ISSUE 08 | SPRING 2012
MB medicine Magazine of the University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine, Alumni and Friends
SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Inner-City Science Centre | Trailblazing Alumni | Convocation 2012
Photo: Grajewski Fotograph Inc.
dean’s message Over the last 20 years, physicians, as a group, have become more “me-focussed.” We are working hard in the Faculty of Medicine to bring back a community service and social accountability focus so that our medical students understand their social responsibilities as physicians in the community.
According to the World Health Organization, national reports and the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, social accountability in medical schools is “The obligation to direct their (medical schools’) education, research and service activities towards addressing the priority health concerns of the community, region, and/or nation they have a mandate to serve. The priority health concerns are to be identified jointly by governments, health care organizations, health professionals and the public.” As part of our current Undergraduate Medical Education curriculum renewal process, a task group, co-chaired by Dr. Sharon Macdonald, Head, Department of Community Health Sciences and Dr. Julie Beaulac, Assistant Professor, Clinical Health Psychology addressed social accountability. In its final report, the task group described social responsibility and accountability as core values for physicians to recognize and practice, from an individual to global scale for the well-being of all members of the community. How can we as a Faculty of Medicine become more socially accountable? For one, we are currently expanding our service learning opportunities for medical students under the direction of Dr. Bruce Martin, Associate Dean, Students. Service learning includes structured experiences that combine defined learning outcomes and service to address specific community needs, as well as reflection. We know service learning opportunities will greatly enhance our students’ understanding of diverse communities and make them better physicians! Secondly, as a faculty we are committed to pipeline programs. The Inner-City Science Centre, founded by Dr. Francis Amara (read more on pages 11,12) illustrates the important role we play as a faculty to encourage youth in under-represented populations to consider careers in the health professions. Our faculty’s Centre for Global Public Health (CGPH) enhances the contribution of the University of Manitoba to the improvement of public health systems, programs
and activities in diverse global settings. CGPH designs and implements international health and development projects in several countries including India, China, Kenya and Pakistan; primarily in the areas of HIV and STI prevention, and maternal/child health. Since 1970 the J.A. Hildes Nothern Medical Unit has provided health care, medical and paramedical research, and education for communities in the remote north. The NMU is recognized nationally and internationally as one of the most successful models of service delivery to remote northern populations. It provides health care via family physicians, nurses, medical specialists, social workers, and clinic support staff at three hospitals/clinics and nursing stations in Manitoba, and eight Nunavut health centres. Finally, across the Faculty, we have students, staff and faculty members volunteering for a number of community outreach programs. Our students volunteer and play leadership roles in the Winnipeg Interprofessional Student-run Health (WISH) clinic operated out of Mt. Carmel Clinic and Jacob Penner Park Drop-in Centre. Other student volunteer opportunities include Children’s Hospital, Winnipeg Harvest, and Giving Back, a day camp founded by a medical student aimed at innercity youth. Little Travellers, also founded by a medical student, involves selling tiny, beaded dolls handmade by women affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa with all proceeds ($5 per pin) supporting the craftswomen. Throughout the year, students, faculty and staff have fundraised for the United Way to support programs and strategies that offer young people an alternative to the streets, help families, and improve neighbourhood health and safety. Looking forward, we need to continue to embrace social responsibility and accountability as a faculty, as a profession and as individuals.
Brian Postl [MD/76], Dean of Medicine Keep up-to-date with faculty news. Follow my blog at
http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/blogs/postlnotes/ 1
ISSUE 08 | SPRING 2012
editor’s message PHOTO: ANDREW SIKORSKY
Welcome to our spring/summer issue of MB Medicine. This issue’s theme of social accountability is being addressed at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine both locally, and globally. You will read about what our medical students are engaging in, how our faculty members are taking up the gauntlet and what we are doing as a faculty through the Inner-City Science Centre and Centre for Global Public Health to fulfill our social responsibility.
INDEX 1 Dean’s Message 2 Editor’s Message 3 Research news 5 Rich Man Poor Man 5 Teacher Recognition Dinner 6 Mini Medical School 6 Discovery Day 7 New Ophthalmology Residency program
Trailblazing alumni James Blanchard [MD/86] and Anne Durcan [MD/92] tell their inspiring stories of what motivates them to continually look for ways to make the world a better place. At this year’s convocation, Honorary Degree recipient George Yee [MD/60] gave a moving address recounting growing up “a galaxy away from academia” and becoming a successful pathologist who is grateful to his alma mater. Then there is visionary Dr. Francis Amara. It has been the mission of this passionate associate professor in Biochemistry and Medical Genetics to improve science literacy among our city’s most disadvantaged youth: Aboriginal, new Canadian and refugee youth living in Winnipeg’s inner city. When Dr. Amara began the Biomedical Youth Program six years ago, his sights were set on opening the doors to science for students who are under-represented in the science and health professions and typically don’t have access to after-school hands-on science activities. This innovative Inner-City Science Centre model—of bringing science to the community—has garnered international interest.
7 Mini U comes to Bannatyne 8 100 Years of Loss art exhibit 8 (Im)Possiblities Medical Student Art Show 9 Convocation 2012 11 Francis Amara: Inner-City Science Centre 12 Inner-City Science Centre 13 Honouring Icelandic Doctor 13 Minnesota Alumni Reception 14 Message from Philanthropy 14 Morberg Chair in Hepatology
Another success story is the WISH clinic, operated by University of Manitoba students and faculty from a multiple of disciplines to provide socially responsible, holistic health care at Mt. Carmel Clinic to members of Winnipeg’s Point Douglas community.
15 Centre for Global Public Health Partners with CIDA, CFGB
Read about our student-organized Rich Man Poor Dinner aimed at educating faculty, staff and students about food security issues faced by the majority of our world’s population—and what is going on in our own backyard.
17 Alumni Profile: Anne Durcan [MD/92]
On a global scale, the faculty’s Centre for Global Public Health has embarked on a new partnership with CIDA and Canadian Food Grains Bank to empower local women to deliver crucial maternal, newborn and child nutritional programming in their vulnerable communities in Kenya.
16 Alumni Profile: James Blanchard [MD/86]
18 MMCF message 18 TREKK 19 Faculty Awards & Honours
Speaking of global, we are anticipating welcoming alumni from around the world back to the University of Manitoba for their 2012 milestone reunions. This year, we have nine reunions taking place – many during Homecoming 2012 from September 14-16, 2012.
21 Obituaries
All alumni are invited to join us for the Dean’s Homecoming breakfast and campus tours on Saturday, September 15, 2012. If you are celebrating a milestone reunion in 2012 or 2013 and want more information or to help plan next year’s class reunion, please contact Darcy Routledge, Alumni Affairs & Events Officer at darcy.routledge@med.umanitoba.ca or 204-955-5650.
Back cover Homecoming 2012 - reunions
We also connect with alumni throughout the year at alumni receptions like the one we held in Minneapolis this past year. If you are interested in an alumni event in your area, please contact us.
22 Obituaries
EDITOR: Ilana Simon Director of Communication & Marketing Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba Tel: 204.789.3427 E-Mail: ilana.simon@med.umanitoba.ca Design: Guppy Graphic Design Cover Photo: Andrew Sikorsky Printing: The Prolific Group
Ilana Simon ilana.simon@med.umanitoba.ca
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Health at birth strongly linked to how prepared kids are for school By Jack Rach
A May report from the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Medicine shows differences in potential are apparent at a very early age even as early as when they’re born. Children’s performance potential at school is also related to where they live. The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a survey filled out by almost all Kindergarten teachers in Manitoba, measures school readiness in five areas or domains (physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, as well as communications skills and general knowledge). By anonymously linking EDI results to health records, the report found that right from birth, differences in children’s health can impact how prepared they may be for school. The study looked deep into social circumstances and identified three factors associated with poor EDI scores: children born to teen moms, in families on income assistance, or in the care of Child and Family Services, were found to be more at risk. “These kids were up to four times more likely than children who were not in any of these at-risk groups to show vulnerability in one or more EDI domain,” said Rob Santos, lead researcher for the report at MCHP and executive director of science and policy at the Healthy Child Manitoba Office. Researchers from the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy also used anonymized results of the EDI surveys from 2005-2007, then linked them with areas of residence. Out of nearly 22,000 children included, they found that EDI scores seemed strongly related to how rich or poor the area was in which the children resided. “Children living in the poorest areas in Manitoba, for both urban and rural settings, were about one and one-half times as likely to be not ready in at least one EDI domain when compared with children living in the wealthiest areas,” says Marni Brownell, MCHP co-investigator.
MCHP is a research unit in the department of community health sciences in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Research scientists and their collaborators at MCHP study health services, population and Rob Santos
public health, and the social determinants of health using data from the entire population of Manitoba. Most of the research answers questions of interest to policy makers based on a formal association with Manitoba Health and input from other government departments.
Marni Brownell
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RESEARCH NEWS
Basic Science Core Platforms Receive $2.4-M Boost Peter Nickerson [MD/86], Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Dr. Digvir Jaya, Vice President, Research and International, University of Manitoba and Christina Weise, Executive Director, Manitoba Health Research Council are pleased to announce Basic Science Core Platform funding to enhance health research capacity, discovery and innovation in Manitoba. Over the next five years, the Faculty of Medicine, VPRIO, and MHRC will invest $2.4 million in the core platforms. Combined with contributions of $900,000 by Manitoba academic health science network partners, U of M researchers will have access to the state-of-the-art tools needed to be competitive for national funding (e.g. CIHR, NSERC, CFI, CRC, NCE, and Prairie Genome). It will also assist our U of M researchers to form key partnerships nationally and internationally with academic and biotechnology sector organizations. Information about each core platform will be hosted on the University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine Research Office website in the near future: www.umanitoba.ca/medicine/research. To ensure optimal access to the Platforms, the Core Leaders will host workshops at regular intervals. The scope of the instrumentation supports research at the DNA, RNA, protein, cellular, and whole organ levels as well as enabling basic, translational and clinical research by our faculty and partners. Building on the capital investments from CFI, Province of Manitoba and the University of Manitoba, the following core facilities were launched in May to support the biomedical research community in Manitoba.
1. Next Generation Sequencing Core Platform Location: Manitoba Institute of Child Health (MICH), 523 John Buhler Research Centre Core Platform Leader: James R. Davie, Canada Research Chair in Chromatin Dynamics Next Generation DNA Sequencing is the sequencing of genomes, which in humans are the three billion base pairs of DNA found in every cell of the body. The capabilities of these instruments allow researchers to conduct genetic and epigenetic research.
2. Lentiviral Vector Viral Particles Production Core Platform Location: 4th Floor, Apotex Centre
6. Core Platform in Mass Spectroscopy Analysis of Proteins and Metabolites Location: Manitoba Centre for Proteomics and Systems Biology, 799 John Buhler Research Core Platform Leader: John Wilkins [PhD/79] Mass spectrometry plays an essential role in protein discovery, quantitation, and monitoring of protein modifications, interactions and activities. This type of information is critical for the identification of biomarkers of disease activity or response to therapy and in the understanding of disease process.
7. Large scale RNA and Protein Analysis for immunological biomarkers in health and disease
Core Platform Leaders: Sam Kung, Jiuyong Xie
Location: 4th floor, Apotex Centre
Understanding how a protein functions in complex biological processes is key to basic biomedical research and identification of novel drug targets in human diseases. The platform will facilitate discovery and validation of gene/protein functions in basic and translational research in Manitoba.
Collectively, the platform will allow large scale and robotic detection of a wide range of immunological biomarkers at both mRNA and protein levels. While focused on immunologically related mRNA and proteins its capabilities can be broadened.
3. Core Platform for Molecular Imaging Location: Genomic Center for Cancer Research and Diagnosis (GCCRD), MICB, Room ON6026 Core Platform Leader: Sabine Mai This core platform, which is part of the GCCRD is a regional/national facility for all cutting edge imaging applications. The goals of the GCCRD are basic and translational research using molecular imaging approaches, as well as the education of students and highly qualified personnel in genomic instability, cancer genetics and all aspects of imaging.
Core Platform Leader: Redwan Moqbel
8. Small Animal and Materials Imaging Core Platform Location: Room 322 (BMSB) (relocating to Central Animal Care, basement BMSB) Core Platform Leaders: Barbara Triggs-Raine [PhD/87], Andrew Halayko [M.Sc./88, PhD/87] Canada Research Chair in Airway Cell and Molecular Biology, Robert Madziak The U of M Small Animal and Materials Imaging Core Facility will bring capabilities for both structural and functional imaging to Manitoba scientists.
4. Core Platform for Histology, Histomorphology, and Ultrastructural Imaging (SIM, EM) Location: Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, Faculty of Medicine Core Platform Leader: Thomas Klonisch This platform will offer Histomorphology services including tissue processing of paraffin and frozen tissues, various histological staining procedures, and imaging of histological sections and fluorescent imaging services in cultured cells and frozen tissues. Other services offered will be educational modules.
5. Flow Cytometry Core Platform Core Platform Leaders: Keith Fowke [PhD/95], Aaron Marshall, Canada Research Chair in Molecular Immunology Flow cytometry remains an essential research tool for multiplex analyses of cellular biomarkers and isolation of rare cell populations. The core platform will regularly organize educational workshops.
PHOTO: DAN GWOZDZ
Location: 4th floor Apotex Centre and 5th floor BMSB
Aaron Marshall, CRC in Moleculur Immunology and Keith Fowke in front of flow cytometry equipment.
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PHOTO: DAN GWOZDZ
Rich Man, Poor Man: Health issues and food By Janice Labossiere
A visual representation of how the world eats, in the form of a unique dining experience, took place in April 2012 at the University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne Campus.
Proceeds from the dinner supported Winnipeg Harvest. David Northcott, Executive Director of Winnipeg Harvest, gave a passionate keynote speech about what nutrition means to the disadvantaged.
Organized by students in the Faculty of Medicine, the Rich Man Poor Man dinner emphasized global inequalities of food consumption. At every table of eight, one person was randomly selected to receive an extravagant meal, while the other seven guests received a meal representative of what 90% of the world would eat. Approximately 150 students, staff and faculty took part in the inaugural event.
“If it’s justice food or charity food, I don’t care – it’s food, and that’s what we’re helping here tonight,” he said, encouraging participants to think of food bank usage as a health care issue.
The concept, originally started by University of Calgary medical students, strives to raise awareness about the unequal distribution of resources around the globe and how this contributes to global and local poverty. World-wide, over 852 million people do not have enough food to meet their basic nutritional needs and approximately one-third of people do not meet their intellectual potential because of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Christine Yurkowski (Med II) and Yael Shrom (Med I), the Manitoba Medical Student Association’s global health representatives, also gave a presentation about Winnipeg Harvest volunteers they met while volunteering at the food bank. “Take the time to appreciate not only the impact of the organization that you’ve supported by being here today, but also to appreciate the impact that these volunteers have had on their community. Imagine how much more difficult each of their lives would be without Winnipeg Harvest and know that you’ve made a difference tonight,” Yurkowski said.
Teacher Recognition Dinner The Faculty of Medicine held its second annual teacher recognition dinner April 3, 2012 to pay tribute to faculty members for their commitment to teaching and administration at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba.
“Your leadership is extremely important to fulfilling our mission and goals as a faculty. We value each of you for your dedication to medical education and I want to thank you for your important work here,” said Brian Postl [MD/76] Dean of Medicine.
PHOTO: DAN GWOZDZ
He acknowledged the contributions of course and associate and assistant deans, program directors, course co-coordinators, faculty and B.Sc. Med supervisors, research directors, preceptors and more.
Chantal Hébert, Toronto Star political columnist, gave a thought provoking keynote address at Teacher Recognition Dinner.
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“You ensure our Faculty of Medicine provides the highest quality of medical education and opportunities for discovery, scholarship and community service,” he said. “Thank you to all of our faculty members who choose to teach because they believe in
STUDENT/FACULTY NEWS
giving back and passing along their knowledge and insight to medical students and residents.” This year’s keynote address “Federal/Provincial Health Accords: Past, Present & Future” was given by Chantal Hébert, national affairs writer for the Toronto Star based on Parliament Hill, as well as a guest columnist with the Montreal daily Le Devoir and a member of the CBC’s The National’s weekly At Issue panel. “The first majority Conservative government in two decades is also the most conservative government in our lives,” she said, noting Canadians are facing the end of a government spending cycle with the federal government committed to austerity. “The 2004 Health Accord, coming to an end in 2014,
was the product of unprecedented federal surplus.” Hébert cautioned, “Now the federal government is saying that accountability should be where responsibility for health care lies – it belongs to the Province.” Tellingly, she noted, the federal health minister is among the “second tier” of ministers in the federal cabinet illustrating how Ottawa does not see health as its “purview” and there is not enough money to sustain the status quo. “Health care is not a symbol, it is a service. If you can’t get the service it could be life or death. Can we make a system that is fair and accessible regardless of economic disparity?” Hebert questioned.
Must-See TV: Student Explorers By Janice Labossiere
“ It’s serious, but the lectures are fun.” It’s a series like no other. Winnipeggers Saphira Andryjowich and Laurel MacKay have made Mini Medical School “must-see TV” for the past three years. “ There are such interesting topics covered every session,” said MacKay. “It’s serious, but the lectures are fun.” The six-week lecture series where Faculty of Medicine professors and researchers offer the general public an in-depth look into current medical and health issues ran March 14 to April 18, 2012. This year, the television “fact or fiction” theme created topics like “The Passionate Eye: Looking at our health care system,” “Trouble in Hell’s Kitchen: ensuring food safety, food allergies,” and “An Amazing Race: organ donation and kidney transplants.” “ Medically-themed TV shows are, and have always been, popular. But, while the practice of medicine is not always as glamorous as what people may see on TV, it certainly is as interesting,” said Dr. José François, Associate Dean, Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine. “ I like that you get a doctor’s time and get all this information about their specialty,” said Andryjowich, adding participants are informed and entertained at Mini Med School. “ Mini Medical School provides the general public with information on the normal human body, disease, disease process and clinical challenges allowing them to become more educated health-care consumers,” said Dr. François. “It also provides people, including potential future students, an opportunity to appreciate the full scope of activities in which the Faculty of Medicine is engaged.” Participants also take home a renewed sense of confidence when dealing with medical issues. “ I’ve learned a lot about what questions to ask when I’m with my own doctor,” said MacKay. “I feel more comfortable advocating for myself and that’s very important to me.”
Discover Health Careers By Ilana Simon
More than 200 students from 55 Manitoba high schools, including 45 students from the north and 35 from First Nations communities, spent their day sampling career options at the 11th Annual TD Discovery Day in Health Sciences. The event was hosted by The University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine and organized by The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in London, Ontario. “We are delighted to expose high school students from across Manitoba to the many different career options in the health sciences,” said Dean of Medicine Brian Postl [MD/76]. “Through the interactive workshops, and hearing from a medical resident and faculty members, participants gain a much deeper understanding of what it takes to become a doctor and what it’s like to work in the health professions.” Students selected two of the 23 hands-on workshops, which gave them the opportunity to interact with health professionals in their research labs and teaching or surgical rooms on the University of Manitoba Bannatyne campus and in other affiliated sites. At one workshop dubbed “Embryonic Stem Cells- The Future of Regenerative Medicine” students learned about this emerging new science and the Faculty’s Regenerative Medicine program. As part of their activity, students looked at real mouse embryonic stem cells under a microscope and conducted a test to confirm the quality of the embryonic stem cell and whether it can differentiate into all the cell types within the body. Another hands-on workshop focused on “Spinal Instrumentation” where students discovered how the treatment of adult and pediatric spinal tumors, trauma and deformation has been enhanced by the use of spine implants such as screws, rods, and hooks. Participants placed spine implants into lumbar spine models. “I liked it a lot,” said Brent Courchene, a Grade 11 student from Island Lake of the spinal instrumentation workshop. Amanda Spence, a Churchill, MB Grade 11 student, said “Discovery Day is good because it introduces students to different health careers. It helps students learn about different areas of health careers that you can go into and tells us about ones we maybe didn’t know about,” she said, adding she is interested in Occupational Therapy. Canadian Medical Hall of Fame executive director Janet Tufts said the University of Manitoba attracts the most northern and Aboriginal students compared to the other 10 faculties of medicine hosting Discovery Days across Canada, “We want to plant a seed in the minds of our student participants about the world of discovery and innovation and excite young people about careers in the health sciences,” she said.
PHOTO: DAN GWOZDZ
Mini Medical School
Brent Courchene, a grade 11 student from Island Lake, learns about the muscular-skeletal system at Discovery Days.
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PHOTO: Bronwyn Penner
New Ophthalmology Residency Program Boon To Province’s Aging Population By Heidi Klaschka
A new University of Manitoba ophthalmology residency program, sited exclusively at Misericordia Health Centre, will ensure the province’s aging population’s eye care needs are met in the future, according to Minister of Health Theresa Oswald.
“Misericordia’s capital redevelopment includes a new health complex, the ideal setting for a state-of-the-art resident clinic and teaching facility,” said Arlene Wilgosh, Winnipeg Health Region’s president and chief executive officer. “We are proud to be partnering with the University of Manitoba to train our doctors in modern facilities.”
“It’s critical for our seniors to have the best eye care services available to them. This new program will see eye doctors train right here while providing crucial care to Manitobans,” said Minister of Health Theresa Oswald.
Residents will have the opportunity to learn from ophthalmology specialists, practice surgery in a new mock operating room and assess and treat their own patients under supervision.
Brian Postl [MD/76], Dean of Medicine welcomed the U of M’s new ophthalmology residency program, after a 30-year absence. “Residents trained in Manitoba are more likely to practice here and provide the expert eye care that Manitobans need and deserve,” he said. “The new residency program will ultimately improve patient care across the province.” The five-year ophthalmology residency program is located at Misericordia Health Centre’s Buhler Eye Care Centre, the largest surgical and treatment centre of its kind in Western Canada.
Mini U comes to Bannatyne Campus For the first time ever, Mini U will hold three weeks of summer camp at Bannatyne Campus thanks to a new partnership between the Faculty of Medicine and Bison Children’s Programs, University of Manitoba. Faculty of Medicine faculty members showed their support by donating more than $6800 (from 54 donors) to a funding drive to send inner-city children to three week-long Mini U summer camps at the University of Manitoba Bannatyne Campus. “We wanted to remove cost ($100 per child per week) as a barrier to participation so that children in the neighborhood around Bannatyne campus could enjoy a week of fun at Mini U,” said Sharon Macdonald [MD/72], Head, Dept. of Community Health Sciences.
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Dr. Lorne Bellan, Head, Ophthalmology, Dr. Andre Jastrzebski, Ophthalmology Resident and Dr. Brian Postl, Dean at official opening of the residency program at Misericordia.
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STUDENT NEWS
Lorne Bellan [MD/81], Head, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Manitoba, spearheaded the creation of the new residency program and believes the program will not only allow future ophthalmologists to train at home, but will also decrease provincial wait times. “The new residents’ clinic will provide another location for patients to receive eye consultations and help decrease wait times,” said Bellan, past-president of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and past-chair of the Wait Time alliance. “It’s a win-win situation.” The first ophthalmology resident is currently receiving training. Each year, a new resident will be added until the program reaches its full cohort of five.
The target group for camperships was children and youth (ages 5-14+) for three five-day camps between August 7-24, 2012. Each camp can accommodate 15 children and is aimed at youth from the community in which the Faculty of Medicine resides. “We are working with local schools to guide the process of opening this opportunity up to our neighbours and providing kids -who might not normally have a chance to attend summer camp- a fun-filled week with recreation, sport and friendship,” said Macdonald. All money raised this year was directed to the program being held at Joe Doupe Centre, including snacks for each of the participants. Additional funds will be earmarked for next year’s Mini U camps at Bannatyne Campus. In addition, through the WRHA injury prevention program IMPACT and the pediatric residents’ advocacy project, led by Dr. Lynne Warda to promote the use of bicycles helmets, children and their families will be offered free helmets.
100 YEARS OF LOSS:
The Residential School System in Canada By Janice Labossiere A mobile exhibit designed to raise awareness about the history and legacy of Residential Schools in Canada was displayed in the Brodie Centre Atrium at Bannatyne Campus in February 2012. The exhibit, “100 Years of Loss – The Residential School System in Canada”, is a project of the Legacy of Hope Foundation, a national Aboriginal charitable organization. The bilingual exhibit, which was free and open to the public, was opened by Deborah Young, Executive Lead, Indigenous Achievement, Dr. Brian Postl, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Florence Paynter, elder at Migizii Agamik. The exhibit’s goal was to sensitize and educate Canadians, challenging stereotypes and fostering dialogue about Residential Schools here on campus.
PHOTO: DAN GWOZDZ
“I want to explore ways to educate our university community about residential schools,” said Young. “This exhibit also demonstrates the resiliency and strength of our people.” The Legacy of Hope Foundation’s mandate is to educate, and raise awareness and understanding of the legacy of Residential Schools, including the effects and intergenerational impacts on First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, and to support the ongoing healing process of Residential School Survivors.
ANNUAL MEDICAL ART SHOW
DRAWS FROM THE (IM)POSSIBLE
By Janice Labossiere
PHOTO: JANICE LABOSSIERE
The Faculty of Medicine Art Show celebrated its 10th anniversary with the theme (Im)possibilities. The annual event opened with a gala on April 10, 2012 in the Brodie Centre Atrium. Submissions to the 10th anniversary art show included writing, paintings, drawings, sculpture, and photography. “Medicine has a long history of transforming impossibilities to possibilities: from gamma knife surgical techniques to saving the lives of severely premature newborns, and everything in between,” says Ashley Pauls, a Faculty of Medicine Med I student and planning committee member for the 2012 event. “By exploring the theme of (Im)possibilities, artists could showcase how impossibilities and possibilities are present in technology, attitudes, experiences, and multiple other aspects of everyday life.”
Katie Cook with first place sketches & painting
“We had a wide interpretation of (Im)possibilities from students and faculty members in all health-related programs and departments at the Bannatyne Campus. We hoped for submissions that not only explored this theme as it relates to medicine, but also as a reflection and expression of experiences and opportunities in many other areas of life.” PHOTO: JANICE LABOSSIERE
Katie Cook, a Med II student, was awarded first place for her sketches and painting of the human form in sport and dance. “I love the Medical Art Show because it gives me a chance to focus on something other than class,” she said, laughing. Heidi Watson from the School of Medical Rehabilitation took second place, while Med 1 Michelle Senez was awarded third. STUDENT NEWS
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PHOTO: DAN GWOZDZ
convocation 2012 GRADUATES:
Where there is Life, there is Hope By Ilana Simon
The University of Manitoba held a heart-warming Convocation Ceremony for medical graduates May 10, 2012 at Brodie Centre Atrium where degrees were conferred on 103 medical school graduates: “It is a proud day for these students and their families. After many years of hard work and sacrifice, this is their moment to shine,” said Health Minister Theresa Oswald. “These dedicated individuals are pursuing a career that will help Manitoba families with what matters most: getting the best medical care when they need it.” Chancellor Harvey Secter conferred a Doctor of Science on Honorary Degree recipient George Yee [MD/60]. “I feel very privileged and honoured to receive this award from the University of Manitoba to whom I owe so much and although I left many years ago, I still hold very close to my heart,” said Yee. “I was born a galaxy away from academia. I was raised on Henry Avenue, a street on the edge of the North End.”
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Yee, a celebrated physician and philanthropist, was recognized for his commitment to medicine, to his community and to the support of young doctors. “I so admired the generosity of spirit of the professors and physicians who taught me. The financial assistance I received also had a profound impact on me since I had so little”, he recounted. Yee grew up in one of Winnipeg’s poorest neighbourhood. During medical school he received a bursary and vowed to give back if ever fortunate enough to do so. He kept his promise. Yee has supported Class of 1960 Bursary and Entrance Scholarship funds, and created the Charles and Pauline Yee Bursary in Medicine at the University of Manitoba. In 2008, thanks to his generosity, the George & Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation was established at the University of Manitoba, a centre that fosters interdisciplinary research and collaboration aimed at improving patient care and safety.
“ It is about communication, it is about empathy, it is about caring.”
Excerpts from Convocation Address by Dean of Medicine Brian Postl [MD/76]
Congratulations. You have worked hard and you have been successful! Indeed, you are described as undifferentiated physicians...But you will begin your process of differentiation and what are you going to face as you begin that task? s always, and I think every generation forgets this; you are entering A a world of change. It is has always been thus.
Photo: Mike Latschislaw
Photo: Mike Latschislaw
I nterdisciplinary care will be a much more important measure both of quality and success as professionals.
To the graduating students, Yee’s main message was one of hope: “If someone like me with limited ability carrying a load of unwanted baggage can achieve a small amount of success then there is hope for everyone. As long as there is hope in life, the obstacles, both real and imagined that God or the fates put before us and seem insurmountable, can be overcome,” he advised. “In the practice of medicine, we believe, we must believe, that where there is life, there is hope. I would like to think that where there is hope, there is life and opportunity.”
ou will face a world where technology will continue to develop and Y evolve to provide better diagnostic and treatment capacities but this will all be at great expense. You will have to learn to use it wisely. You are also perhaps, for the first time in a generation, going to face a richer physician workforce. ere will be a growing interest and awareness in patient safety Th and expectations that we will improve on the damage that we now do to individuals in our system. s you go through this, you will wonder what is expected of you, A certainly from your patients. As I have said before, I think that is simple. There are acts of respect, empathy, cultural competence, communication, do no harm, do your best, and generally, lower on the list for most patients when surveyed, is being good at what you do. It is about communication, it is about empathy, it is about caring.
In closing, Yee encouraged graduates to remember their alma mater. “I hope that once we achieve our destiny, conquering our personal demons, mastering life’s many challenges, securing our secret dreams, I hope that we never forget and still remember the institution and the people that helped get us there.”
You now have all the tools to begin that journey, do so with humility.
Class of 2012 valedictorian Calvin Bergen shared this advice with his classmate, quoting Ghandi: “Be the difference you want to see in the world.”
e must all be better citizens and community members. We must be W part of our community not apart from it. We must learn to volunteer, be philanthropists, and indeed find ways to pay back the privileges you have been given.
He challenged his fellow graduates to remember how they once felt as medical students and clerks, “When there is an opportunity to demonstrate collegialism, when there is an opportunity to model interdisciplinary work, to remember our experiences and at those times to be the change that you want to see.” Bergen cautioned that the only thing more dangerous than allowing others to put limitations on what you can achieve is allowing yourself to believe them. “So know who you are, and if you don’t know, figure it out and then be that person,” he stated.“The task is to make our patients feel lucky because they have a physician of excellence, of trust, a physician who cares for and who cares well. We are now doctors. Be a physician of passion, be a physician of compassion, and please let’s be the difference.”
ere are other journeys you will be undertaking within in a larger Th context of social accountability. We must collectively address inequities in health in our community in both access and in outcome. You must be advocates in that regard.
e must also be lifelong students, be curious, learn about yourself, W learn and depend on colleagues and learn from your patients, they will always be your best teachers. ou must do all of this while finding balance between these demands Y and your personal and family needs which are equally important. I f you can manage all of this, you will truly hold in awe the remarkable privileges you have been given. Always remember, these are privileges and not entitlements. Just to close, Moliere said “It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”
Thank You. STUDENT NEWS
MB medicine | spring 2012
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PHOTO: ANDREW SIKORSKY
Street level science:
an early start for future trailblazers by Melni Ghattora
The sun is shining, casting a vibrant hue in the Brodie Centre atrium. When you gaze up at the glass ceiling and see the infinite blue sky you know there are no limits. Dr. Francis Amara is standing with a smile on his face overlooking a room full of young people. He is judging the Winnipeg School Division’s Science Fair. The Faculty of Medicine has invited the Winnipeg School Division to hold its annual event at the University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne Campus, something we hope to do every year. For Amara this is one more way to connect with the community. “We can see the inner city from the university; they are our neighbours. It’s a natural progression to work with people in your neighbourhood,” he says. In 2006 the associate professor in biochemistry and medical genetics founded the Biomedical Youth Program (BYP) as a Faculty of Medicine program to work closely and engage with Manitoba’s inner-city and disadvantaged youth. Through its unique approach and scope of outreach initiatives, the BYP is designed to capture young imaginations and build an interest in science at an early age. Since its launch, more than 3000 students have benefited from the program’s activities and services. BYP offers early-learning programming for children in grades 1 to 3;
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after-school science programs for kids in grades 4 to 12; student mentors to help with science fair projects; mobile labs that deliver hands-on activities to First Nations communities; and professional development workshops and seminars for Manitoba Science Teachers. All of these resources are provided at no charge. Each year, children aged 10-18, are invited to attend the Biomedical Youth Summer Camp (BYSC). The first camp, held in 2006, hosted 15 youth. Today it welcomes more than 200 Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students each year, and some 1300 youth have participated in the camp to date. This year’s day camp runs July 23-27, 2012 at the University of Manitoba Bannatyne Campus. The free one-week science camp—led by 100 volunteer camp counsellors—gives students a chance to try out a variety of hands-on activities and experiments in areas such as genetics, immunology, medical diagnostics, oncology, forensics, and respiratory therapy. Among the BYP’s most successful community-based activities is the Inner-City Science Centre (ICSC). Niji Mahkwa School, nicknamed Niji, is home to three centralized labs located in the heart of Winnipeg’s North End. The Biotechnology, Physics and Imaging, and Chemical Sciences labs each house state-of-the-art equipment made possible through a collaborative partnership between the Faculty of Medicine, Winnipeg School Division, The Winnipeg Foundation, and Friends of the Inner-City Science Centre Inc.
Debbie Gould, vice-principal at Niji, recalls a conversation she had with then principal Myra Laramee. “When Dr. Amara approached Ms. Laramee about his vision, Ms. Laramee came to me and said, ‘The vibes and the energy I received from Dr. Amara are very sincere. He’s not going to come and do this for two or three months and then lose interest and go off. Deb, he’s going to stick with it’ “.
“They may be younger right now but the exposure can ignite something in them and they can put that life on the streets aside and they can push it away at a young age when they’re given the opportunity,” says Gould. “We want them to think ‘Yes I can do this,’ rather than be discouraged and resort to the violence on the streets or the drugs or gangs that are prevalent in the area.”
That was back in 2006, the start of the Science Buddies Club. Amara would pack his lab, made up of coolers and containers, into his minivan and head over to Niji to meet 30 or so Grade 5 students. Together they would talk about science for half an hour.
By next year Amara plans to launch BYP on the Move, a one-day science lab set up at public places like the Forks Market, Portage Place Shopping Centre, or St. Vital Centre. He feels the initiative is now feasible because of the well-established volunteer base and continued support to BYP. The Faculty of Medicine and the University of Manitoba have contributed more than $500,000 since its inception.
Word quickly spread throughout the neighbourhood. By 2007 all of the schools in the North End had heard about Science Buddies; children would see kids from Niji walking down the street in lab coats and wanted to be part of this innovative program. Amara faced a big challenge: how could a single professor and graduate student (Ben Salins) open up Science Buddies to more than 60 schools? He figured they could manage three schools and decided they would go to Niji twice a month, allowing them to visit each of the other schools once per month. But the demand only grew as more schools became interested. That’s when he came up with a solution: create one centralized facility where science could come to life for students from all schools in the area. He took this idea back to Ms. Laramee and was offered room 101, a cold room-turned-storage space. Amara clearly remembers the day he saw the room and said, “‘This is where we will start the Inner-City Science Centre.’” Science Buddies has since evolved into more than 20 afterschool science clubs. Upon entering Niji Mahkwa (Ojibwe for brother bear or friendly bear) the air hints a faint aura of sage from an earlier smudging ceremony and if you listen carefully, you can hear drumming in the distance. With a predominantly Aboriginal student body, the school incorporates First Nations language, culture, and traditions in their learning. Vice-principal Gould opens the door to the Physics and Imaging lab, revealing a small room occupied by equipment you would expect to see in a crime lab on the primetime drama C.S.I.
Christian Seon is volunteer lab manager and a mentor. Seon, a pre-med student, believes a strong stereotype exists that kids from the inner city aren’t interested in science. “In this situation, being a trailblazer doesn’t mean you have to be the next inventor of Facebook. You just have to make a choice to better your community by setting a path, setting a purpose and going out there and achieving it,” says Seon. But with the support coming from top down, Seon finds it easy to mute the skepticism. “What I’ve noticed from the Faculty of Medicine is their willingness to help out. I don’t know that you could go to any other university and get that kind of response. They want to help the ones that may not have a voice by giving us a license to come out here and to help improve the inner-city community and I think that’s amazing.” More than 70 per cent of the members from the first Science Buddies Club are now in high school; they have all indicated plans to study medicine. And last year Science Buddies sent kids to the Manitoba School Science Symposium. It was the first time anyone from Niji had the courage to enter a science fair and three students brought home bronze medals. For Amara, the increasing number of inner-city students interested in entering science fairs speaks volumes. “This is the whole point. Instead of waiting until high school, we are capturing the imagination early on of Aboriginal, inner-city and disadvantaged youth and getting them excited about science…how else can we diversify our medical school student population and other health professions?”
PHOTO: ANDREW SIKORSKY
Anything is possible Levi Woodhouse looks tiny sitting in an oversized executive chair, enveloped by a high back and large armrests. He’s in vice-principal Gould’s office, talking about his science project and it becomes immediately apparent: there’s nothing small about this 10-year-old.
In May at Oak Hammock Marsh, the Grade 5 student earned a silver ribbon at the Youth Encouraging Sustainability (YES) Showcase; a Science Council Manitoba initiative dedicated to promoting science and technology to Manitoba youth.
“People said the easiest project is a volcano, but I didn’t want to do that. I like to figure out the hard stuff and see if I can do it,” he explains of his decision to investigate whether different kinds of shampoos have different anti-microbial effects on the growth of E. coli bacteria.
Forgoing after-school activities with his friends, Woodhouse met with his mentors to work on his project in a place where he comes to learn and in an environment that encourages him to dream beyond the limits and reminds him that anything is possible.
“ This school is everyone’s home; every single classroom is a family. The people that come here are your sister or your brother and Dr. Amara is part of the family,” says Woodhouse.
Levi Woodhouse
FACULTY NEWS
MB medicine | spring 2012
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$100K gift
Honours Pioneering Icelandic Doctor by Lisa Thomson Stifora
PHOTO DAN GWOZDZ
Sigga Houston, first Icelandic-Canadian woman to practice medicine
Class of 1951 60th Class Reunion Back Row L to R: Dr. Morris Burke, Dr. Stuart Houston, Dr. Douglas Walmsely, Dr. Glen Harrison, Dr. Clifford Amundson Front Row L to R: Dr. Charles Burns, Dr. Joyce Grace
“The Houston family’s investment in this award is helping to broaden the horizons of Manitoba’s medical students,” said Brian Postl [MD/76] Dean, Faculty of Medicine. “Early exposures in remote and northern communities enhance students’ understanding of, and compassion for, the particular needs of these unique communities and may lead graduates to consider practicing in these underserved areas.”
Pioneering doctor Sigrithur (Sigga) Christianson Houston [MD/25] was the first woman of Icelandic descent in Canada to practice medicine and started a medical dynasty that spans four generations. To honour her life and contributions, Sigga’s son Dr. C. Stuart Houston and his family have given nearly $100,000 to the University of Manitoba to establish the Sigga Christianson Houston Travel Award.
[MD/26] settled in Yorkton, Sask. where Sigga established a fruitful medical practice. Her success in treating infants who failed to thrive drew patients from 100 miles. Sigga practiced medicine until she was 82 and her legacy lives on in the three generations of doctors who follow: her son Stuart, three grandchildren Stan, Margaret and Don, and her great-grandson Eric.
From a young age, Sigga dreamed of becoming a doctor. She was devastated when her family settled in Wynyard, Sask., which did not even have a high school. She needn’t have worried. A neighbouring farmer soon helped Sigga get a job at his mother’s Winnipeg boarding house where she could work her way through high school. After graduation, Sigga earned her teaching credentials and spent the next five years saving up for a medical education.
Stuart’s and his children’s decision to become doctors was heavily influenced by Sigga’s and C. J.’s interesting lives. “My parents were among the most respected people in Yorkton,” said Stuart. “Three of my four children correctly noticed that their grandparents and their father led a satisfying life, and followed us.”
Her hard work paid off when she earned her medical degree from the University of Manitoba in 1925. She and her husband, Dr. C. J. Houston
The Sigga Christianson Houston Travel Award will enable medical students to participate in a summer early exposure program or clinical elective in a remote northern community with a general practitioner or pediatrician during their summer breaks.
Faculty of Medicine
Alumni Bob Ramsay [MD/68] and Norma Ramsay [MD/68] graciously hosted a University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine Minnesota alumni reception in April 2012 at their home in Edina, Minnesota. Attendees enjoyed hearing from Dean Brian Postl [MD/76] about the latest news about their medical school and reconnecting with one another and their alma mater.
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DONOR/ALUMNI NEWS
PHOTO: DARCY ROUTLEDGE
Alumni Reception in MINNEAPOLIS
L to R: Sheldon Sheps [MD/54], Pneena (Pearl) Sheps, Bob Ramsay [MD/68], Brian Postl (MD/76), Norma Ramsay [MD/68], Linda Murray, Peter Taylor [MD/76], Joel Carter [MD/91], Arthur Klassen [MD/57B], Camilla Reiersgord
MESSAGE FROM PHILANTHROPY Convocation is an exciting and inspirational day here on Bannatyne Campus. We see students who have been part of the campus community for at least four years take their place in the next generation of doctors and become a part or our dedicated alumni community. This dedication and commitment from our alumni and donors is so important to the Faculty of Medicine. Their generous support has enabled us to announce exciting projects like a newly established Chair in Cardiology and the Morberg Family Chair in Hepatology in recent months. These Chairs will enhance the research mandate of the Faculty of Medicine and help all of us to have longer, healthier lives. As we approach the fall season, I am looking forward to Homecoming, this year from September 12-16 , 2012. Homecoming offers an excellent opportunity for our graduates to reunite both with each other and the university. Many classes are well into planning their reunions and some have also chosen to undertake class campaigns.
by Danielle Dunbar, Acting Director of Philanthropy
The number of class campaigns has been steadily growing and we are thankful for the visionary support of our graduates. Classmates have found that by joining together, they can make a major impact on their alma mater. These campaigns have established significant legacies for a number of classes by supporting a variety of projects. One in particular is the Biomedical Youth Program, which helps to capture the minds of budding young biomedical scientists from Winnipeg’s most vulnerable populations. If you are or would like to start a class campaign with your group, don’t hesitate to contact us in External Relations at (204) 977-5615 or 1-800-330-8066. We are here to assist with all of the details. Happy planning!
FOCUSes on LIVER health
PHOTO: DAN GWOZDZ
New research chair
L to R: Dr. Joanne Keselman, Dr. Brian Postl, Ms. Gail Morberg, John Mohan, Dr. Fred Aoki, and Dr. Gerald Minuk at Morberg chair announcement.
Liver research in Manitoba received a $3-million boost, thanks to the generosity of donations from the Morberg family, and private donors to the Health Sciences Centre Foundation and the University of Manitoba.
The Morberg Chair will enhance the competitiveness of the faculty to recruit top researchers and increase prominence for funding from national and international funding agencies.
The Morberg Family Chair in Hepatology at the Health Sciences Centre is a joint initiative of the Health Sciences Centre Foundation and University of Manitoba. It is named after the Morberg family, who contributed $1-million to the campaign. All faculty members in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Manitoba also generously contributed a total of $1-million toward establishment of this Chair.
“An endowed chair is an excellent way to attract and retain renowned faculty members like Dr. Gerald Minuk whose contributions will improve the quality of life of liver patients not just in Manitoba, but around the world,” said Dr. Brian Postl, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba. “Having a chair associated with our strong hepatology research team will further establish an international centre of excellence in this subspecialty here in Manitoba.”
“The University of Manitoba is already a trailblazer when it comes to liver research in Canada. The establishment of the Morberg Family Chair in Hepatology at the Health Sciences Centre will further establish Manitoba as a global leader,” said Dr. David Barnard, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manitoba.
Gail Morberg, former chair and co-founder of Calm Air, donated $1-million in memory of her late husband Carl Arnold Lawrence Morberg who passed away in 2005.
Gerald Minuk [MD/75] Professor/ Section Head, Hepatology, Internal Medicine, was named in March 2012 as the Morberg Family Chair in Hepatology at the Health Sciences Centre.
“I really wanted to start giving back to the community, especially Manitoba where my husband and I made our wealth,” she said, of her reason for donating to HSC Foundation. ”And it was important to me that it would touch the north, where we started our company.”
He will pursue independent research in hepatobiliary diseases such as hepatitis, immune mediated liver diseases, and liver cancer, as well as lead research activity in the Faculty of Medicine in the field.
Hepatology has emerged as a strong research area over the last 30 years. Globally, the University of Manitoba is a leader in research on the impact of liver disease in Indigenous populations. DONOR NEWS
MB medicine | spring 2012
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PHOTO DAN GWOZDZ
L to R: Dr. Brian Postl, Dr. James Blanchard, Dr. Lisa Avery, Mr. Jim Cornelius, Dr. Digvir Jayas, Mr. David Stevenson, Dr. Marianne Crockett at CIDA announcement.
U OF M TO DELIVER INNOVATIVE GRASS-ROOTS NUTRITION PROGRAM IN KENYA Every year around the world hundreds of thousands of women die during pregnancy or childbirth and more than 7.6 million children die before reaching the age of five. Many of these deaths can be prevented by proven and cost-effective nutritional support. A new $2.2-million program developed by the Centre for Global Public Health (CGPH) in the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Medicine will create and deliver maternal, newborn and child health nutritional programs for vulnerable families in Kenya by empowering local women to deliver programming in their communities. This project, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB), and the University of Manitoba brings together student researchers, international health experts, and non-government organizations to reduce the number of preventable maternal and child deaths. The $1.7-million in CIDA funding is part of the Muskoka Initiative Partnership Program for maternal, newborn and child health. This $75-million program was championed by Canada at the 2010 Muskoka G8 Summit, created to strengthen and address issues in health service delivery, nutrition, and leading diseases that are killing mothers and their children around the world. As part of this CGPH project, 60 women in the Taita Taveta district of Coastal province in Kenya will be trained as “link” workers, teaching them how to identify at-risk families and ensuring each has access to a network of services for nutritional and health care support. “I congratulate the innovative team at the Centre for Global Public Health on their leadership of this new partnership that will save lives and improve living conditions for infants and mothers in Kenya,” said Dr.
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by Janice Labossiere
Digvir S. Jayas, University of Manitoba Vice-President (Research and International) and Distinguished Professor. “Good nutrition is critical for young children and mothers. This is an area where it is essential for hunger organizations like the Canadian Foodgrains Bank to work closely with health professionals,” said Jim Cornelius, Executive Director of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. “We are delighted to be collaborating with the Centre for Global Public Health to support the inclusion of nutrition as an integral part of this initiative.” The Taita Taveta area was selected for this initiative because of high levels of poverty and food insecurity. The population is primarily rural with the lowest levels of literacy and the highest levels of food poverty in all of Kenya, both of which are risk factors for poor nutrition. James Blanchard [MD/86], Director of the CGPH; Professor, Departments of Medical Microbiology and Community Health Sciences; and Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology and Global Public Health will provide leadership while Lisa Avery [MD/01] and Dr. Maryanne Crockett will be the principal investigators for the program, it was announced in April 2012. In another aspect of the project, the University of Manitoba’s Students for Development program will also engage in international development activities in Kenya, focusing on building skills and enhancing awareness of nutrition and overall health in the community. This threeyear program will involve 12 students conducting fieldwork in Kenya. Local partners in Kenya include the University of Nairobi School of Public Health (UN), the Christian Reform World Relief Committee (CRWRC) and the Pwani Christian Community Services (PCCS) all of whom were involved in developing existing CGPH projects in Kenya.
james blanchard [MD/86] World Visionary by Sharon Chisvin
“ Having grown up overseas, I have always had an interest in global issues, and engaging with people from different countries and settings,” James Blanchard [MD/86] always knew that he wanted to pursue a career that would offer the opportunity to work in a foreign county. By becoming an epidemiologist and public health physician he has more than achieved his dream. As Director of the University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine’s Centre for Global Public Health, Blanchard spends a large portion of his time working abroad. Last year alone, his work has taken him to India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, China, Ukraine, Kenya and Nigeria, where he oversees a variety of projects primarily related to HIV and AIDS research. Blanchard is also Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology and Global Public Health. Blanchard’s interest in this area of medicine stems partially from his childhood growing up in Pakistan, where his father was a surgeon, and from his post-high school participation in a few small international health projects. Blanchard graduated from Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, where his family moved when he was a teenager. “Having grown up overseas, I have always had an interest in global issues, and engaging with people from different countries and settings,” Blanchard explains. This interest was cemented during the two years he worked as a general practitioner with the Northern Medical Unit, following his 1986 graduation from the University of Manitoba Medical School. “When I started working as a general practitioner I had very little knowledge about the field of public health and epidemiology,” Blanchard recalls. “My work with the Northern Medical Unit in Hodgson, Manitoba encouraged me to think about the complex factors that affect the health of individuals and communities.” Blanchard put this thought into action after attending an international conference and learning about the scope of opportunities available in the field of public health. He began a course of studies at John Hopkins University’s School of Hygiene and Public Health, graduating in 1990 with a Master’s in Public Health and in 1997 with a PhD in Epidemiology.
That same year, Blanchard participated in his first major overseas health project, joining other University of Manitoba faculty in India as they helped to develop a National AIDS Control Programme. Four years later Blanchard temporarily moved to Bangalore with his family to assume the role of Field Director of a CIDA-funded HIV prevention project. Blanchard praises University of Manitoba physicians Frank Plummer [MD/76], Canada Research Chair in Resistance and Susceptibility to Infections and Allan Ronald [MD/61] as excellent role models for a career in public health. During his medical school training, he also was positively influenced and inspired by faculty members Robert Brunham, Charles Bernstein [MD/85], Pam Orr [M.Sc./94] and Brian Postl [MD/76]. “Medical school education at the University of Manitoba was very rewarding,” Blanchard says. “My medical school class was diverse and full of interesting and dynamic people.” “A key benefit of training in medicine at the U of M,” he adds, “was the opportunity to interact directly with global leaders in clinical medicine, research and public health. Many medical schools do not offer the same level of interaction between students and faculty members.” Now Blanchard himself is a global leader in public health, and he is more than happy to mentor students in the Community Health Sciences and Medical Microbiology classes he teaches. When he is overseas, he continues to consult, advise and teach, while dividing his attention among several critical projects. Currently, Blanchard is working on a HIV prevention program and a maternal, neonatal health project in India, as well as HIV/AIDS related research and development projects in Pakistan, China, Bhutan and Ukraine. Blanchard’s most recent undertaking is a multi-country “Program Science” project in HIV, funded by the World Bank. This project involves working with a consortium of academic institutions and global policy and funding leaders to build a scientific basis for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of HIV prevention programs in several countries. “My training and mentorship in medicine and public health reinforces a sense of professional responsibility to focus my work where the health needs and opportunities for improvement are the greatest,” Blanchard says. The result of this commitment and focus, he adds, has been a career that has been hectic, but extremely interesting and gratifying. It also has been a career replete with the opportunity that he always wanted to work abroad in a foreign country.
alumni profile
MB medicine | spring 2012
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ANNE DURCAN [MD/92] Patient Advocate
“ Since working at Mount Carmel I’ve learned a lot about First Nations history, values, and traditions,” Durcan says, “and this has been very helpful in my work.” Anne Durcan [MD/92] insists that serendipity has played a major role in determining the course of her medical career. But clearly, her compassion, understanding, willingness to learn, sense of adventure, and interest in and respect for other cultures and peoples has been a significant factor as well. Durcan is a family physician at Mount Carmel Clinic, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine’s Departments of Family Medicine and Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, a coordinator of the J.A. Hildes Northern Medical Unit’s Inuit Health Program, and a coordinator of the Alan Klass Program for Health Equity. She also is a founding mentor with WISH, the interprofessional student run clinic that provides holistic healthcare to residents of Winnipeg’s most impoverished neighbourhoods. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Durcan graduated from the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Medicine in 1992. She then moved out east to complete a residency in family medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax. “When I did my family medicine residency at Dalhousie, I came to see what a great medical education I received, and how ready I was for residency,” she says. Following this residency, she and her husband, Alec Macaulay [M.Sc./02], who also is a family physician, began working in the mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia. “There was a financial disincentive to work in Halifax at the time,” Durcan explains, “so we worked in Springhill with some very fine family physicians. We worked hard and learned a lot.” Working hard at that time meant 80 hours per week, so after two years the young couple began looking for new opportunities. Inspired by her father’s stories about working on the DEW line and living among the Inuit people, Durcan and her husband headed up North for a year. That too was a great learning experience, Durcan recalls, as it exposed them to a different kind of medicine, an interesting culture and a rich history.
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alumni profile
PHOTO DAN GWOZDZ
by Sharon Chisvin
By 1999 the couple was back in Winnipeg and Durcan was employed at Mount Carmel Clinic. She has been there ever since, primarily serving an aboriginal clientele. “Since working at Mount Carmel I’ve learned a lot about First Nations history, values, and traditions,” Durcan says, “and this has been very helpful in my work.” Over the years, she has become acutely cognizant of the challenges that many of her patients face and the ways in which these challenges affect their health outcomes. Many of her clientele struggle with low income, poor housing, mental illness, addictions and racism on a daily basis. “I was told many years ago by one of my patients that I didn’t get it,” she candidly admits. “I was following my formula of providing care and not listening well. I didn’t really ask or hear what she needed that day.” “It was a wake-up call,” Durcan adds, “and I’m very grateful to her. I came to understand the importance of knowing the context in which you work - the living conditions, work opportunities, safety issues and cultural background of people in the neighbourhood.” Since that wake-up call Durcan has made it a point to really listen to her patients and get to know them, no matter how busy she is on any given day. “I work hard to know who the person is I’m providing care to,” she says. “I think this is a foundation for all family physicians.” It is because of this deep commitment to her patients, as well as her involvement in WISH and her initiatives on behalf of rural and northern medical education, that Durcan was named Manitoba Family Physician of the Year in 2010, and, as a result recognized as one of the top 10 family physicians in Canada. Durcan was honoured to receive this recognition, but remains reticent to take credit for the way in which her career has evolved and the contributions that she has made as a physician in Manitoba. “I guess if there was no urban disincentive, I could have started working in Halifax, started a family, and my life would have been very different,” she says. “I’m happy how things have turned out.” No doubt, her patients in Winnipeg’s inner city are happy as well.
The Manitoba Medical College Foundation Then and Now By Diane Biehl [MD/69], President MMCF Advisory Committee The Manitoba Medical College Foundation (MMCF) decided in 2011 to transfer its assets to the management of The Winnipeg Foundation(TWF). Our organization was created in 1978 by Arnold Naimark [MD/57], then Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and functioned for many years as a foundation for physicians, family and friends to create endowed funds to assist students in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba and help fund projects in various departments. In the past 10 years, however, our membership dues had declined precipitously and reached the point where we could no longer fund our expenses. Since March 2011, we have carried out a comprehensive review of all of our funds, revised some of them, and created four new endowments from previously undesignated accounts. The total number of funds is currently 63. We have included an up to date listing of these funds on our website at www.umanitoba.ca/medicine/mmcf/ The MMCF board officially disbanded in April 2011 and a smaller advisory committee of previous board members and students still meets regularly to ensure that the transition to TWF continues to go smoothly. We anticipate that the advisory committee will formally hand over responsibility to TWF within the next year as outlined in the agreement we signed with them.
Caring for canada’s CHILDREN
New research network to improve pediatric emergency care
The University of Manitoba received a total of $1.6-million in funding to launch a new collaborative research initiative aimed at improving the emergency care of our nation’s youngest citizens. Funded by the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Knowledge Mobilization (KM) program, the project will receive support over the next four years. The Honourable Steven Fletcher, Minister of State for Transport and Member of Parliament for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia announced last November Government of Canada funding to support the TRanslating Emergency Knowledge for Kids (TREKK) project, at a news conference held at the University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne Campus. Terry Klassen [MD/82], Associate Dean, Academic and professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at the Faculty of Medicine, and Director of Research. Manitoba Institute of Child Health (MICH), is leading the project that includes an established network of 36 general emergency departments across Canada (with representation of nine provinces and one territory). “The University of Manitoba and Manitoba Institute of Child Health are grateful to the federal government’s NCE Knowledge Mobilization program for generously supporting this opportunity to partner with nation-wide emergency department physicians, and families who seek care in these centres, to improve emergency care provided to children across Canada,” said Klassen.
The investment policies of TWF have been organized to provide income at a rate of 4% or more each year from all of the endowment funds. This ensures that we will continue to provide bursary and scholarship money as well as support of other projects in various departments in the Faculty of Medicine. The income will be spent according to the terms of reference of each fund. I would like to express my appreciation for the help provided by the MMCF advisory committee over the past year and to especially acknowledge Rick Frost, the CEO of TWF and his very capable staff members for all their assistance during this transition year. I feel confident that all the endowment funds belonging to the MMCF will continue to assist students in all areas of the Faculty of Medicine for many years to come.
MMCF Advisory Committee Members-June 2012: Bill Rennie [MD/68], Dan Sitar [B.Sc. Pharm/66; M.Sc./68, PhD/72], Sharon Macdonald [MD/72], Peter Nickerson [MD/86], Ed. Kroeger [M.Sc./68, PhD/70], Mark Collister (graduate student), Huntae Kim (medical student), Jordyn Lerner (medical student) Consultants from TWF: Denise Campbell, Pat Lilley
The majority of Canadian children requiring emergency care are treated in general emergency departments. Evidence has shown that as many as 40 per cent of those cared for in general emergency departments aren’t receiving treatments for which clear evidence exists, and up to 20 per cent of our nation’s children receive treatment that has been shown to provide zero benefit and in some cases causing harm. Aimed at working closely with staff, administrators and consumers to understand the existing knowledge gaps, needs and priorities in pediatric emergency medicine, the project will support knowledge mobilization to bridge the ‘research-to-practice’ gap and raise the overall standard of care for children visiting general emergency departments. “The Manitoba research community has been very supportive of this project and it demonstrates the collaborative milieu in which clinician scientists in our province work. By working together and with partners from the Universities of Calgary, Albert and Ottawa, we can achieve far-reaching results that will impact how children are treated and diagnosed in emergency departments and improve health outcomes,” said Klassen. The Office of the Vice-President (Research and International), along with the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Manitoba, also announced additional funding support. “I am pleased to announce our commitment of $200,000 over the next four years and the infrastructure required to mobilize the TREKK project,” said Dr. Digvir S. Jayas, Vice-President (Research and International) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba. FACULTY NEWS
MB medicine | spring 2012
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FACULTY AWARDS & HONOURS Compiled by Janice Labossiere
Frances Berard [MD/89] (1) was named Family Physician of the Year by the Manitoba College of Family Physicians. She is the Associate Director of the Bilingual Family Medicine Program in the Faculty of Medicine and a preceptor in the program, teaching second-year Family Medicine Residents since 2006.
Jordan Hochman [MD/02] (7), Assistant Professor, Otolaryngology and Associate Director, Surgical and Robotics Simulation Laboratory, was recognized as one of the Future Leaders of Manitoba (Business & Professional category) in February 2012.
Dr. Elizabeth Boustcha (2), Professor, Internal Medicine, received the Health Administration Award from Doctors Manitoba for her contribution to policy and/or in administration of health care.
Dr. Michael Harlos (8), Professor, Family Medicine, was named with an Award of Excellence by the Manitoba College of Family Physicians. He was honoured for his lead role in the development of clinical and academic programs in Palliative Care in Manitoba and beyond.
Distinguished Professor Harvey Max Chochinov [MD/83] (3), Community Health Sciences/Psychiatry/Family Medicine and Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care, received the Scholastic Award from Doctors Manitoba for scholarly activity (research, teaching and writing) in the health professions. He also launched his new book, “Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days,” in April 2012.
Dr. Alan Katz (9), Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Family Medicine and Associate Director, Research at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine, was awarded with the five-year, $100,000 per year position to champion primary prevention research in the province. The Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) and the Manitoba Health Research Council (MHRC) announced this award, the province’s first ever Manitoba Research Chair in Primary Prevention in May 2012.
Dr. Michelle Driedger (4), Associate Professor in Community Health Sciences and Canada Research Chair in Environment and Health Risk Communication, has been given a $276,460 operating grant by the MS Society of Canada for the project Improving Health Policy Decision-Making In The Face Of Uncertainty: A Case Study of Endovascular Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis. She has developed a program of research that integrates risk communication and knowledge translation research by bridging work conducted in clinical and public health contexts. Dr. Frank Duerksen (5), Surgery, received the Dr. Jack Armstrong Humanitarian Award from Doctors Manitoba for outstanding contributions by a member or former member of Doctors Manitoba in the service of humanity either within Canada or abroad. Dr. Jean-Eric Ghia, Assistant Professor, Immunology, received $159,726 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), to research the neuroendocrine control of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic recurring intestinal disorder represented mainly by ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. This research program seeks to address the interrelationships between the brain, the endocrine system and the immune system in IBD and expand the breadth of the University of Manitoba’s IBD Clinical and Research Centre, one of the world’s foremost clinical research programs in IBD.
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ISSUE 08 | SPRING 2012
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FACULTY NEWS
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Terry Klassen [MD/82] (10), Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health and Research Director, MICH, was recognized with his research team of leading pediatric emergency physicians at Pediatric Emergency Research of Canada (PERC) as one of the Top Canadian Achievements in Health Research in 2011. The award is bestowed jointly by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). Dr. Klassen was appointed to the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for a three-year term, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced in June 2012. Garry Krepart [MD/70] (11) received the “Distinguished Service Award” from Doctors Manitoba for recognition of services rendered to patients and the community which have enhanced the image of the physician through devotion to the highest ideals of the medical profession and in the promotion of the art and science of medicine through teaching, writing and administration.
B.J. Hancock [MD/84] (6), Associate Professor, Pediatric Surgery was appointed to the Board of Regents, American College of Surgeons at the 2011 Clinical Congress in San Francisco. The Board of Regents is responsible for the management and control of the business and affairs of the American College of Surgeons. The Board of Regents consists of 22 members, two of which are elected from Canada.
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Dr. Richard Keijzer, Assistant Professor, Pediatric Surgery, received $159,987 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to establish a Prenatal Therapeutic Intervention Research Facility to treat congenital anomalies in utero using nanomaterials in order to improve the odds of survival and quality of life for these babies and their parents. Dr. Keijzer also received a Career Development Award from the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program (CCHCSP). The CCHCSP provides support for highly qualified child health clinician candidates to develop their requisite knowledge and skills for a career as an independent scientist in child health research. Dr Keijzer is the first surgeon to enter this program and will receive $280,000 over four years to facilitate his research initiatives.
Daniel Lindsay [MD/80] (12) received the Physician of the Year Award from Doctors Manitoba for significant contribution to the practice of medicine and/or to the community.
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FACULTY AWARDS & HONOURS R. Mervyn Letts’ [MD/64] book, Sinai Surgeon, was published by International Orthopaedic Consultants Inc. Dr. Letts has written an historical documentary of his service as a medical officer in the RCAF seconded to the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in Egypt in the year prior to the Six Day War. The book documents the little known history of the 115th Air Transport Unit, the air support wing of the UNEF and the Canadian role in the 10 year success story of the UNEF in Peacekeeping as well as the trials and tribulations of an RCAF Medical Officer striving to maintain the health of a Canadian fighting force in a hostile desert environment. Numerous public health issues in the field are addressed as well as most of the diseases encountered by armies in a difficult environment.
Brian Postl [MD/76] (15), Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, will be inducted in the Order of Manitoba on July 12, 2012. Dr. Sadeesh Srinathan, Assistant Professor Thoracic Surgery, was awarded the Rudy Falk Clinician Scientist Award. Dr. Srinathan will receive salary support of $210,000 over three years to foster the development of his role as a Clinician-Scientist. The criteria for this award included demonstration of academic and clinical excellence, scientific and clinical merit of the program of research proposed, and qualities reflective of Dr Rudy Falk combining compassion for patients with the highest standards of scientific enquiry.
Dr. Sarvesh Logsetty, Associate Professor Plastic Surgery, and Dr. Song Liu, Assistant Professor - Textile Sciences, were the recipients of the sole Collaborate Health Research Project (CHRP) award received by the University of Manitoba this year. This award was highly competitive with 500 letters of intent submitted, 149 eventual applications and only 35 awards. This is a three-year award totaling $384,000. Their project, entitled Interpenetrating network of a well-defined PEG hydrogel and two biocides as advanced solutions for burn wound care, will focus on creating novel new antimicrobial dressings. The Canadian Geriatrics Society has renamed their most prestigious award at their annual scientific meeting in memory of Jack MacDonell [MD/43] (13). Dr. MacDonell was a veteran of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. After returning from Europe, he embarked on a lifelong journey advocating for multi-disciplinary, patient-centred care for older people that recognized their dignity and abilities. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1976. Kirk McManus [M.Sc./99] (14), Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, received $160,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to purchase state-of-the-art instrumentation that will advance the field of colorectal cancer research.
Lynne Warda [PhD/05] (16), Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Child Health, received the Health or Safety Promotion Award from Doctors Manitoba for her contribution toward improving or promoting the health or safety of Manitobans. Dr. Tamra Werbowetski-Ogilvie (17), Assistant Professor, Regenerative Medicine Program, Biochemistry & Medical Genetics, was named Canada Research Chair in Neuro-oncology and Human Stem Cells. She will work to develop new biomarkers and therapeutic strategies for these particularly aggressive and often deadly forms of cancer in the hopes of treating tumours earlier, before they spread, using her expertise in human embryonic stem cell biology. Chris Wiebe [MD/05], Martin Karpinski, Julie Ho, Leroy J. Storsley[MD/98], David N. Rush, Peter W. Nickerson[MD/86], Tom D. Blydt-Hansen, Aviva Goldberg, and Patricia E. Birk [MD/90] and the Department of Pathology will have figures from their manuscript Evolution and Clinical Pathologic Correlations of De Novo Donor Specific HLA Antibody Post Kidney Transplant featured on the cover of the American Journal of Transplantation (AJT) for the May 2012 issue. John Wilkins, Professor, Internal Medicine and Manitoba Centre for Proteomics and Systems Biology, received $386,202 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to purchase a highly specialized mass spectrometer which will be integrated with protein functionality in biology and medicine. This new equipment is key to further research advances in the area of kidney transplantation aimed at increasing survival rates, inflammatory diseases and cancer, and genetically engineering to enhance biofuel production.
Gerald Minuk [MD/75] and Julia Uhanova [PhD/10], Section of Hepatology, Internal Medicine received $120,300 from Gilead Sciences (2011 – 2013) for a project on long-term follow up of Chronic Hepatitis B in Northern Canada. Drs. Manna Zhang, Uhanova and Minuk also received the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology’s Dr ABR Thomson – Dr CN Williams Award for their publication Liver transplant outcomes in a Canadian First Nations population. This award is presented annually to individuals that made a significant contribution to the field of gastroenterology published as original research in The Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology.
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FACULTY NEWS
MB medicine | spring 2012
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Compiled by Angela Peloquin
obituaries George Edward Dow [MD/55] Born and raised in Boissevain, MB, George much loved husband, father and grandfather, passed away August 18, 2011. He is survived by wife Ruth (Mackie), and children Anne Dow-Clarke (Stephen) and Edward (Marielle), and three grandchildren. George spent his entire childhood in the town of Boissevain, MB, graduating from Boissevain Collegiate in 1946. From there he attended the University of Manitoba graduating with degrees in Science (1950) and Medicine (1955). George served as a physician in the town of Killarney and district for over 40 years, retiring in 1999. For much of his career he was part of a two or three doctor practice which meant that each doctor spent countless hours on call for weekend and medical calls. In addition he served as a medical examiner for the region for many years. Throughout his time in Killarney George was very involved in local politics and numerous community organizations. He served on the building committees for the Tri-Lake Health Centre and the new Killarney United Church. He also found time to serve as a town councillor from 1977 to 1986, mayor from 1977 to 1986, and school trustee from 1987 to 1997. For his dedication and commitment to the community George was named Physician of the Year by the Manitoba Medical Association in 1990. He was also recognized by the College of Family Physicians of Canada with a life membership, awarded in 1999. In July 2011, he received his 60 year service award from the Masonic Lodge.
Sydney Katz [MD/57] Sydney Katz passed away on September 23, 2011 at the age of 78. Syd was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and graduated from the University of Manitoba Medical School in the Class of 1957B. He did post graduate training in the University of Toronto urology program. He joined the department of surgery in the division of urology at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto and following that post he was the main urologist at the Humber Memorial Hospital until his retirement. Dr. Katz was a beloved teacher and practitioner who did good work all his life. He will be sadly missed by his family and friends.
Leonard Anthony LeBoldus [MD/66] F.R.C.S (c) Leonard passed away peacefully at the Victoria General Hospital surrounded by family on April 7, 2012. Len was born in Regina, and came to Winnipeg in 1959 to attend the University of Manitoba and completed both his Bachelor of Science and his Medical Degree at the U of M. He chose Urological Surgery as his specialty and after a Post Fellowship Program at Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto returned to Winnipeg in 1972 to begin his career and long partnership at the Winnipeg Clinic, during which time he held many positions on their Board including Head - Section of Urology and Chief Executive Officer. He had operating privileges at the Misericordia Hospital for 30 years, serving at Committee level and as Chief of Medical Staff. He also operated at the Victoria and Grace Hospitals and at the Health Sciences Centre.
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We extend our condolences to all family and friends of our University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine Alumni and Colleagues who have recently passed away.
He was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery - University of Manitoba; Urology Section Head - Winnipeg Regional Health Authority; and Senior Member - Canadian Urological Association. He was a collaborator with the National Research Council of Canada and served on Arbitration Panels, Standards Review Committees nationally, as well as participating on a global Standards Committee for the treatment of prostate cancer. As a surgeon, Len was blessed with a creative mind, a wonderful pair of hands, and a caring and kind heart. He willingly waited up nights to take part in the kidney transplant program. He was particularly proud of the Prostate Cancer Dinner, the first of its kind in Canada, which he was instrumental in establishing to raise funds for the new Centre. Len is survived by Pam, who loved him for 50 years, his children Geoff (Vicki and Gillian), Tom (Laurina) and Lauren (Sean). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the LeBoldus Leadership Award, Faculty of Medicine - University of Manitoba, or the Prostate Centre, CancerCare Manitoba Foundation.
Robert (Ted) Edmund Musgrave Lee, [MD/52] F.R.C.S., F.A.C.S. Ted passed away peacefully on January 8, 2012. Ted was predeceased by wife, Thelma; sons, Robert (Bob) and William (Bill). He is survived by daughters, Shannon/ Richard and Lesley/Randy; and three grandchildren. Born in Winnipeg in 1927, Ted spent his childhood in the farming community of Gilbert Plains, Manitoba. After high school graduation he went on to the University of Manitoba where he completed Medical school in 1952. Working as an intern in Portage la Prairie one summer, Ted met Thelma, and the two were married in 1952. Ted practised medicine in Saskatchewan and Manitoba before bringing the family to Terrace in 1956, then a rugged up and coming BC forestry town. He returned to the University of Manitoba to specialize in surgery. Upon obtaining his fellowship, Ted returned to Terrace as a General Surgeon where he had his practise until 1987. It was a very busy and rewarding career that allowed him to come to know and help many of the town’s population. Ted was very involved civically in Terrace in music and education. For his contribution to the school board and music in the area, the theatre was named in his honour as the REM Lee Theatre. When Ted retired from practise, the REM Lee Hospital Foundation was set up for improvements to and equipment for the Mills Memorial Hospital.
MANLY BERNARD LEVIN [MD/52] It was with great sadness that the family announced the passing of Manly Levin, at the age of 84 on February 14, 2012 after a lengthy illness. He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Eleanor, in October 2011. Surviving Manly are his children Heather (Clifford), Sheldon (Margot), Sidney (Denise), and Brenda (Lorne); and 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Manly was born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End. Following graduation from St. John’s Tech, he entered the University of Manitoba where he completed his Bachelor of Science in 1947 and Doctorate of Medicine in 1952, for which he received two gold medals for excellence.
Following his internship at St. Boniface Hospital, he spent one year studying pathology and several months doing locums in rural Saskatchewan and Manitoba. A strong interest in surgery led to a residency program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN where he trained to become a general and cardiothoracic surgeon. He returned to Winnipeg in 1959 and quickly became established doing general and thoracic surgery at the Misericordia and Victoria Hospitals, in addition to maintaining a general practice. He served as medical director of the Misericordia General Hospital for 13 years until his retirement in 1990. Manly was the epitome of a great physician, academically brilliant, technically skilled, but above all, kind, compassionate, and caring. Manly and Eleanor married in June 1952 and shared a great love throughout their life together. Their love and respect for each other continues to be an inspiration to their children and grandchildren.
ETHEL MCPHAIL [MD/45] Ethel McPhail, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away April 15, 2012. She had just recently celebrated her 90th birthday on February 17, 2012. Left to cherish her memory are her daughters Joan (Bob) McCallister, Portage la Prairie, Shirley (John) Kulchycki, Dauphin, and Cathy (Dennis) Takayesu, Montreal; sons in Winnipeg, Bruce (Mavis) McPhail and Gordon (Darlene) McPhail; 16 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.She was predeceased by her husband Don in 2004 - her partner in medicine and in life for 58 years. Growing up in River Heights, she attended Kelvin High and became one of only four women allowed to enter medicine at that time. Ethel graduated from the University of Manitoba in Medicine in 1945 (earning the Gold Medal). She had joined the army (Second World War) in her third year and graduated as an officer as well as a doctor. She married her classmate, Don, in 1945 and they moved to Pilot Mound and then Boissevain where they practised together for 29 years. She made regular house calls in the rural area, often requiring use of a bombardier when roads were closed and emergencies arose. She performed anaesthetics for surgeries in the neighbouring communities, delivered generations of babies, and along with Don, provided great care for the local residents. In 1976 they returned to Winnipeg where she spent a lot of her time helping out at the Community Clinic on River Avenue and still working part time at the Misericordia Hospital in her early 80s. Community was important to Ethel. She was a long-time Girl Guide leader, served on the Turtle Mountain School Board, and Brandon University’s Board of Governors. Better education and better health in the rural communities may be considered as part of her legacy. In spite of her never ending curiosity toward the challenge of medicine she always felt the most important and worthwhile part of her life was her husband Don and their large family.
Born March 31, 1917 in Biggar, Saskatchewan to Harry and Clara (Bloomfield) Schwartz, Ben was raised in Ashern, Manitoba. He attended United College and U of M where he graduated medical school with top honours. He served as captain in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during the Second World War. Married in 1947 to Lorna Anderson RN, Ben and Lorna served as doctor and nurse for the new community hospital in Theodore, Saskatchewan. Here they began their family and many of Ben’s happiest memories. Tragically affected by the 1953 polio epidemic, Ben moved his young family to California to access physiotherapy for Lorna who had survived the devastating effects of respiratory polio. During these traumatic times, Ben studied for and earned his California medical license, practicing in Sunnyvale before returning to Manitoba. In 1958, he joined the Mall Medical Group in Winnipeg and conducted a fulfilling family practice in St. James until his retirement at age 75. During his medical career, Ben always enjoyed delivering babies and often looked after three or more generations of families! Ben had a brilliant mind and was an amazing and meaningful storyteller.
Edward Tomchuk [MD/85] Quietly, at home in his sleep, Edward Tomchuk passed away on May 6, 2012 at the age of 51 years. Ed is deeply mourned by his wife, Genelle and his children, Natasha, Eric and Carson. Ed and Genelle celebrated 22 years of marriage on May 5. He is also survived by his parents, Ed and Olga Tomchuk. Ed graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1985 and completed a Residency in Psychiatry in 1989. He was a dedicated psychiatrist who truly wanted the best for his patients. Ed studied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for many years with Rodrigo Munduruca and one of his proudest moments was achieving his brown belt last November. Mostly, Ed was a family man. He rarely missed a basketball, soccer or hockey game and treasured family holidays.
Dorothy Bednard MD/61 | December 26, 2011 at Winnipeg, MB Kenneth John Collier MD/64 | February 26, 2012 at Portage la Prairie, MB Kenneth R. Crawley MD/51 | December 28, 2011 at Sun City Centre, Florida Frederick P. Ludwig MD/74 | February 12, 2012 at Toronto, ON Misha D. Newman MD/53 | May 8, 2011 at Las Vegas, Nevada Clayton R. Ridgway MD/55 | August 26, 2011 at Edmonton, AB William John Turkula MD/55 | March 29, 2012 at Devil’s Lake, ND Frederick P. Waugh MD/53 | March 12, 2012 at Salt Spring Island, BC
BENJAMIN SCHWARTZ [MD/45]
Getchel D. Williams MD/50 | November 23, 2011 at Mississauga ON
At age 94, Ben passed away in Winnipeg on December 27, 2011 with his son Gerald at his side. Joining him in mourning is Ben’s daughter Deborah Claire, his oldest son Aaron and his grandson Daniel. Predeceased by his beloved wife Lorna in 1972, Ben is survived second wife Peggy, who has provided Ben with years of loving companionship. MB medicine | spring 2012
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homecoming
2012
welcome back! Reconnect with fellow classmates, old friends and your alma mater at a Medicine class reunion. Many Faculty of Medicine milestone class reunions will take place over the University of Manitoba Homecoming Weekend September 14-16, 2012. All Faculty of Medicine alumni – including those not celebrating reunions – are invited to join us for the Faculty of Medicine Dean’s Homecoming Breakfast and Tours at Brodie Centre Atrium, 727 McDermot Ave on September 15, 2012. The Breakfast begins at
Class of 1952 | 60th Reunion
September 14 & 15, 2012 | Winnipeg September 14 | Reunion Luncheon on Bannatyne Campus September 15 | Faculty of Medicine Dean’s Homecoming Breakfast & Tour
Class of 1957A | 55th Reunion
September 14-16, 2012 | Winnipeg September 14 | Welcome Reception at the Manitoba Club September 15 | Faculty of Medicine Dean’s Homecoming Breakfast & Tour/ Scientific Session / Dinner at home of Dr. David Brodovsky September 16 | Brunch at the Fort Garry Hotel Class Leaders: Dr. David Brodovsky, Dr. Keith Christie, Dr. Ihor Mayba, Dr. Sandy Fleming, Dr. Morley Sutter, Dr. Hugh Taylor
Class of 1962 | 50th Reunion
June 21-24, 2012 | Winnipeg June 21 | Welcome Reception at home of Dr. Aubrey & Philipa Caplan June 22 | Medical School Tour/ Lunch at the WAG / Tour of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights / Dinner at The Gates on Roblin June 23 | Tour of Assiniboine Park / Lunch & Tour at Fort Whyte Alive/ Dinner at Sydney’s at the Forks June 24 | Farewell Brunch at Inn at the Forks Class Leaders: Dr. Aubrey & Philipa Caplan, Dr. Arch & Iva Yeo
Publications Mail Agreement Number: 40063171
Return undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine Office of the Dean 260 Brodie Centre, 727 McDermot Ave. Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P5 Contact us:
Editor: Ilana Simon Phone: (204) 789-3427 E-mail: ilana.simon@med.umanitoba.ca Web address: umanitoba.ca/medicine
9:00 a.m. (registration opens at 8:30 a.m.) with tours at 10:15 a.m. The Clinical Learning & Simulation Facility and newly expanded Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library will be highlights of the tour.
For more information about the 2012 Medicine reunions, Homecoming Breakfast, or becoming involved in organizing your own class reunion for next year, please contact Darcy Routledge, Alumni Affairs & Events Officer at (204) 977-5650 or darcy.routledge@med.umanitoba.ca
Class of 1967 | 45th Reunion
Class of 1987 | 25th Reunion
September 6-9, 2012 | Winnipeg September 6 | Welcome Reception at Inn at the Forks September 7 | Medical School Tour/ Fort Whyte Alive or WAG Tour / Dinner at the home of Dr. Ron Monson September 8 | Tour of Canadian Museum for Human Rights / Golf or Lower Fort Garry Tour / Dinner at The Gates on Roblin Class Leaders: Dr. Norman Bell, Dr. Paul Mitenko, Dr. Richard & Diane Boroditsky
September 14 - 16, 2012 | Winnipeg September 14 | Welcome Reception at the home of Dr. Josh Koulack September 15 | Dean’s Homecoming Breakfast & Tour/ Scientific Session / Yoga Class / Dinner at the Winnipeg Squash Club September 16 | Brunch at the Fort Garry Hotel Class Leaders: Dr. Heather Tullock-Brownell, Dr. Paul Kerr, Dr. Rob Brown, Dr. Joe Polimeni, Dr. Tony Kaufman, Dr. Josh Koulack, Dr. Blake Kalturnyk
Class of 1972 | 40th Reunion
September 14-16, 2012 | Winnipeg September 14 | Welcome Reception at the home of Drs. Tamara & Ed Buchel September 15 | Dean’s Homecoming Breakfast & Tour / Scientific Session/ Dinner at Inn at the Forks September 16 | Family Activity / Brunch at Terrace 55 Class Leaders: Dr. Tamara Buchel, Dr. Joanna Lynch, Dr. Gigi Osler
September 14-16, 2012 | Winnipeg September 14 | Welcome Reception at the home of Dr. David Goldenberg September 15 | Dean’s Homecoming Breakfast & Tour/ Scientific Session / Dinner at Sydney’s at the Forks September 16 | Brunch at The Gates on Roblin Class Leaders: Dr. David Goldenberg, Dr. Jamie Boyd, Dr. Fran Booth, Dr. Norman Goldberg, Dr. Harvey Lee
Class of 1982 | 30th Reunion
September 28 & 29, 2012 | Winnipeg September 28 | Welcome Reception at the home of Dr. Jerry Shrom September 29 | Medical School Tour/ Scientific Session / Dinner at the Fort Garry Hotel Class Leader: Dr. Carry Martens-Barnes, Dr. Doug Maguire, Dr. Mark Del Bigio, Dr. Sandra Shaw, Dr. Sybil Henteleff, Dr. Doug Tkachuk, Dr. Ron Onotera
Class of 1992 | 20th Reunion
Class of 2002 | 10th Reunion
September 14-16, 2012 | Winnipeg September 14 | Welcome Reception at the home of Dr. Jason Crosby September 15 | Dean’s Homecoming Breakfast & Tour/ Scientific Session / Dinner at The Fairmont September 16 | Family BBQ at Crescentwood Community Centre Class Leaders: Dr. Jodi Jones, Dr. Raena Buksak, Dr. Stasa Veroukis