Contributed by Joe Lee

Nathan Roth was a resident in our family medicine program and I had the great privilege of being his main supervisor and site program director starting in 2015 in Kitchener-Waterloo.

I knew from Nate’s application that he was a superstar medical student with many honours and awards. From early on, it was obvious to me that Nate was a great physician and a great person. He was incredibly considerate of patients, staff, and faculty and loved by all. He was knowledgeable and skillful yet remained extremely humble. I was not surprised when his father told me recently that he and Nate’s mom didn’t know about some of the awards he had received as a student until now.

Shortly after meeting Nate, he disclosed his health problem with a brain tumour. He was hoping to get through residency without incident. Unfortunately, late last year, he required more treatment. He only took 3 months off from the program and, remarkably, he returned while still finishing his treatment. He was a determined, resilient young man.

It was my understanding that Nate wished to live life well despite his diagnosis. I was impressed he did many things outside medicine such as running, cycling and volleyball. I was able to play golf with Nate a number of times and knew he loved the game. I was always impressed that Nate was determined not to be defined by his disease.

His last day in our program was 10 days ago. Laughing, he gave me a present of matching shirts of my favourite rock band, Styx, for my wife Linda and me. I will always remember Nate’s thoughtfulness, gentle humour, and big smile.