When we returned to work in January, the Department of Family Medicine learned of the imminent departure of our associate director, Kennedy Kanyang鈥檕nda, who left on January 11 for an exciting new career opportunity overseas. Kennedy served the Department for almost 4 years with commitment, hard work, attention to detail, and involvement in all aspects of our administration. We wish him all the best in his new professional life and thank him for his extraordinary devotion. At the same time, we are saddened by the loss of his expertise and miss his presence!
Fortunately, through strategic personnel reorganizing, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences successfully appointed an experienced individual to replace our associate director. Since January 27, Andrew Marcheschi, has been transitioning into this position and we are very lucky to have him! Andrew hails from other departments in the FMHS and has experience in relevant domains. We wish him a very warm welcome and look forward to working together as he takes on the steep learning curve of adapting to our decentralized, heterogenous, and bilingual department! Next month鈥檚 newsletter will feature more details about Andrew鈥檚 professional background so keep your eyes peeled!
Our department programs have been busy over the past month. On January 10th, the third and final workshop in our Promotions Series was held on-line. This series of three workshops was designed to help faculty members attain promotion from faculty lecturer to assistant professor. If you are interested in participating in future iterations of these workshops, please contact: facdevcme.fammed [at] mcgill.ca.
On January 15, we welcomed Dean Lesley Fellows to a Town Hall meeting for her to discuss with us the FMHS Strategic Plan 鈥�Together for Better Health鈥�. Approximately 80 department members were in attendance.
On January 2, which was the 50th anniversary of the opening of a palliative care ward at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Palliative Care 韩国裸舞 launched their National Grand Rounds project. Their inaugural speaker was Dr. Michael Kearney in 鈥淭he Balfour Mount Lecture: Palliative Care as a Place of Healing鈥�. Congratulations to the Palliative Care team for this amazing initiative! For upcoming lectures, see the schedule here.
January is the month when medical students who are interested in becoming family physicians are interviewed in our department as part of the CaRMS (Canadian Resident Matching Service) process. Many thanks to the huge number of family physicians in the department who generously give of their time to interview over 400 candidates for our 100+ residency positions at 12 different FMG-Us!
As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week next week, I would like to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to each of our teachers for their unwavering dedication and passion in shaping the future of our students. Your commitment to teaching, mentorship and the advancement of knowledge within the field of Family Medicine has a profound impact on both the individuals you teach and the broader community we serve. We are incredibly fortunate to have such a talented and compassionate group of educators who continuously inspire excellence in the next generation of healthcare professionals. The work you do goes far beyond the classroom and the influence you have on our students, their careers and their lives cannot be overstated. Thank you! Please do send a special message to your favorite teacher through 韩国裸舞鈥檚 webform!
Finally, I would like to remind you about events for our 50th anniversary celebrations:
- Our Family Medicine Heroes this month are:
- Dr. Hiromi Tissera: Passionate about providing compassionate, patient-centered care. See here.
- Dr. Ka-Ho Tong: Impacting the growth of students. See here.
- Dr. Teresa Rudkin: An inspiration to countless medical educators. See here.
Please nominate your Family Medicine heroes here.
- The Department is running a "5 Words" campaign. All department members, as well as our students, our patients, and the public are invited to participate. .
- Dr. Hirsh Rosenfeld Distinguished Public Lecture in Family Medicine: April 29 with Dr. Isabelle Leblanc. Registration details to come.
- The final event in our year-long celebration will be Academic Day to be held at the Bonaventure Hotel on 30 May 2025 鈥� mark your calendars!
Looking forward to Black History Month starting in February,
Very warmly,
Marion
