ʴDzٱ:January 28, 2025
:Emily Brown
Four-year-old Caitlyn was dying of cancer in immense pain when Dr. Allen Finley (MD‘80), a pediatric anesthetist, met her at Halifax’s IWK hospital.
It was November 1989, and Dr. Finley was three years into his career in anesthesiology. At the time, there was no protocol for measuring or managing pediatric pain. Caitlyn spent her time curled up under blankets, not talking, and retreating from the world.
She was suffering, with no way to articulate her pain or ask for relief.
Although morphine was not used for children at the time, Dr. Finley suggested they try it, at a dose he adjusted to be appropriate for her weight.
Thanks to his compassionate intervention, Caitlyn began laughing, joking, singing songs, and drawing pictures. She returned to her four-year-old self.
“Caitlyn’s morphine treatment allowed her to spend her last six weeks at home with our family, our of hospital and with pain relief just in time for Christmas,” says Elizabeth Conrad, who nominated Dr. Finley for this award.
“My parents had six final weeks with the daughter they knew and loved. Dr. Finley gave our family the incredible gift of time and eased my sister’s pain as she succumbed to this illness.”
“That was 34 years ago-just at the outset of his research endeavours and decades-long clinical practice. Imagine how many other families in the Maritimes he has impacted so profoundly,” Ms. Conrad wrote in her nomination letter.
Informing global health policy
Treating Caitlyn with what is now routine pediatric anesthesiology pain management also changed Dr. Finley’s life.
“After Caitlyn passed away, I got more consultations from oncology because they'd never seen anything like this before,” he says. “And that built the clarity that we needed a formal pain program.”
Caitlyn’s experience inspired Dr. Finley to develop a distinguished career in pediatric pain management research and clinical practice. He developed the first comprehensive acute pain management program for pediatric patients in Atlantic Canada, holds the Dr. Stewart Wenning Chair in Pediatric Pain Management at the IWK Health Centre and directs the Centre for Pediatric Pain Research.
In addition to creating an innovative, specialized pain management network here in the Martimes, Dr. Finley’s body of research and advocacy has informed global health policy. As a long-standing Executive Member of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), and as co-founder and former Board Chair of ChildKind International, his work has informed the United Nations and World Health Organization in recognizing pediatric pain as a global health issue and in mobilizing research to support pain services in resource-limited regions and culturally diverse settings.
He is also a Professor of Anesthesia, Pain Management, and Perioperative Medicine at 91Ƶ’s Faculty of Medicine, where he is cross-appointed as Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience.
Dr. Finley’s distinguished medical career was an unexpected development for someone who initially attended 91Ƶ University to pursue marine biology. It wasn’t until a family friend who was a surgeon suggested a different career direction that Dr. Finley enrolled in Dal’s medical school.
During his second year in medical school, an anesthesia elective sparked his interest. After graduating from 91Ƶ, Dr. Finley applied to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto for a residency in anesthesia.
“I showed up on my first day terrified about what I committed myself to, and by the end of the week, I was saying, “Yeah, this is it. This is great,” Dr. Finley remembers.
The DMAA Exceptional Service Award
One of the 91Ƶ Medical Alumni Association’s most prestigious awards, the Exceptional Service Award is bestowed on a senior alumnus, or past or current member of the Faculty of Medicine, who is highly respected and whose career and service in the practice of medicine have been outstanding.