Meet our Chief Medical Officer, Major Paul Dhillon
Meet Major Paul Dhillon, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, presented by ATCO and Boeing. Announced today, Maj. Dhillon joins our ever-growing team bringing a wealth of diverse experience and a strong military background. Maj. Dhillon will ensure the health and safety of all participants, and particularly the up to 550 competitors — wounded, injured and sick service members and Veterans — from up to 25 Participating Nations.
Read on to learn more about Maj. Dhillon, his professional background, and what the Games mean to him.
Q: Tell us a bit about your military and professional background?
A: After completing medical school at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland I spent a number of years in Saskatchewan and that was where I began my military service. I’ve had some incredibly unique opportunities both through the military and my civilian work where I’ve been able to serve under the oceans on one of our submarines and in an Ebola Hospital in Sierra Leone. I love the challenges that come from providing medical care in austere and remote areas.
Q: What initially drew your interest to the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025?
A: When the initial call for volunteers came out, I applied right away hoping that I would be able to participate in some small way. I see it as such a unique nexus of sport, military, and medical recovery. I know everybody has their own story on their own path and I have personally experienced the power of sport to change and improve lives.
Q: As CMO, what are your top priorities for the Games?
A: I’m confident that we can provide a safe environment to allow the competitors to participate in as many sports as they can as safely as possible. In addition to the medical care, the physiotherapy, massage, chiropractic services and psychosocial services should create the environment that will allow the competitors to thrive. By maintaining a core focus on the competitors’ own visions for success, I think we’ll be successful.
Q: What is your philosophy for care for Veterans and service members from different countries at an international event like this?
A: One thing that I’ve learned as a physician is that everybody’s story is unique, and when dealing with multiple cultures and languages this becomes paramount. There’s an incredible amount of learning, sharing, and personal growth that happens at events such as this. When we consider the complex histories and the stories of service in so many different domains, it’s vital to keep the individual human that’s sharing their experience central to our provision of care.
Q: What can members of the public expect for health and safety measures at the Games?
A: We have close links established with Vancouver Coastal Health, which is our bridge to all up-to-date provincial health guidelines. We want to ensure that everybody has a safe and healthy experience both during and after the Games.
Q: What do you hope competitors, their family and friends, and other supporters will get out of experiencing these Games?
A: For competitors, hopefully it will help them on their own journey and inspire others as well through the spirit of Invictus. For family and friends, I hope this event will create shared memories, laughs, cheers, and possibly even happy tears that they will be able to carry with them long into the future alongside the competitors. For all those that come out to watch the Games and see the events, I hope that they will take away their own sense of strength after seeing some of the competitors and what they’re able to do and able to overcome through the power of life-changing sport.
Q: What does the spirit of Invictus, or being unconquered, mean to you?
A: Poetry is such an emotive form of communication, and I encourage anyone attending the Games to take a moment or to read or reread the poem from which the Games’ name is inspired. Once again, for me it comes back to individual stories and individual experiences. Each of us at some stage in our lives will have challenges that may seem insurmountable, but when we watch the competitors, it’s a clear example that whatever challenges we face, when we use our whole selves, we can be unconquerable.
