Dr. Jack Colman

Where did you complete most of your training?
I graduated from University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and then did further training in internal medicine and cardiology at McGill University in Montreal. After 15 years as a general cardiologist I began to work in the ACHD clinic in 1988, before there were any training programs in ACHD. I learned more about CHD from colleagues, meetings, reading, and from the many great patients I have met over the years.

What is your special area of interest?
I've been a part of the team looking after pregnant women with CHD since 1989, and that has been my main research interest.

What is the best thing about working in CHD?
The best thing is the privilege of meeting and helping care for so many great people who have often had to overcome major problems in their lives and have come through this with positive outlook and optimism about the future

What is one thing that you think that all patients with CHD should know?The progress in CHD treatment over the past 50 years is one of the greatest triumphs of modern medicine and surgery. At the same time, all people with CHD need to know that it is a chronic condition and most will need life-long follow-up which will include testing and may include additional procedures and operations to keep them as healthy as possible. People "lost-to-follow-up" as adults are the most likely ones to get into trouble over the years.

If you weren’t a doctor, what would you be?
Really, if I were not a doctor I'd want to be a doctor. I suppose if that were impossible I'd be a teacher in some other area instead. Being a doctor is being a teacher all the time. We teach our patients, and we teach our colleagues and our students. Also, being a doctor is being a learner all one's life. We learn from our patients, and we learn from our colleagues and from those we teach.

Do you have any interesting hobbies or talents or pets?
I like my work, and I like to keep fit. I hope the CHD patients we see find ways also to like what they do and to keep as fit as they can