Arun Agha: Doctors of BC Changemaker 2016

In the middle of all the pressures of medical school, Arun Agha, a third-year medical student in the Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program, steps up to make a positive difference in the lives of homeless or marginalized people in Vancouver.   

This year, he received the Doctors of BC Student Changemaker Award, which recognizes medical students who have demonstrated exemplary leadership and dedication to making a positive difference to the cause of advancing the policies, views, and goals of Doctors of BC or of a medical resident or student organization in BC through grassroots advocacy efforts.

Arun works with the Vancouver Street Soccer League, a nonprofit organization created to improve the health and wellbeing of homeless individuals, those at risk of being marginalized within their communities, and individuals recovering from drug and alcohol addictions through a culture of inclusiveness and competitive soccer. He has also been involved with the BC Cancer Agency’s Summer Student Research Project investigating exercise promotions to address chronic illness, and has helped develop sport-based group therapy for people with major depressive disorder and cancer.

How does it feel to receive the Doctors of BC Changemaker award?

Great. Whenever you work on something you really believe in, it’s nice to have a bit of spotlight on it. One of the things I’m most passionate about is street soccer. I’ve changed a lot during my work with the Vancouver Street Soccer League over the last 6 years, and I’ve seen how it has impacted marginalized individuals in our community. 

How have you changed over the last 6 years with your involvement in street soccer?

I started street soccer in a peripheral role, helping players who were going to the Homeless World Cup. I helped with passport applications and whatnot, and I had always wanted to take more of a leadership role but never really had the confidence to do it. After working with the organization for some time, I found it much easier to get more involved on a leadership level and start coaching practices and organizing tournaments. Where I think street soccer works its magic, is it’s a very casual type of soccer and a great icebreaker where you just start kicking the ball around, and from there you get to just talk about random stuff and eventually you build these networks and friendships. So playing soccer with these players, many of them with unique stories and challenges, helped me form a connection and a bond and understand them better and help the organization to tailor to their needs.

How did you get connected with the Vancouver Street Soccer League?

My partner was telling me of a presentation she saw given by Dr Alan Bates, who’s been a fabulous mentor, about some pharmacological therapy, but he had interspersed slides with photos of his soccer team, which was just starting out at that point. Many of these players were from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and he would joke how most soccer teams take a water break, and his soccer team takes a smoke break. He showed photos of the guys, and I thought it was ingenious because it epitomized how the league wasn’t trying to consciously change people into what they felt they should be. Really the simple purpose of street soccer was to provide a venue and a regular, stable event for players to come, where there’s no ulterior agenda, to play soccer. We offer them support and resources when they feel ready, and we find that with this support and with a positive influence from volunteers and other more seasoned players, players start to change themselves. They take the initiative – for instance, they want to be better soccer players, and want to build their endurance, so they cut back on smoking, drinking, or drugs because they want to perform in a tournament. So without us telling them to stop these behaviors, they conclude that they want to become better. They make the conscious choice – and that’s how long-term change occurs. 

How do you see the organization changing in the next 5 years?

One major goal is we currently are a nonprofit, and we want to become a charitable organization because we feel that will open up a lot of doors. So we’re working on applying for such a position and we want to secure funds so we can provide these opportunities for more individuals in other parts of the Lower Mainland as well. 

What would you say to your peers who look at your accomplishments and feel inspired to make a change in their communities?

As medical students and as future physicians, you hold a lot of influence and sway. The vast majority of the public trust what you have to say, and to restrict your skills and advice to just a clinic visit or a 20-minute appointment is not doing your ability justice. We’re trained to be health advocates, and I know we’re all really busy, but even a little bit of involvement with a community organization that you’re passionate about is valuable. The vast majority of medical students do that; they’re involved with different international organizations, traveling abroad, helping out, and engaging with other interest groups more locally. It makes me happy to see that, because there are so many talented people in my class.

Do you have any heroes?

I mentioned Dr Alan Bates, a phenomenal mentor and a super modest guy, but he’s achieved so much. In his residency, he took the time to start the Vancouver Street Soccer League from the grassroots, and connected the organization with things from housing to engaging with City Council, and bringing in UBC Medicine and other organizations that share similar goals. He went to the Homeless World Cup in Paris and led the street soccer team made up from locals from Vancouver to play against other international teams. To have the vision for that, and to have the ability to keep things calm and grounded in such a high-pressure situation, with many of our players traveling outside of Canada for the first time, is just amazing. He carried an Olympic Flame during the Olympics; his accomplishments are just vast. He’s definitely one of my heroes and role models – to be able to balance medicine and completing his degrees and being a chief resident and doing all that as well as his social entrepreneurship is amazing. 

Why did you want to go to medical school?

I honestly could not see myself do anything else for the long term. I’ve always loved biology, I’ve always loved physiology and pathophysiology, and just to first learn how the human body works and see all the connections and both at an enzymatic level but also a bigger picture too, for instance the vascular system, to learn that, and really learn the human body and how it functions and then to see what goes wrong, and how it goes wrong, and how you can fix it. That multidimensional view of the human body is super attractive, and on top of that you get to try and fix things and you get to help people. Even if you can’t fix things you can still do something to alleviate some of the stress people are going through. 

Are there any fields of interest you haven’t had a chance to get involved with yet?

International health care and international medicine is an area I have given a lot of thought to in the past but haven’t had the opportunity to go abroad. It’s something that I plan on revisiting in the future, perhaps finding an organization that can take on med students or young practitioners abroad, hopefully to an area where I can contribute and have a positive impact. 

This interview was conducted by Kia Dullemond, a second-year medical student in the UBC Faculty of Medicine, while he was on a summer internship with Doctors of BC. It has been edited and condensed.