The University of Manitoba will hold a Convocation Ceremony for medical graduates on May 13, 2010.  The Faculty of Medicine Convocation will take place at 10:30 a.m. at University of Manitoba Brodie Centre, 727 McDermot Avenue.

Degrees will be conferred to 104 medical school graduates: 52 females and 52 males, including 20 graduates from rural Manitoba and two Aboriginal graduates.

“Today we are celebrating 104 graduates. The University of Manitoba medical school has been educating physicians in the Province for 127 years. We are extremely proud of this class and their achievements,” said Dr. J. Dean Sandham, Dean, Faculty of Medicine. “We are also proud that we have the highest retention of graduates to residency programs in their home province in English Canada. My congratulations to the graduates, family and friends and to our faculty and staff.”

The Convocation also includes the presentation of an Honorary Doctorate degree to  University of Manitoba alumnus Michael Rachlis MD FRCPC

A respected and vigorous champion of Canada’s public health care system, Dr. Rachlis was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1951 and graduated from the University of Manitoba medical school in 1975. He interned at McMaster University and then practiced family medicine at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre in Toronto for eight years. He completed training in Community Medicine at McMaster and was made a fellow of the Canadian Royal College of Physicians in 1988. Dr. Rachlis practices as a private consultant in health policy analysis. His passionate and articulate analyses of the Canadian health care system have led to his service as a consultant to the federal government, all ten provincial governments, and two royal commissions. He also holds adjunct associate professor appointments with the University of Toronto Department of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Dr. Rachlis has lectured widely on health care issues. He has been invited to make presentations to committees of the Canadian House of Commons and the Canadian Senate as well as the United States House of Representatives and Senate. He is a frequent media commentator on health policy issues and the author of three national bestsellers about Canada’s health care system. In his spare time, Dr. Rachlis enjoys cycling and duplicate bridge. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two children.

The title of professor emeritus will be bestowed upon Patrick Choy, Jane Evans and Daniel Sitar.

Patrick Choy
B.Sc. (McGill); M.Sc., Ph.D. (North Dakota); M.D.(Hons.) (McGill); ?FAHA FIACS
Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics

A distinguished scientist who is an international leader in the study of heart disease, Dr. Choy joined the University of Manitoba in 1979 as a researcher and professor in the department of biochemistry and medical genetics. He served as head of the department from 1992 to 1999 and as Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Medicine from 1999 to 2009. Dr. Choy is currently the new Associate Dean of Development in the Faculty of Medicine. An internationally recognized leader in the study of cardiovascular phospholipids and lipoproteins, Dr. Choy’s research established novel connections between lipid metabolism, cardiac arrhythmias and atherosclerosis. His work has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for 30 years. Dr. Choy established the Centre for Research and Treatment of Atherosclerosis and has served as President of the Canadian Biochemical Society and Vice-President of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba.

Jane Evans
B.Sc.(Hons.) (Birmingham); Ph.D. (Leicester); FCCMG
Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics

A medical geneticist with an international reputation for excellence, Dr. Evans has been instrumental in uncovering the role folic acid and food fortification play in reducing birth defects. Dr. Evans received her PhD from the University of Leicester in 1975 and after post-doctoral training joined the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. She was Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics and also affiliated with Pediatrics and Child Health, and Community Health Sciences. A fellow of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists since 1983, she served as President from 1998-2000. She holds an appointment with the Genetics and Metabolism Program, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, where she is involved with the Manitoba Maternal Serum Screening Program and is a consultant in the clinical genetics service. Dr. Evans chairs the advisory group of the Canadian Congenital Anomalies Surveillance Network and is a member of the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System Steering Committee and Infant and Fetal Health Study Group.

Daniel Sitar
B.Sc., M.Sc., PhD (Manitoba); FCP  FGSA
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Dr. Sitar received his university education in Manitoba and became a licensed pharmacist in 1966 until his retirement at the end of 2009.  In addition, he completed an M.Sc. degree in Pharmacy (1968), and a PhD in Pharmacology (1972).  After academic appointments at the University of Minnesota (1971-73) and McGill University (1973-78), he was recruited back to the University of Manitoba in 1978 to participate in the development of the first Geriatric Clinical Pharmacology program in Canada. Dr. Sitar was a professor in the departments of internal medicine, and pharmacology and therapeutics.  In 1999, he was appointed head of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and served in that capacity until the end of 2008. His expertise in drug disposition and factors that affect it are recognized by invited chapters in major textbooks of pharmacology. Dr. Sitar has been a member of the Editorial Board of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics since 1986, and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

Media are invited to obtain photos of the Class of 2010 during their procession at 10:25 a.m. or during the Hippocratic Oath near the end of the convocation.

For more information contact Ilana Simon, Director of Communications & Marketing, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, (204) 789-3427 or cell (204) 295-6777 or simoni@cc.umanitoba.ca.