Young Alenko hunkered with his family, filth and sickness surrounding their lean-to.
They had arrived at the Croatian refugee camp to escape the war in his home country of Bosnia (the former Yugoslavia). A narrow stream served 27,000 people for drinking, bathing and washroom facilities.
The six-foot, 13-year-old Alenko fell ill, plummeting to 90 pounds. As he watched medical teams from Doctors Without Borders rushing around tending to the sick, he was struck by the comfort and hope their gentle care and attention brought to terrified families.
The boy resolved to not only survive the misery—but to travel his own path of studying medicine to serve fellow humans in times of trauma.
“I was inspired and thought, ‘I want to do that one day.’”
Dr. Alenko Šakanović
— on watching medical teams from Doctors Without Borders tend to the sick at a refugee camp
Off to Canada
Dr. Alenko Šakanović is friendly and open as he recounts his experiences.
“It occurred to me that this medical staff had left the safety of their own homes, their own countries, to come to this crisis zone to help people,” says Dr. Šakanović, now an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine and a hand and wrist surgeon at The Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus, where he shares a practice with fellow military orthopedic surgeon Commander Chris Kennedy.
“I was inspired and thought, ‘I want to do that one day.’”
Alenko and his family would leave the camp after three months, and eventually were warmly welcomed as refugees in Saskatchewan, Canada. Following his brother, who enrolled at Carleton to study architecture, he moved to Ottawa, completing a Bachelor of Science at the University of Ottawa and then a Master of Science in Human Molecular Genetics at the Faculty of Medicine.
He was then accepted into medical school at uOttawa. Concurrent with his studies, he decided to join the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), conscious that his career ambitions in medicine would lead him to plenty of difficult locations.
“The military sends you to some pretty gnarly places,” he says, “and I knew my experience was a good asset to have.”
He completed the rest of his undergraduate medical training at uOttawa as a Military Officer under the CAF’s Military Officer Training Program (MOTP), designed for students who are not yet members of the Canadian Armed Forces but who wish to join after being admitted to medical school.
Looking for adventure
“I always felt an appreciation to Canada for welcoming us, and I felt I owed it something,” Dr. Šakanović explains. “So if I wanted to serve, especially in a global aid organization like Doctors Without Borders, it would help to have that military experience.”
The pressure of med school was off, he says, not only financially but in terms of choosing specialties, as military-funded medical training requires one to specialize in family medicine.
“It was joyous: knowing what your path is, you can have fun learning and finding out the best stuff by doing electives,” he says. “I have zero regrets and I’ve had nothing but fun.”
While completing his Family Medicine residency at uOttawa, he says he “had a blast,” jumping at any chance to see and experience different ways of living.
“If it was an adventure, I’d go on it,” he says, explaining he sought out remote medical training and personal experiences in Northern Ontario and across the country, including the Canadian Arctic. “It gave another perspective, like how it would be in other countries; for example, in the rougher parts I’d see poverty and its impact on people’s health.”
He spent five years as a military family physician at Canadian forces bases in Petawawa and Trenton, during which time he had four deployments.
“I deployed to Kuwait during the ISIS crisis as a trained flight surgeon,” he recalls. “I also deployed with DART—CAF’s Disaster Assistance Response Team—to the Philippines, following a typhoon that hit in 2013.” The mission – called Operation RENAISSANCE—sent mobile medical teams to evacuation centres to treat injuries and identify potential sites for assistance.
He turned to sports to help manage the stresses of medical training: for many years, he played with uOttawa’s varsity water polo team. “That's one of the things that kept me sane during all that schooling,” he reveals.
All the while, the specialty of orthopedics was calling him. He dove into his passion, completing an orthopaedic surgery residency and fellowships in orthopaedic trauma and comprehensive hand and wrist Surgery at uOttawa.
“I joke that in addition to loving my specialty, I was destined for it,” smiles Dr. Šakanović. “In Bosnian, šaka (pronounced ‘shaka’) means fist, and nova means new. How could I not?”
Ready to run
Today, Dr. Šakanović’s expertise includes orthopedic trauma, hand and wrist trauma, and comprehensive hand and wrist care, serving the public at The Ottawa Hospital and Hawkesbury General Hospital. But a dual career as a military physician—he is currently a Major in the Army—means always being ready to run.
In fact, dressed in army garb, he indicates he’s about to head out after this interview for a three-week training stint on the 4th Canadian Division Support Base in Petawawa.
The sacrifice of service
Much of Dr. Šakanović’s family now resides in Ontario. In contrast to the devastation he has witnessed, he spends his personal time in the peaceful, rewarding pursuits of travel, outdoor recreation and raising his young family.
He often likes to bring his children to the War Memorial in Ottawa, where he pays his respects each November 11. They watch with interest as he stands at attention and salutes.
“I remind them that it’s a day to remember the sacrifices of the country and the people who laid down their lives,” he says. “But it’s not just those who died, it’s also those who continue to serve.
“Some are healthy, some are injured… and it’s important to honour these folks, too.”
“It's a day to remember the sacrifices of ...the people who laid down their lives, [but] also those who continue to serve.”
Major Alenko Šakanović
— reflecting on the meaning of Remembrance Day
Main photo: Major Šakanović flying a CC130 Hercules plane as a Flight Surgeon on the return home from Kuwait.
All photos: Alenko Šakanović
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