Volunteering has been an important part of life for Kentville internist Dr. Marion Cornish since she was a university student in Newfoundland. “In 1999, I was a swim coach for the Special Olympics swim team in St. John’s and had the privilege of coaching for two national Summer Games,” she recalls. “I coached until I moved to Nova Scotia to pursue my residency.”

Over the years, Dr. Cornish has continued volunteering with the Special Olympics as a team physician. So has her long-time friend and medical school classmate, Dr. Neil Cheeseman, a physician in Newfoundland. Both physicians have served as team doctors for Team Canada and their provincial chapters.

“We coached together and then ended up in the same med school class and are now both volunteers in this role,” says Dr. Cornish, who practises at Valley Regional Hospital and is physician lead of the hospital’s ICU and medical director of the hospital’s cardiac rehab program.

In March, Dr. Cornish was medical lead at the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin. Watching the athletes compete is always a highlight for her, and she also volunteers at provincial and national competitions.

“The athletes have incredible dedication and resiliency,” she says. “Their sportsmanship and joy for their fellow competitors is unparalleled.”

She says her volunteer work with Special Olympics helped pave her way to medical school, “so to be able to give back to this organization is so important to me.”

It’s also inspired her to explore the barriers and inequities that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) can face when it comes to receiving health care.

“Patients with ID are an underserved health population with illnesses that often go untreated,” Dr. Cornish says. This can include vision or hearing loss, tooth decay and conditions like low-bone density or problems with flexibility that can put them at risk for injury.

To help address these issues, she has started volunteering with Healthy Athletes, a program that offers free screening and care for people with ID. Healthy Athletes hosts clinics at Special Olympic competitions, including provincial, national and international events.

On non-competition days, athletes can visit the clinics and receive free health screening and education in eight areas: foot health, physical therapy, audiology, eye health, oral health, prevention and nutrition, emotional health, and MedFest (history/physical exam).

Dr. Cornish says it can go a long way to improving their health and well-being. “I’ve seen some truly incredible stories. Athletes come out with new hearing aids, new prescription glasses and sports goggles, their teeth cleaned and their feet healthy.”

During a MedFest clinic, a health-care provider goes through an athlete’s medications and chronic health conditions. “In Nova Scotia, we are introducing some new curriculum in women’s health,” says Dr. Cornish. “At two previous provincial games, we had free bra fittings and athletes have received a new, properly fitted sports bra.”

Looking ahead, she says the program is expanding and will be offering even more services for athletes. “I’m helping to develop some of the women’s health curriculum for our stand-alone Healthy Athletes day in October.”

On that day, a range of health-care provider volunteers, including medical students and learners from different health disciplines, will come together to provide screenings, advice and support for the athletes.

It’s also an opportunity for health-care providers and learners to get hands-on experience providing care to people with ID, which will ultimately improve the health care they receive.

“Volunteering with these athletes has been a highlight of my medical career,” says Dr. Cornish. “Inclusion is incredibly important and serving those who are in need is part of what drew me to medicine.”

Top photo: Nova Scotia athletes on their way to the Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin, including Rebecca Delaney, Nick Skoreyko, Jillian Young, Brian Waring and snowshoeing coach Susan Inglis, Jessica Cranton, Chloe Stoddart and team doctor Marion Cornish (far left).

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