Skip to main content
Logo

Mobile Main Nav

  • About AUC
    • About AUC
    • Residency Placements
    • Accreditations & Approvals
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Meet Provost Heidi Chumley, MD, MBA
    • Board of Trustees
    • St. Maarten Campus
    • UK Track
    • Caribbean Center for Disaster Medicine
    • Facts & Figures
    • News & Publications
    • Blog
    • Events
    • Community Affairs
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Admissions Requirements
    • Tuition & Financial Aid
    • Scholarships
    • MCAT Information
    • Non-US Applicants
    • Career Changers
    • Admissions Assessment
    • Request More Information
    • Request An AUC Campus Tour
    • Webinars
    • Events
  • MD Program
    • MD Program
    • Medical Sciences Curriculum
    • Clinical Sciences
    • UK Track
    • Medical Education Readiness Program
    • Hospital Teaching Sites
    • Medical School Guides and Resources
    • USMLE Preparation
    • Meet Our Faculty & Staff
    • Student Handbook and Course Catalog
    • Student Forms
  • Student Life
    • Student Life
    • About St. Maarten
    • Virtual Tour
    • Safety & Security
    • Clubs and Organizations
    • Spouses Organization and Families
    • Housing
    • OSPD
    • Class Profiles
    • Alumni Class Notes Form
  • Galleries
  • Alumni
  • Faculty
  • Students
  • Parents
  • Careers

Secondary Mobile Menu

  • Request Info
  • Apply Now

Social Media Navigation

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Call
  • Request Info
  • Apply Now
  • Alumni
  • Faculty
  • Students
  • Parents
  • Careers

Social Media Navigation

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Utility Navigation

  • REQUEST INFO
AUC Med Logo
  • About AUC
    • ABOUT AUC

      Our medical school offers a collaborative learning environment that features a multitude of student organizations, small class sizes, international training opportunities, and a team-based learning culture.

      Learn More

      • About AUC
      • Residency Placements
      • Accreditations & Approvals
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Meet Provost Heidi Chumley, MD, MBA
      • Board of Trustees
      • St. Maarten Campus
      • UK Track
      • Caribbean Center for Disaster Medicine
      • Facts & Figures
      • News & Publications
      • Blog
      • Events
      • Community Affairs
  • Admissions
    • ADMISSIONS

      Our medical school admissions team is eager to assist you as you embark on your journey to become a physician. Our goal is to provide you with all of the information and guidance you need to explore AUC as a medical school option.

      Learn More

      • Admissions
      • Admissions Requirements
      • Tuition & Financial Aid
      • Scholarships
      • MCAT Information
      • Non-US Applicants
      • Career Changers
      • Admissions Assessment
      • Request More Information
      • Request An AUC Campus Tour
      • Webinars
      • Events
  • MD Program
    • MD PROGRAM

      A US-modeled curriculum designed to prepare you for practice in the US, Canada, and beyond.

      Learn More

      • MD Program
      • Medical Sciences Curriculum
      • Clinical Sciences
      • UK Track
      • Medical Education Readiness Program
      • Hospital Teaching Sites
      • Medical School Guides and Resources
      • USMLE Preparation
      • Meet Our Faculty & Staff
      • Student Handbook and Course Catalog
      • Student Forms
  • Student Life
    • STUDENT LIFE

      Learn what it's like to be a student at AUC, including living in St. Maarten, opportunities for community involvement, and clubs and organizations.

      Learn More

      • Student Life
      • About St. Maarten
      • Virtual Tour
      • Safety & Security
      • Clubs and Organizations
      • Spouses Organization and Families
      • Housing
      • OSPD
      • Class Profiles
      • Alumni Class Notes Form
  • Galleries
  • Apply Now
      • Start Your Application
      • Submit Your AMCAS Application
      • Submit Your AACOMAS Application
      • Continue Your Application
Pattern Two
Wednesday, May 3, 2017 - 12:00
Alumni News

Share

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • pinterest
  • email

Breadcrumb

  1. About Us
  2. News & Publications
  3. Hockey Player Cross Checks Cancer and Matches into OB/GYN

Hockey Player Cross-Checks Cancer and Matches into OB/GYN

The mass was slightly larger than a golf ball. Buried in a collection of lymph nodes deep in his abdomen, it had shown up on the CT scan just before Christmas.

Doctors confirmed what Chris Haltigin already knew, thanks to his medical training: The hard-to-reach location of the mass eliminated surgery as an option.

Haltigin would need to start a nine-week course of chemotherapy as soon as possible. The earliest opportunity was January 2, 2017.

He thought about it. There was a conflict. He had a residency interview in Detroit scheduled for January 4, and a second interview for another hospital, Beaumont-Royal Oak Hospital, the next day. Haltigin had never let his illness take precedence over his life, and he wasn’t about to start now. He flew to Detroit, did both interviews, and started chemo on January 9.

Two months later, he matched into Beaumont-Royal Oak’s OB/GYN residency program.

An Atypical Journey

Chris Haltigin receiving chemotherapyChris Haltigin at his last chemotherapy session on March 7, 2017.

As Haltigin says, he doesn’t necessarily fit the standard profile of an OB/GYN physician: Hailing from Oakville, Ontario, he’s a former professional hockey player and originally wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. But his journey through medical school was even more atypical. It was in April 2015, just after Haltigin had completed AUC’s medical sciences program, that he was first diagnosed with testicular cancer. Days later, he was in surgery.

Yet Haltigin didn’t let his diagnosis keep him from completing the USMLE® Step 1 Exam. He continued to have regular checkups, but it appeared that the surgery had been successful. So he headed to the United Kingdom to complete his clinical rotations, where he discovered his love for OB/GYN.

“[OB/GYN] is such an emotional roller coaster. You go from 0-100 mph instantly,” Haltigin says. “Being part of the birth of a child is monumental.”

And his hockey experience proved valuable in unexpected ways.

“I remember this one on-call shift when I was helping a woman deliver twins, and she was screaming and swearing at us at the top of her lungs,” Haltigin says. “Afterwards she was embarrassed and kept telling us she was sorry, and we just laughed and said it was fine, seriously, look at what you just went through. Plus, as a hockey player you get kind of used to having people swear at you.”

A year and a half later, the relapse came as a shock. Haltigin had felt fine, with no indication that he was sick besides what had appeared on the CT scan. Yet now, during an already-stressful period of interviewing for residency positions and finishing up his rotations, his life had once again been thrown into a tailspin.

Chris Haltigin with classmate Sophia Halassy at Match DayHaltigin with classmate Sophia Halassy after finding out where they matched on March 17, 2017 -- only 10 days after Haltigin finished his last chemo session.

The hours in the day seemed to shrink, as so many things had to happen at once. Stay focused on interviews. Talk with family. Notify AUC. Figure out how to graduate on time. Endure chemotherapy. Match into a residency.

“It was a situation that nobody foresees,” Haltigin says. “The residency process is tiring to begin with, and for me, making it through medical school while battling cancer twice is something I’m really proud of.”

Haltigin worked with dozens of AUC faculty and staff to ensure that he could graduate and be eligible for the 2017 Match, while completing his chemotherapy regimen and tending to his health. He will finish his last rotation on May 26—the day before graduation. On May 27, Haltigin will speak at the AUC graduation ceremony, as one of two student speakers chosen by his fellow classmates.

“I’m so grateful to everyone at AUC who helped me make it work—Dean Chumley, Dr. Kirkland, Dr. Taylor, the advisors, the coordinators, the registrar, the Office of Student and Professional Development—all of these people were amazing,” Haltigin says. “I was always proud to be an AUC student, but now I’m even more proud.”

The Path Ahead

Chris Haltigin with classmate Kendal Hanger at the AUC Match Celebration

Haltigin and classmate Kendal Hanger at the AUC Match Celebration in Detroit.

Despite the whirlwind of the past few months, Haltigin has had a rare period of relative quiet—and he’s already getting antsy. “I’m definitely more of a go-getter, I don’t like being slowed down,” he says. “It’s been a good learning experience for me to actually pay attention to how I’m feeling. I’m learning that it’s okay to not feel well. It’s okay to slow down and take time to heal.”

As his residency in Detroit is less than a four-hour drive from his home in Ontario, Haltigin will be able to continue his follow-up appointments with relative ease. He doesn’t anticipate any conflict with his residency.

“The word ‘cancer’ scares everybody, but what a lot of people don’t realize is that every single cancer is different,” he says. “Testicular cancer is one of the most curable cancers out there, and my chemo regimen has more than a 90-95% success rate. If I had to get cancer, I’m lucky that this is the type I got.”

Always one to find the silver linings, Haltigin says he gained perspective that will allow him to become a more empathetic physician. “I now understand how hard it is to be a patient—the grind you have to go through mentally and physically,” he says. “I really think that will help me be a better doctor in the future.”

The whole experience has been eye-opening, to say the least.

“You realize who’s in your support network when something like this happens,” Haltigin says. “Going through chemo, there were times that I felt so bad physically, but I had so many people looking out for me and encouraging me. Between my family, my friends, everyone at AUC, it’s like links in a chain. Without one of those people, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

GET STARTED TODAY

TAKE THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS YOUR

MOST PROMISING FUTURE

Request Information
Top
AUC Med Logo

Footer Social Media Navigation

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Careers
  • Student Email
  • Colleague Email
  • Contact
  • Sitemap

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE

880 SW 145TH AVENUE • SUITE 202
PEMBROKE PINES, FL 33027
PHONE: 305-446-0600

TOLL-FREE: 866-DR2B-AUC
(866-372-2282)
FAX: 305-444-6791

ST. MAARTEN CAMPUS

1 UNIVERSITY DRIVE AT JORDAN ROAD, CUPECOY, ST. MAARTEN

PHONE: +1 721-545-2298

FAX: +1 721-545-2440

PRESTON, UK PROGRAM SITE

VERNON BUILDING ROOM 64, SIZER STREET PRESTON, LANCHASHIRE PR1 1JQ

PHONE: +1 721-545-2298

FAX: +305-444-2440

AUC is accredited through 2021 by the Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine (ACCM, www.accredmed.org), which is the accreditor used by the country of St. Maarten. The United States Department of Education, via the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA), reviews the standards that countries use to accredit medical schools. The NCFMEA has determined that the ACCM's accreditation standards are comparable to those set by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), which accredits medical educational programs in the United States. 

 

© 2021 American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine. All rights reserved.   Privacy Policy | Student Consumer Information | Online Cookie Policy | Accessibility

  • Call
  • Chat
  • Request Info
  • Apply Now
  • Alumni
  • Faculty
  • Students
  • Parents
  • Careers
  • "Chat Now"