Current Environment:

Medical Services

Specialties

Programs & Services

Languages

  • English

Education

Undergraduate School

University of Alberta

2001, Edmonton, Alberta

Medical School

University of Alberta

2004, Edmonton, Alberta

Residency

Pediatrics

University of Alberta, Stollery Children's Hospital

2007, Edmonton, Alberta

Fellowship

Pediatric Cardiology

University of Alberta, Stollery Children's Hospital

2011, Edmonton, Alberta

Fellowship

Heart Transplant and Heart Failure

Boston Children's Hospital

2012, Boston, MA

Certifications

  • American Board of Pediatrics (Cardiology)
  • American Board of Pediatrics (General)

Professional History

I have been immersed in the field of pediatric cardiology since the age of 17 years, when I first began clinical research at the University of Alberta Stollery Children’s Hospital in heart transplantation. My medical and fellowship training in Canada allowed unique insight to the field of mechanical circulatory support and anticoagulation. I completed further subspecialty training in the pediatric heart failure at Boston Children’s Hospital and became the Medical Director of the Ventricular Assist Device program and the Cardiac Antithrombosis Program in 2012.

Media

Caregiver Profile

Meet Dr. Christina VanderPluym

Publications

To me, medicine is neither a job or a career, it is an extension of my personal life. I care for each patient and their family as though they are my own. As such, I make myself available at all times because I know that problems and concerns don't just arise Monday through Friday. My goal of care is to not just keep children alive, but truly let them live - let them play, let them laugh, let them love.

Based on direct exposure to the medical field through personal family illness, I realized how the power of healing was much more than just medications and surgeries. I entered medicine with the desire to bring comfort and hope, even when times felt hopeless, and to push the boundaries of how we approach and deliver care through innovation.