From the desk of George Kim – Research findings and new leadership take centre stage
It’s only been three weeks since my last update however with the holiday season upon us shortly, I wanted to share some news about the work on the strategic plan for the Distributed Education Network (DEN).
Interviews with the candidates for the Academic Director positions have been going very well. I am pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Black has accepted the role of Regional Academic Director for Elgin-Middlesex and Dr. Shanil Narayan has accepted the role for Huron-Perth.
We are still finalizing a few other positions and are continuing to interview candidates for the realigned clusters of Grey-Bruce, Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton. You can expect to hear more news about this in January.
The DEN Steering Committee had the opportunity to hear the outcomes from the research interviews which were conducted with UME students, trainees, faculty in London and the region, hospital leaders and medical chiefs of staff.
The interviews were focused on brand awareness and communication in the DEN. There have been some interesting learnings, which will be used to help inform a marketing and communication strategy. Jennifer Parraga and her committee will be helping to frame that strategy and expect to have the first draft by the end of January.
Progress continues to be made on the operational supports and activities. This committee has met weekly since September, and they have tackled nearly all of their 16 tasks. They will be taking a few weeks off, returning in January to complete their work.
On December 11, the DEN Steering Committee made a presentation to the Clinical Chairs – providing updates on the achievements to date.
The presentation generated interesting conversation regarding funding, objectives of DEN and the needs of faculty members. The Steering Committee will continue to inform the Clinical Chairs on the ongoing progress of the strategic plan work in future meetings.
I look forward to connecting back with everyone in January, when we will have more news to share on the progress being made on the Strategic Plan.
