Regional Academic Directors

Regional Academic Directors (RADs)

The RADs support the achievement of the goals mapped out through the School’s Distributed Education Strategic Plan.

The RADs provide leadership in all educational programs and processes across the medical education spectrum in officially designated Distributed Education academies. They work collaboratively with the Undergraduate and Postgraduate education programs and Continuing Professional Development.

They are also responsible for promoting and fostering the perspective of rural and regional health care in the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculums while liaising with rural and regional faculty members in our education and continuing professional development programs.

Drs. Robert Black, Michel Haddad, Lindsey Sutherland, Shanil Narayan, Ian Hons and Todd Webster are the current Regional Academic Directors for Distributed Education.


Photograph of Dr. Robert BlackDr. Robert Black, Elgin-Middlesex
Dr. Robert Black completed his medical training in 1989 at Western University’s Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. He also completed his surgical internship and general surgery training with Schulich Medicine. Dr. Black has been an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry since January 1997, first serving as the Rural Education Coordinator for General Surgery for the Southwestern Ontario Rural Medicine Unit, and then Academic Director of Community Surgery for Distributed Education. Dr. Black has been recognized with the PAIRO Award for Resident Teaching and the PSI Resident Research Award. He serves as a staff general surgeon at St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital.


Photograph of Dr. Michel HaddadDr. Michel Haddad, Lambton
Dr. Michel Haddad graduated with his MD from the University of Ottawa. He then completed his cardiac surgery residency at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, along with an MSc in epidemiology. In 2005, he travelled to the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore to complete a cardiac surgery clinical fellowship focused on thoracic transplantation/mechanical circulatory support and minimal access cardiac surgery. He then completed a fellowship in critical care medicine at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. Dr. Haddad became an Adjunct Professor with Schulich Medicine & Dentistry in 2010. He has received numerous awards including the Bridging Excellence Award from Bluewater Health. Dr. Haddad currently serves as the Medical Director and Attending Physician for the Critical Care Program for the Bluewater Health Hospital in Sarnia.


Photograph of Dr. Lindsey SutherlandDr. Lindsey Sutherland, Chatham-Kent
Dr. Lindsey Sutherland earned her BSc in Human Kinetics from the University of Guelph (2007), MSc (2009), and MD (2013) from the University of Alberta. She completed her Family Medicine Residency at McMaster University (2015) and now practices Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine in Chatham-Kent. She also has experience in Inpatient and Obstetrics care and obtained her CCFP-EM Designation in 2020. Dr. Sutherland has been an Adjunct Professor at Western University since 2018 and is passionate about teaching medical students and residents. She has served on the CKHA Education Committee since 2015 and as Vice President of the CKHA Medical Staff Organization (2021-2025). In 2022, she founded a weekly run group for physicians and trainees, now a favourite tradition during Discovery Week.


Photograph of Dr. Shanil NarayanDr. Shanil Narayan, Huron-Perth
Dr. Narayan graduated with his MD from Queen’s University and completed his residency training in general internal medicine at the University of Ottawa. He became a faculty member at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry and the Academic Director, Internal Medicine for the School’s Distributed Education Program. Dr. Narayan serves as the Chief for the Department of General Internal Medicine at Stratford General Hospital.


 Photograph of Dr. Todd WebsterDr. Todd Webster, Grey-Bruce
Dr. Webster served as chief of surgery at Owen Sound Hospital and now serves as the hospital’s Chief Medical Information Officer building bridges between physicians and information services to bring people together to embrace technology.


 Photograph of Dr. Ian HonsDr. Ian Hons, Oxford
Dr. Hons completed his MD/PhD at the University of Calgary then went on to finish his training in Family Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University. In 2016, he joined the hospitalist department at the Woodstock General Hospital and currently acts as the Program Director. As the Regional Academic Director (RAD), Dr. Hons will help guide the medical education program in Oxford. In this role, he will be responsible for promoting and fostering the perspective of rural and regional health care in the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculums, while liaising with rural and regional faculty members in the school’s education and continuing professional development programs.