Dr Grant Pagdin’s Background and Outside Interests

Some people have asked me about some of my outside interests aside from medicine and I’ve had a number of very interesting things happened in my life that I’m happy to share with you. First of all, I grew up playing piano. My family was quite musical, so I followed the Toronto Conservatory lessons all the way to my piano performers degree and I still play piano quite regularly to this day. Nowadays, not so much classical music, but a little more contemporary rock and roll. I play in a band with a couple of other doctors and the name of our band is called Rex. It’s like an “Rx” of a prescription with a little “e” in the middle and we have a good time!

I also like to maintain a high level of fitness so I’ve been involved playing ice hockey ever since my youth and currently really enjoy road cycling, cross country skiing and waterskiing. I participate in some local races, I’ve participated in the Apple Triathlon here in Kelowna, BC for a number of years. I participate in the Penticton Gran Fondo, which is a cycling event, hosted annually here and this year I completed the ride to conquer cancer in the lower mainland where I cycled over 200 kilometers in two days to raise money for cancer.

Some of you may already know I obtained some of the funding to get through medical school with a scholarship with the Canadian Air Force. No sooner had I graduated from Medical School when I was posted to an F18 squadron based out of Cold Lake, Alberta. One part of my job description was to fly the F18 once a week and I certainly really enjoyed that, but I’ll tell you the first few times I was sick sitting in the back seat. I had some great experiences with the Air Force and I still look back fondly on those days.

In terms of other activities, I certainly enjoy outdoor activities like camping and fishing and paddling my canoe.

So that just gives you a little bit of background about some of the other outside interests I have aside from medicine.