Thanks to a medical student, vending machine of nutritious snacks installed at JGH

Healthful snacks intended for surgeons, but available to all

It was a cold winter night in 2022 and Hamnah Majeed desperately needed something to eat. In her rush to leave the house that morning, the first-year medical student hadn’t thought to bring any snacks to nibble on during her long day shadowing surgeons at the JGH.

If hunger struck, she figured she could grab whatever looked good in the cafeteria or at one of the coffee shops. But, as a relative newcomer to the hospital, she hadn’t realized those eateries would be closed by early evening.

“It wasn’t practical to get something at a neighbourhood restaurant,” recalls Ms. Majeed, who has just begun her third year as a medical student and hopes to become a cardiac surgeon. “When you’re on call, the cases can come at any time and you have to be there to respond right away.”

Medical student Hamnah Majeed with the vending machine she was instrumental in having installed at the JGH, primarily to provide surgeons with nutritious snacks during late-night shifts.

All she could do was turn to the hospital’s vending machines. But all she could find were high-salt, high-sugar, high-fat offerings.

That’s when Ms. Majeed started thinking about a long-range solution: a vending machine of healthful snacks. The project proved unexpectedly time-consuming—taking nearly a year and a half to complete—but was finally realized when the machine went into service in mid-June.

It’s located in Pavilion K’s main-floor hallway, right by the door to the Department of Surgery, a few steps from the escalator that connects to the food court in Carrefour Lea Polansky.

On the racks are such items as orange juice, nuts, Gatorade, milk, various types of protein bars and yogurt drinks—snacks that, according to the surgeons polled by Ms. Majeed, can be conveniently eaten on the run, unlike salads or sandwiches. (Initially, some less-than-optimal items, like potato chips, were inadvertently included, but were due to be swapped out.)

Although the primary goal was to provide a nutritious alternative for busy surgeons working late hours, the machine is available at any time to any member of the public or staff.

“It’s so rewarding to see this kind of project through from start to finish,” Ms. Majeed says. “What’s also amazing is that, as a first-year medical student, I was able to approach the CEO with nothing more than an idea!”

That turned out to be a crucial move. Uncertain whom to turn to, she emailed Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg, President and CEO of CIUSSS West-Central Montreal, and was pleasantly surprised when he responded warmly.

“Given his experience as a transplant surgeon, Dr. Rosenberg understood right away what I was talking about,” Ms. Majeed explains. “He introduced me to the appropriate personnel and was very supportive. Otherwise, as a lone student, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish very much.”

“It’s not often you get a youngish medical student knocking on the CEO’s door with so much enthusiasm for an idea,” Dr. Rosenberg said in late June, as he welcomed Ms. Majeed to his office and then walked with her to Pavilion K for a look at the vending machine.

“It was Hamnah’s exuberance that really made me pay attention and give her as much time as she needed. Her email also made me think back to my surgical training and the early part of my surgical career, when I rarely ate, because I was always in the operating room. That’s why I felt her proposal was worth pursuing.”

Dr. Emmanuel Moss, Chief of Cardiac Surgery, agrees the vending machine will prove helpful, “especially when we’re here all day and then have an emergency surgery that starts in the evening. On nights like those, we may not get out until 10:00 or midnight or 2:00.

“Being able to quickly grab something more than a candy bar is a huge help—not just for surgeons, but for anyone working late in the hospital.”

“It sounds like a great idea,” adds Dr. Richard Payne, a thyroid cancer surgeon in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. “I make a point of bringing my own snacks, but I’ve worked with colleagues who would have been happy to have this choice, especially when they had to move quickly from one surgery to another.”

For Ms. Majeed the experience, though not related directly to health care, turned out to be an appropriate complement to her medical training. “It taught me that even if you’re really determined to get something done, it can still be a major challenge to iron out all of the technical details and get everyone on the same page.

 “I also learned a lot about navigating my way around new and unexpected obstacles in a hospital setting—something that clearly applies to medicine. As a physician, you’re always collaborating with many people who may have different opinions and perspectives, and you have to take their thoughts into consideration, while keeping your ultimate goal in mind.”

This has given Ms. Majeed the confidence to try to come up with additional ways of supporting the well-being of surgeons.

 “All that from one hungry night and a brand-new vending machine!”