The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Quiet with a small circle of friends, Mary Stewart was easy to miss during her days at Hapnot Collegiate. But more than three decades later, few alumni of the high school have made as remarkable a contribution as her. Stewart is a renowned clinical neuropsychologist in Toronto, aiding children and adolescents in overcoming traumatic brain injuries. 'I love the challenge of trying to help my clients and families have the very best possible outcomes,' says Stewart, who works at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Canada's largest children's rehab hospital. And a challenge it is. Stewart, 51, works with young patients whose brain injuries stem from trauma, such as car accidents and falls, or illness, such as strokes and tumours. She sees them as soon as they are medically stable, a crucial time in their recovery. The first step is to determine how their injury is impacting their functioning. Stewart performs a detailed neuropsychological assessment, using tests to measure basic skills like hearing, vision, coordination, concentration, speech and memory. See 'Plan...' on pg.12 Continued from pg.1 Together with families, the friendly-faced doctor devises a plan on how to improve each patient's condition and allow him or her to return to school and life in general. 'Most of the time the experience is very positive as our clients usually get better, although not necessarily at the same level of functioning as they were before,' says Stewart. Since many brain injury victims face new limitations going forward, Stewart conducts individual and group counselling to assist them in adjusting. 'Part of our goal is to help clients and families accept and adapt to the new situation as best as possible,' she says. 'Although some circumstances can be very sad and tragic, there is usually hope that things can and will improve.' Such optimism, vital for Stewart in what can be a stressful career, was born in part out of her upbringing in Flin Flon in the 1960s and '70s. The daughter of Andy and Isabel Stewart, who still live in Flin Flon, she enjoyed a highly successful academic career at Hapnot. 'I feel that I had an opportunity to develop my interests and explore options during high school that resulted in the choices I made down the road,' she says. 'I think there is a great deal of community support for Flin Flon's high school graduates to pursue higher education. There is certainly no feeling of limitation coming from a smaller community.' Drawn to care From an early age, Stewart felt drawn to a career in health care. She considered becoming a hospital lab technician but dismissed the idea since she would not be working directly with people. She also thought about becoming a paramedic _ and would have gone for it had her course of choice accepted out-of-province students. After graduating from Hapnot in 1979, Stewart attended the University of Manitoba, enrolling in the sciences program with the intent of doing her pre-med studies. Fascinated by her introductory psychology course, Stewart made a switch in her second year at the U of M and entered the honours B.A. program to pursue studies in psychology. 'It really wasn't until my fourth year that I learned about clinical neuropsychology when investigating graduate programs,' she recalls. 'This field was a perfect fit for my interests in biology, specifically the biological basis of behaviour, and working with people.' Stewart earned a B.A. (Hons) in psychology from the U of M in 1983. In 1986 she completed an M.A. in clinical psychology from the University of Windsor. She concluded her education _ and earned the title 'doctor' _ with a Ph.D. in clinical neuropsychology, also from the University of Windsor, in 1991. As part of her graduate training, she worked in various hospital settings, such as Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, the IWK Hospital for Children (now the IWK Health Centre) in Halifax and the Chedoke-McMaster Hospital (now Hamilton Health Sciences Centre) in Hamilton. For nearly 21 years now, she has been with Holland Bloorview, a highly respected hospital that pioneers treatments, technologies and therapies while serving about 7,000 youth annually. Not only does Stewart work with young patients, she is also a clinical supervisor of Holland Bloorview's pre-doctoral psychology internship program. Through the hospital's brain injury program, Stewart is further involved in investigating the cognitive, behavioural, social and emotional outcomes of patients. Advancements Those outcomes are not always optimal, unfortunately, but Stewart has witnessed many encouraging advancements during her time in her chosen field. 'Clinical neuropsychology has moved away from the 'find the lesion' diagnostic practice, prior to the advent of CT and MRI scans, to more practical applications in the area of brain-behaviour relationships,' she says. 'There is far more focus on the clinical and academic recommendations, based on the pattern of cognitive strengths and weaknesses in our test results, that we can make to improve the lives of our clients. With our increasing knowledge of recovery outcomes, we can continue to develop evidence-based treatments that specifically target the needs of our clients as their various stages of recovery.' Such observations illustrate how far Stewart has come from her days as a quiet high school student in a northern Manitoba mining town. She was one of those lucky people to find a career that even after two decades provides deep fulfillment. Unsurprisingly, retirement is not yet in her vocabulary. 'I continue to be enthused and committed to my work,' Stewart says. And in that young people who have suffered so much can take solace.
