Canada from Singapore in 1988. After high school, she studied at UBC before beginning medical school at Queen’s University (Ontario), followed by a Pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and BC Children’s Hospital. Prior to moving to Terrace, she worked at several Vancouver hospitals (St. Paul’s Hospital, BC Women’s Hospital, and BC Children’s Hospital). 

Married to Terrace’s urologist, Zaneta is mom to a 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.

“Both my children are teaching me more than I ever could have imagined about pediatrics as it turns out studying pediatrics does not prepare us for actual parenting!  

“My husband and I feel so grateful that we can be specialists, doing the work we love, and also be home for dinner most nights with our young children.  That is not the reality for most two physician households and we are grateful to our community for making this possible.”