In Canada, more doctors would become astronauts than pilots because the similarities between medical practice and life in orbit are significant.

Four pilots and four doctors are among the 14 potential astronaut candidates Canada has selected in recent years, according to Canadian Family Phisician magazine.

Among those who went into space, four out of nine astronauts were doctors, including Quebecer David Saint-Jacques, selected by the Canadian Space Agency in 2009.

According to Farhan Asrar, a space medicine expert at the University of Toronto, it would not be a coincidence that this profession stands out.

He claimed that there is a synergy between the mindset of a doctor and that of a space team member, which could explain the greater presence of doctors in selecting astronauts.

Saint-Jacques co-authored an article in Canadian Family Physician magazine that recounts the useful experiences he had as a physician before going into space.

“There is an important parallel between the challenges and constraints of the practice of land medicine and the medical care of astronauts in orbit: isolation, self-reliance, limited equipment, and impractical or impossible medical evacuation. Similar problems often have similar solutions, which is why medical technology developed for space travelers is generally relevant to medicine on Earth and vice versa,” said the doctor, who practiced in North-du-Québec.
The astronaut and doctor Dave Williams, in the article co-signed with the Quebecer, analyzes the similarities between the training of the two professions, namely the strategy that consists of detecting mistakes and quickly correcting them before undesirable consequences appear.