When Carolyn Allan tells the story about the teacher who dismissed her dream of becoming a doctor, she laughs.

But it wasn鈥檛 very funny at the time.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you鈥檙e of the right type to be a doctor,鈥� the teacher told the 17-year-old Carolyn. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you鈥檙e smart enough.鈥�

Under the circumstances, Allan鈥檚 response was remarkably restrained.

鈥淚 will try,鈥� she said.

In 2013, Dr. Allan wound up a long and distinguished career as an anaesthetist after 36 years at 91原创 Memorial Hospital.

鈥淚 think I always wanted to do medicine,鈥� Allan commented.

In 1956, she graduated UBC with a degree in science, and a backup plan of going into zoology if she couldn鈥檛 make it in medicine.

She never needed her plan B, as it turned out.

Allan was accepted as a student in the University of Toronto school of medicine. She鈥檇 applied to the U of T because the University of British Columbia was slow to admit female students.

鈥淚n those days, girls had three choices, nurses, secretarial, or teaching,鈥� she recalled.

After a stint at St. Joseph鈥檚 Hospital in Victoria, she returned to her hometown, as the first female anaesthetist on staff at 91原创 Memorial.

鈥淚t was the old cottage hospital,鈥� Allan recalled.

鈥淚 loved it. It鈥檚 doing medicine in a small town.鈥�

She praised her parents for backing her medical ambitions, saying she was 鈥渧ery lucky鈥� to have their support.

鈥淚 inherited a cook, a gardener, a handyman, and general factotum,鈥� is how she described sharing a house with her parents in 91原创.

When she would come home from a long day of work at the hospital, Allan recalls her mother would always have supper ready.

Not that she always got to have her meal.

鈥淲hen I walked in at 8 or 9 p.m., Mum would have my dinner waiting, and the phone would ring, and I would just turn and walk out the door.鈥�

Her parents ran The Chestnuts restaurant on Fraser Highway, and even after she became a doctor, Allan would still pitch in by doing dishes when she dropped by for a bite.

鈥淚 used to go down to the restaurant when the cafeteria [at the hospital] was closed.鈥�

It led to one comical misunderstanding when a patient on the operating table became oddly anxious when seeing who the anaesthetist was.

Allan put him under, his surgery went well, and the next day she discovered the man had dined at The Chestnut, and thought she was the dishwasher.

Another time, when she was on call, she was at the dentist. The freezing was just taking effect, when someone at the hospital phoned the dentist to tell Allan she was needed to help deliver a baby.

鈥淗e had four teeth to do, all on one side,鈥� she remembered.

鈥淏y this time, the freezing had taken effect. I was drooling and I couldn鈥檛 talk properly,鈥� Allan recalled.

When the husband met her, 鈥� his eyes were as big as oranges,鈥� Allan laughed.

The next day, she explained to the family that 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 drunk or having an attack.鈥�

Those were just some of the many humorous stories she likes to tell.

鈥淭here鈥檚 often doom, gloom, and drama in a hospital, but you have to have levity.鈥�

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