A Week as a Student of Recovery by Dr. Brendan Lee
My name is Brendan Lee, and I am currently completing the fifth and final year of my Emergency Medicine residency, during which I am undertaking an Addiction Medicine fellowship through UBC and the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use. Last week, I spent time at Orchard Recovery Center on Bowen Island as part of that fellowship.
Most of my medical training has taken place in hospital settings, with a strong focus on acute care and the biomedical aspects of addiction. One objective of this rotation was to better understand what recovery can look like outside the hospital, and what supports patients may engage with once they leave our care.
Throughout the week, I had the opportunity to observe and participate in programming that highlighted the many non-biomedical components of recovery. Spending time in this setting offered valuable insight into the broader, more holistic elements that support individuals as they work toward sustained recovery.
Outside of programming, I enjoyed getting to know Bowen Island, fitting in a few hikes, playing basketball at the community centre, and sharing consistently delicious lunches at Orchard. There is something grounding about the pace and setting of the island, and it’s hard to imagine a better place for people to spend time focusing on healing and recovery. Just as meaningful was getting to know the staff and clients. I was struck by how welcoming people were, and how generous they were in sharing their experiences.
I didn’t anticipate participating in group sessions, but I did, and I’m glad I did. I was surprised by how personally useful many of the themes were. Ideas like self-compassion, accountability, mindfulness, and showing up consistently extend far beyond addiction and are applicable to many areas of life, including medicine itself.
Throughout the week, I split time between clinical work, follow-ups, medication adjustments, and assessments, and sitting in on programming. Hearing people’s stories, and being trusted with them, was a reminder of how much individuals have often been through long before they arrive in the emergency department or addictions clinic. I felt genuinely grateful for that perspective.
As both an emergency physician and addiction specialist in training, this experience has deepened my understanding of what intensive recovery programs entail and how they can support people beyond acute care. It’s a perspective that will meaningfully shape how I approach conversations with patients about recovery and next steps.
For me, this was a week spent as a student of recovery, and it’s a lesson I’ll carry forward into my practice