Education Awards Week
Welcome to the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s (FoMD) 2021 Education Awards Week! Once again, we are unable to gather in person, but that won’t stop us from celebrating the incredibly dedicated teachers and mentors who uphold the most crucial component of our work: educating the health-care professionals and researchers of the future.
Each day of the week starting on June 7, 2021, we are celebrating award winners with videos and social media posts that you will find conveniently collated on this page. Be sure to check back daily for updates and most of all, share some well-wishes with colleagues and mentors of your own using the #UAlbertaLove hashtag.
To all the educators who dedicate their time to lifting up the next generation of learners, we celebrate you.
June 7, 2021
Dean Hemmelgarn opening remarks
David Cook Award
The David Cook Award is presented annually to a faculty member (or a group of members) of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry who has successfully planned and implemented a significant curricular innovation. This award is open to all levels of clinical academic colleagues and faculty service officers and may be seen as a part of the pathway to national or international recognition.
Presenter: Dr. Shirley Schipper, vice-dean Education
Recipient: Dr. Simon Turner, Department of Surgery
Dr. Simon Turner is an assistant professor and the director of research in the Division of Thoracic Surgery. He is the chair of education and continuing professional development for the Canadian Association of Thoracic Surgeons and the program director of the University of Alberta fellowship in advanced thoracic surgery. Dr. Turner’s education research focuses on competency assessment and other forms of measurement and evaluation in surgical education.
“Dr. Turner has made a significant innovation in our curriculum and has also used the
techniques of educational scholarship to evaluate the impact of the program and disseminate
his findings widely. He continues to support the program he developed more than a decade
after its inception, and its impact continues to be felt on a generation of students.”
—Dr. Jonathan White, Department of Surgery
June 8, 2021
Canadian Association of Medical Educators (CAME) Certificate of Merit
Presenter: Dr. Momoe Hyakutake, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Recipient: Dr. Tammy McNab, Department of Medicine
Dr. McNab has been heavily involved in both post-graduate and undergraduate medical education since joining the Department of Medicine’s Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism in 2006. She is a preceptor to post-graduate endocrinology trainees and served as the undergraduate medical education’s endocrinology block coordinator for nine years. In 2018, Dr. McNab was appointed assistant dean of academic affairs for the MD program. During her time as assistant dean, she advocated for broader application of human rights into the application of policies and procedures and improved accessibility to learners with disabilities. Dr. McNab has a strong interest in equity, diversity and inclusivity and endeavours to apply a human rights lens to everything she does.
Recipient: Dr. Curtiss Boyington, Department of Medicine
Dr. Curtiss Boyington is a clinical professor in the Department of Medicine who has made significant contributions to clinical teaching and education scholarship since his residency, for which he has received 14 awards since 2008.
“He is well-recognized across our department as one of our greatest teachers. If Curtiss had done nothing else to contribute to medical education at the University of Alberta, I feel his excellence in teaching alone should garner the CAME Certificate of Merit. But there is so much more he has done!”
—Dr. Vijay Daniels, Department of Medicine
Recipient: Dr. Elaine Yacyshyn, Department of Medicine
Dr. Yacyshyn is an award-winning educator who is actively involved in training medical students, graduate students, residents and fellow physicians in rheumatology and clinical skills. She has made significant contributions to education at the department, faculty and national levels, and is also recognized for her education scholarship as the postgraduate medical education co-chair of quality improvement.
June 9, 2021
Annual Award for Excellence In Mentoring
The Annual Award for Excellence in Mentoring is designed to recognize outstanding performance in the mentoring of research trainees in FoMD. Mentoring of research trainees is distinct and separable from the usual measures of research productivity and classroom or workplace teaching. More than simply sharing knowledge and being a role model, it includes support, encouragement, and challenging trainees to reach their full potential through goal-setting and self-evaluation. Congratulations to the 2021 winners!
- Basic Tier I: Dr. Sandra Davidge, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Basic Tier II: Dr. Anastassia Voronova, Department of Medical Genetics
- Clinical Tier I: Dr. Richard Long, Department of Medicine
- Clinical Tier II: Dr. Andrea Gruneir, Department of Family Medicine
University Cup
The University Cup is considered one of the highest honours at the University of Alberta. It recognizes a senior academic leader whose scholarly work has merited international attention; whose teaching and student supervision ability is highly esteemed by colleagues and students alike as exceptional and who has earned outstanding regard from the community which favours both the individual and the University. Congratulations to Dr. Gary Lopaschuk, Department of Pediatrics on this well-deserved honour.
June 10, 2021
E.N. Skakun Award for Service to Education
This award is named in honour of Dr. Ernest N. Skakun, a leader in psychometrics and medical education in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta, whose achievements model the behaviours we seek to recognize in this award. The peer-adjudicated award celebrates the achievements of an individual who has made a major and long-term contribution to the educational leadership and scholarship in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.
Presenter: Dr. Shirley Schipper, vice-dean Education
Recipient: Dr. Ron Damant, Department of Medicine
"My first goal in medicine has always been to provide exemplary patient care. A career in academic medicine has allowed me to develop as a clinician. On top of this, working in the Department of Medicine, FOMD, U of A has given me the opportunity to help with the education of thousands of health professionals, to participate in both clinical and education research, and to contribute as a health system leader."
June 11, 2021
Dr. Richard Fedorak Memorial Award in Professionalism
The Richard Fedorak Memorial Award in Professionalism is awarded annually to a faculty clinician (a physician member of the academic staff, or a physician appointed as a clinical academic colleague) who best exemplifies the attributes of the profession that physicians and learners aspire to emulate. Read more.
Presenter: Dr. Karen Kroeker, Department of Medicine
Recipient: Dr. Winnie Wong, Department of Medicine
“I was fortunate to have outstanding and insightful mentors throughout my career and I believe this is a critical component of career development and maturation for any profession, especially in medicine. Education and mentorship have been my major career focus, for all types and levels of learners: medical students, residents, fellows, colleagues, program directors and patients. When I began my role as the assistant dean in postgraduate medical education, I added an additional career focus of program accreditation of medical education programs.”
CONGRATULATIONS!