• Associate professor/Division head/Instructor

    Max Rady College of Medicine
    Internal Medicine
    University of Manitoba

Cross appointments

Holds cross-appointments with:

  • Family Medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine

Research achievements

Research summary

My research has mostly fallen into two categories. My first research interest is in medical education. This has resulted in publications around creating palliative care teaching curricula. My second research interest is in palliative care symptom management, with a special interest in the symptom management of end stage heart failure. We are currently creating a new Palliative Care Medicine Research Interest group at the University of Manitoba and hope to foster new research collaboratives.

Keywords

  • Palliative
  • Education
  • Symptom management

Leadership style

My leadership style has recently been evolving since taking on the role of Section Head of Palliative Care Medicine. My current style is to try to identify the strengths of team members, with their input, and then to hopefully engage them in meaningful options aimed to further their careers and to support the mission of the section. I try to lead by example with the goal of leading based on the outcome of discussions of our physician and intradisciplinary team.

I actively participate on many committees nationally and am strongly committed to maintaining nationally set standards, while also encouraging innovation and research to hopefully become a center of excellence within the field of palliative care.

Teaching philosophy

I have been teaching medical students and residents for many years, and supervise learners on a daily basis. I have served as residency program director, and helped develop residency training programs and national curricula. 

Educators need to ensure physicians are not only educated to become medical experts, but that they are educated in a way that creates a balanced physician, who possess the seven competencies laid out by the Royal College CanMeds model. I believe we must educate physicians by demonstrating, and while demonstrating, these competencies. 

Just as medicine evolves with new treatments for diseases, medical education evolves as we learn more about individual learning styles, and with the increasing use of technology. Through the use of smart phones and computers, learners can access medical facts, often immediately and very accurately. I strive to help learners become critical users of medical knowledge, and good communicators, and collaborators who are able to translate that knowledge into care for patients. I wish to make learners feel engaged in learning, and motivated to look up the answers to better patient care. I try to emphasize that we are all part of a team and that learners may “consult” with their colleagues if they don't know an answer. 

For learners that start a rotation with me, I try to take an hour on the first day to build rapport and outline expectations. I also like to have frequent small teaching sessions to reflect on what we will be seeing that day or what we saw the day before. Feedback that occurs in teachable moments effects the most immediate change and allows the most growth to occur. Learning occurs best in a positive environment, and even if negative feedback is warranted, it can be done in a compassionate manner that focuses on progress and steps for moving forward. 

For me, dealing with learners is a lot like dealing with patients - kind words and open communication foster the best relationships and the most confidence for future interactions.

Biography

Brief biography

I completed my undergraduate medical degree at the University of Saskatchewan in 1997, and in 2001, I completed my postgraduate training in General Internal medicine, also at the University of Saskatchewan.

Following this, I worked as a general internist at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon and then at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. It was during these years when I became interested in palliative care.

In 2004, I moved to Winnipeg to pursue further training in palliative medicine. I worked with the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada to help create a palliative medicine subspecialty training program and became a subspecialist in palliative medicine after passing the first ever Canadian Palliative Medicine examination in 2019. 

I now serve as the adult palliative medicine section head at the University of Manitoba and is working to create an academic section, within the Department of Internal Medicine, consisting of new research opportunities and residency training initiatives. I am the vice-chair of the subspecialty committee for palliative medicine and sit on the examination committee and the committee on specialties at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. I am also a surveyor for the Royal College and help review residency programs across Canada.

Clinically, I work as a palliative care consultant with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and am an associate professor at the University of Manitoba. My practice interest is the palliation of noncancerous conditions and in the evolution of palliative care to provide holistic care to patients with advanced illness.

Education

  • Palliative Medicine Royal College Examination (2019)
  • Palliative Medicine, Year of Added Competence, University of Manitoba (2005)
  • Fellowship, General Internal Medicine Internal Medicine Residency, University of Saskatchewan (2001)
  • Medical Degree, University of Saskatchewan (1997)

Awards

  • Nominated for a Clinical Clerkship Teaching Award (2013)
  • Nominated for a Professional Association of Interns and Residents (PARIM) professionalism award (2013)
  • University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine Contribution to Medical Education Award (2007-2009)

Contact us

Internal Medicine
Room GC430, Health Sciences Centre
820 Sherbrook Street
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3A 1R9 Canada

204-787-7772
204-787-4826