Graduate Program Report
This year we launched the 2017-18 academic year with four new MClSc students (Sharon Bal, Kyle Carter, Makoto Kaneko, Daniel Pepe - PGY3) and one PhD student (Ahmed Bakry). Eleven graduate students participated in various classes during the on-site that took place September 18-29. Our students were extremely appreciative for the opportunity to meet as a group and individually with the Dr. Ian McWhinney guest lecturer, Dr. Larry Green. They were in awe of his humble nature, his wisdom and deep interest in their research dreams and endeavors.
The opening reception on September 22 of the MClSc 40th Anniversary marked the inaugural J.F. Sangster Graduate Studies Family Medicine Awards which are open to both Canadian and International students. These awards were made possible by a generous donation by Dr. John F. Sangster and recognizes students in our program who demonstrate the provision of comprehensive family medicine. The PhD recipient was Helena Piccinini-Vallis and the MClSc recipient was Amanda Pendergast. The Martin J. Bass award recipients for this year were Cassandra Lin and Nisanthini Ravichandiran.
We welcomed 52 attendees at the Symposium on September 23 comprised of alumni, current students and faculty who were treated to a keynote presentation by Dr. Bill Hogg and distinguished presentations by Drs. Gustavo Gusso, Eric Wong, Linda Lee and David Snadden. Sixteen outstanding presentations from presenters across the world (Brazil, Japan, Nigeria, Ireland and from coast to coast, Newfoundland, Alberta, British Columbia) were also delivered.
The Symposium was an incredible success that exceeded my expectations and those of the attendees based on the evaluations we have received. A few quotes follow from our attendees:
From Alumni - The most important thing I learned today…
“Is that Family Medicine Scholarship is thriving!”
“Is the importance of the role of rigorous family medicine research and post graduate studies.”
“Was the extraordinary success of the MClSc which reminded me of how visionary Ian McWhinney was.”
From a Current Graduate Student - The most important thing I learned today…
“Is that the graduate program is pivotal in many brilliant physician careers.”
I’d like to thank Liz McInnis, especially for her outstanding organization and meticulous attention to detail and exquisite event planning. Thank you also to Drs. Bridget Ryan, Tom Freeman and Saadia Hameed for their work on the 40th Anniversary Celebration organizing committee and to Michelle Stubnya, Michele Vanderspank, Adrienne Wakabayashi and Cheryl Leystra-Lantz for their help over the weekend.
Photos from the weekend celebration are available on the 40th Anniversary web page.
