A lifetime of learning
For more than 40 years, Dr. Mark Awuku has been learning to improve and enhance the patient care he provides and to teach and inspire medical learners. Now he’s putting that experience to work as the Chair of the Continuing Professional Development Accreditation Committee for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
By Jennifer Párraga, BA’93
Learning never stops,” said Dr. Mark Awuku, Professor, Paediatrics. “As physicians, things are changing daily, and we need to be committed to life-long learning to ensure our patients always receive the best care.”
A teacher, examiner, mentor, former medical director, Assistant and Associate Dean, Awuku has spent more than 40 years learning to improve and enhance the patient care he provides and to teach and inspire medical learners.
With such an expansive career, it’s fitting that Awuku is now the Chair of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Accreditation Committee for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).
The Committee’s role is to develop national standards and processes relevant to accreditation and reaccreditation of CPD providers, as well as guidelines for continued professional medical learning. This covers a number of areas such as developing innovative approaches to learning and assessing the effectiveness and delivery of teaching, as well as managing interactions with industry.
In addition to engaging with continuing professional development through accredited conferences, seminars and courses, Awuku says that his own personal learning has been greatly enriched through teaching.
“As you teach and interact with students, you advance your own knowledge,” he said. The beloved faculty member began teaching in 1978. A newly minted physician in Ghana, he was beginning his residency training and was charged with teaching junior medical learners. After catching the eye and approval of his professor, his teaching opportunities broadened and so did his skills.
A move to Canada and further training at The Hospital for Sick Children led to more teaching, a year serving as Chief Resident and recognition for his teaching prowess. Fast forward 20 years, Awuku was not just a seasoned teacher, he was a much in-demand paediatrician, and a Professor at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. He would soon move into curriculum development, program oversite and into decanal roles with the creation of the Schulich Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Campus.
For the past eight years, Awuku has also been returning to Ghana as a volunteer to teach in-service programs for Ghanaian physicians. He is joined by internationally-based medical colleagues from a variety of medical specialties, all of whom are dedicated to life-long learning. Additionally, he has assisted with medical school curriculum design and examination preparation.
The award-winning teacher says that a key to successful teaching and student learning is creating the right learning environment from the very beginning.
“As you teach and interact with students, you advance your own knowledge.”
— Dr. Mark Awuku
“How you engage the students, and how comfortable you make them feel initially is very important,” he said. “I empower them to ask any question they want, and I try to challenge them, while using errors as teaching moments. Once you create a good environment, there is no limit to learning.”
“Sometimes, they will ask me questions and I don’t have the answer, and so I assign them the work to research the answer. Then we all learn,” he said with a chuckle.
Watching students learn and succeed brings Awuku great satisfaction.
“Whether I’m seeing a student answer a challenging question in a lecture or on the ward, or I’m watching them years later giving expert advice on the news, I feel great pride,” he said.
What he gains from teaching goes much further. He’s grateful to the hundreds of students who he says have taught him patience and, through interactions, remind him every day how thankful he is to be part of people’s lives whether it’s providing care, teaching or mentorship.
Awuku is channelling all his experiences as a teacher and learner into his role as Chair of the RCPSC CPD Accreditation Committee with an aim to create new and innovative opportunities for learning.
In the end, he says, everything the Committee does is about creating a positive patient experience by enriching life-long learning for physicians and surgeons.
