It's Speech and Hearing Month!

Congratulations Aïda Chérid! Thank you and all your colleagues for the excellent work you do. Join us as we celebrate Speech and Hearing Month in May!

Q 1. What is the best advice that someone at the MUHC ever gave you?  

I was told to pay attention to my body's signals and take breaks. Working in a hospital, where there is always something to do, it's easy to just keep going and skip part of lunch or skip breaks to try to fit everything in the day. I learned that it's better to slow down and recharge before crashing. It's in the best interest of my patients that I take breaks to be a fully functioning human, rather than burn out. Rule of thumb, take a breather during the day!  

My personal advice: having a bit of chocolate every day is the key to happiness.   

Q 2. Tell us about working with your fellow colleagues.  

I can honestly say that I view my colleagues as friends. We are all very supportive of each other and we make it a point to celebrate each other's successes and accomplishments, whether work-related or personal. I very much appreciate the learning culture of our department and I feel extremely privileged to have access to the experience and knowledge of my senior and direct colleagues.  

I remember when I first started working at the RVH and how overwhelming the world of head and neck cancer, tracheostomies and laryngectomies seemed. I don't think I would have felt comfortable navigating all of it had it not been for my colleagues' availability, patience and teaching. 

I'm also extremely grateful for our admin staff. They organize and make sense of the chaos we create, seamlessly. I don't understand how they manage to do so much in a day, and that's why we are lucky to have them! 

Q 3. What led you to working as a Speech-Language Pathologist?   

When I think back to my time in university, I had the classic future-SLP interests, namely, linguistics, psychology and neurosciences. I do think I found my calling working in dysphagia and head and neck cancer. That's proof that you never know what life has in store, and you can't know if you like or dislike something before you've tried it! 

Q 4.  How do you like to relax and unwind after a shift? 

I'm known to have a 'healthy' obsession with the gym. Therefore, you'll probably find me there after work and hear me complain about being sore the next day!