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Message from the Chair Department News Events: Academic and Social 2020 Save-The-Date Contact Information
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2019
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Winter Newsletter
in this issuE
DR. BEVERLEY ORSER
message from the chair
Dear Colleagues, What a year it has been! You, our exceptionally dedicated and talented faculty members and trainees, have created a long list of successes. Thank you for the work you do every day to support our patients and our teaching and research missions. The University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine is ranked as one of the top 10 in the world, and our work in anesthesiology, critical care, and pain medicine plays a vital role in this success. Just a few of the year’s highlights are listed below. This week, the department received the exciting news that on January 1, 2020, we will become the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. This is a historic milestone for the department! Thank you to all members of the Name Change Working Group, who sparked the vision and ushered in the name change. Now it’s time to bring on the new apparel, and to get to work on fundraising and rebranding! We completed our 2019–2024 Strategic Plan and are now working through the “to-do” list. Top of mind is the need to foster a more supportive and inclusive learning and working environment. To fund our world-class investigators, Dr. Brian Cuthbertson has formed an advisory group to help launch the updated Merit Award Program in the spring. The Clinical Leaders Program, which recognizes clinical excellence, was initiated by Dr. Andrew Baker this past year at St. Michael’s Hospital and will be expanded in 2020 across the other hospital sites. Our department continues to grow, and we welcomed 26 new faculty in 2019. We express our thanks to members of our Executive Council, particularly those who stepped forward to take on a new leadership role this year: Drs. Brian Cuthbertson, Vice Chair of Research, Ahtsham Niazi, Vice Chair of Education and Dr. Gianni Lorello, Chief Diversity Officer, and Dr. Dallas Duncan, Chair of Resident Research Committee, Coimbatore Srinivas, Deputy Chief, UHN, Jeff Wassermann, Vice-Chair, Department Awards Committee. We also express our sincere thanks to those who completed their successful terms of service including Drs. Mark Crawford, Gerald O’Leary, Sue Belo and Mark Levine. We recently hosted our first Alumni Engagement Evening, here are some of the highlights from the evenings and, we look forward to strengthening ties with those who built our department. Our residents hosted the Annual Sports Day on September 15, 2019, an event that brings members of the department and their families together for fun and ferocious competition. The residents raised an unprecedented $7500 for the Canadian International Education Fund (CAS-IEF). We have another exciting year ahead. Meanwhile, on behalf of the team at 123 Edward Street, we wish you a restful and happy holiday. Please find the time to celebrate and cherish the things that matter most to you. Bev
department news
The department held a cocktail reception celebration on Tuesday, December 10, 2019 to recognize the achievements of faculty who were promoted in 2018 and 2019. We would like to thank Dr. Frances Chung, Chair of the Promotions Committee for time and efforts leading the committee. On another note, Dr. Chung recently received The 2019 Society of Anesthesia and Sleep Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award for her career accomplishments, outstanding leadership and history of distinguished service to patient safety in the field of anesthesia and sleep medicine. The award was given on October 18, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. Congratulations !
On Monday, October 21, 2019, Dr. Fiona Campbell attended the Faculty of Medicine Faculty Council on behalf of the Department of Anesthesia and the Name Change Working group (pictured left) in support of the motion to change the department name from the “Department of Anesthesia’ to the ‘Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine’. Faculty Council, led by the Dean’s Office is the senior body with responsibility for academic affairs. In attendance were Dean Trevor Young and Vice-Deans for Research and Innovation (Dr. Richard Hegele), Partnerships (Dr. Lynn Wilson), Education (Drs. Patricia Houston, Sal Spadafora, Allan Kaplan), along with about 30 members of Council. After Dr. Campbell’s brief presentation, Dean Young provided helpful supportive remarks, followed by a short discussion, and the motion passed unanimously. This week the department received notice from the Governing Council Office of a firm approval for the department name change, as of January 1, 2020, the Department of Anesthesia will be the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. A historic moment and milestone for the department. A special thank you to the Name Change Working Group!
THe NEW "US": Department name change
Pictured (L-R): Tania DiRenna, John Hanlon, Hance Clarke, Fiona Campbell
Pictured (L-R): Hance Clarke, Beverley Orser, Jeff Wassermann, Frances Chung, David McKnight, Carol Loffelmann, Anahi Perlas, Naveed Siddiqui, Combatore Srinivas, Fiona Campbell, Brian Cuthbertson, Tobias Everett, Vincent Chan.
Academic promotions
Pictured (L-R): Carolina Gomez, TJ Beggs, Natalie Wainwright, Roland Xu, Naheed Jivraj, Maria Salman, Evelina Pankiv
SPORTS & BBQ DAY | Saturday, September 15, 2019
Pictured above: Luis Chaparro, Chris Ildestrup, Doreen Yee, Anas Alhindi, Fahad Alam, Alex Sapa Pictured left (L-R) : Razvan Purza, Gerhardus Kuiper, Ilya, Lembrikov, Hance Clarke, Bilal Ansari, Lisa Bahrey
EVENTS : ACADEMIC & SOCIAL
On Sunday, September 15, 2019, 151 anesthesia residents, staff, fellows, AAs, administrative staff and their families descended upon Riverdale Park East for the Third Annual Toronto Anesthesia BBQ & Sports Day. Competing for the coveted Laryngoscope, they were prepared for rain or shine. They brought their best selves. They brought their game faces. They were ready to dominate! Drenched in rain, spirits remained high and the University of Toronto Department of Anesthesia raised $7500 for CASIEF. This represents almost 10% of their entire operating budget and is the most we have ever raised. This is our second year supporting CASIEF, and we are incredibly pleased with the support our department provides in partnering with this amazing organization. After 3 soccer games, 2 relay races, as well as over $2800 raised by each team, the coveted Laryngoscope was, for the first time, awarded to two hospitals: Toronto General Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Undoubtedly, the clear winner here is CASIEF and its beneficiaries who will appreciate the financial support for many years to come. We sincerely hope that we can continue to generate this amount of support every year for CASIEF while generating an incredible sense of community amongst the members of our university department. We invite you to see more photos of the event, enjoy!
9th ANNUAL PAIN FELLOWS & RESIDENT WORKSHOP September 20 & 21, 2019
EVENTS cont.
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Drs. Anuj Bhatia, John Hanlon and Neilesh Soneji organized the 9th National Interventional Pain Management Workshop for Fellows and Residents on September 20 and 21, 2019. Attendees included 5 Pain Medicine residents and 20 Pain Medicine fellows from University of Toronto, Weill Cornell Medical College at New York, University of Ottawa, Dalhousie University, McMaster University, Université Laval, and Université de Montréal. The fellows were from Pain Medicine, Neurosurgery, Urology, Interventional Radiology, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. The workshop involved dissemination of knowledge and skills for performing interventional pain procedures under fluoroscopic and sonographic guidance. Scanning on live volunteers and procedures on cadavers helped attendees learn and practice technical aspects of procedures to relieve pain. Faculty from Weill Cornell Medical College at New York, University of Ottawa, Dalhousie University, McMaster University, and University of Toronto taught on this course. Topics covered in the workshop included rationale and indications for interventional pain procedures such as epidural steroid injections, radiofrequency ablation of spinal facet joints, injections into major joints, procedures for cancer pain, interpreting diagnostic imaging in patients with pain, sympathetic plexus blocks and steps to avoid complications of interventional pain procedures. This annual course also aims to develop a forum for pain fellows and residents to interact with each other and faculty from the pain fellowship programs in Canada. This workshop was followed on September 23, 2019 by the 2nd Canadian Neuromodulation Society workshop on neuromodulation for pain that was organized by Dr. Bhatia and Dr. MacDougall (Neurosurgeon, Western University). Indications and techniques for spinal cord, sacral nerve, and peripheral nerve stimulation to relieve pain were covered in this workshop.
Pictured (Top; L-R): Drs. Anuj Bhatia (course director), Nimish Mittal, V.V. Subramanian, Howard Meng, John Hanlon (course director), Carlos Rubio, Yuvaraj Kotteeswaran, Akshat Gargya, Daniel James, Marc Mansour, Ehtesham Baig, Geoff Bellingham, Yen Shuang Law, participant, Vincent LaFleur, Nina Wang, Harmandeep Singh, Timothy Bolton, Priodarshi Roychoudhury, Guy Feigin, Vitaliano DiGrazia, Sofia Velasco Figueroa, Maria Bastias, Stephen Lee.
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT DAY Monday, November 11, 2019
Pictured (L-R): Drs. James T. Rutka (Chair, Dept. of Surgery), Beverley Orser (Chair, Dept. of Anesthesia), Ian J. Witterick (Chair, Dept. of Otorynolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
As a tradition, our Department Faculty Development Day took place on Remembrance Day, November 11, 2019. This interdepartmental event held at Chestnut Conference Centre has attracted close to 120 faculty and guests. In addition to Departments of Anesthesia, Surgery and Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, we have reached another milestone this year by including faculty from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visions Science as the 4th partner of this event. The theme of the day was Challenges of Contemporary Practice: Finding Joy at Work. Our plenary speaker this year was Dr. Mara Goldstein, MD, Assistant Professor from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto. Her keynote presentation was on “Generation Google: How to Survive the Thrive in a Multi-Generational Work Environment”, addressing attitudes, expectations, interpersonal behavior and social conduct of the baby boomers, generation X, millennials and post millennials. Additionally there were thirteen interactive workshops that engaged faculty in a variety of topics ranging from education, leadership, wellness, professionalism, equality / diversity, academic promotions, quality improvement / patient safety, and others. In the afternoon, we also hosted the department’s 2nd New Faculty Orientation session that featured Dr. Carol Loffelmann, Chair, Department Appointment Committee, who spoke about academic appointments and what it means to be a faculty at the university and Dr. Tania Di Renna, Medical Director of the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute, who talked about how to succeed as a clinician leader. The 2020 Faculty Development will again be on Remembrance Day, Wednesday November 11. Remember this event is organized specially for you to explore and develop new skills to advance your career. Please mark your calendar and if you have any topics you wish to suggest, please forward to Dr. Vincent Chan vincent.chan@uhn.ca. See you there!
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Pfizer has generously contributed $75,000 to establish the Pfizer Primary Care Access Fellowship in the Department of Anesthesia at the University of Toronto
ALUMNI EVENT | Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Pictured above (L-R): Dr. Tania DiRenna, Dr. John Hanlon , Ms. Esmeralda Burkle, Dr. Fiona Campbell, Dr. Beverley Orser, Chancellor Rose Patten Pictured below (L-R): Drs. George Sakotic, Gil Faclier, James Khan, Gianni Lorello, Mrs. Michelle Coutinho, Greg Hare, Tania DiRenna
The Anesthesia event Shifting pain from symptom to disease: Changing our approach to chronic pain on November 20, 2019 was well attended by alumni and faculty who engaged in thought provoking discussion on: 1. The importance of patient engagement to the success of clinical programs, research and education. 2. The central role anesthesiologists play in the prevention and management of acute and chronic pain and in pain education and research. 3. The need to understanding the mechanisms of chronic pain mechanisms so we can develop better treatments. 4. Leadership is needed so we can respond to clinical and research funding opportunities. 5. Our responsibility to train the next generation of pain specialists and the significance of the Residency in Pain Medicine. We extend our sincere thanks to Chancellor Rose Patten for her participation, patient representative Emeralda Burke and faculty panelists, Drs. Fiona Campbell, Tania Di Renna and John Hanlon. Here are more photos from the event!
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100 Fellows enrolled in the Fellowship Program at UofT !
Pictured above: Drs. Sarah McDonald, Adam Snyman, Andrew Syrett, Bilal Ansari, Simone Schiavo, Ezequiel Vidal, Karla Pungsornruk, Alice Grassi, Doreen Yee.
On Wednesday, November 27, 2019, the annual Fellows’ Holiday Dinner was held at the rustic and elegant Archeo restaurant located at The Distillery District. The evening began with a few words from the Fellowship Director, Dr. Doreen Yee, thanking faculty for their support and and fellows for their hard work, followed by Dr. Beverley Orser, our Chair’s welcoming remarks. Faculty members and Fellows enjoyed a variety of delicious hors d'oeuvres and food stations, including crab cakes, skewers, antipasti to black truffle pasta, as they mixed and mingled at the event. The annual dinner brought together fellows and faculty members from different sites, giving them the opportunity to socialize in a casual environment. The evening ended with a variety of sweet treats and free drinks. Thank you Dr. Yee for providing continuous support to the Fellowship Program !
Pictured above (L-R): Drs. Mohammed Qureshi, Bilal Ansari, Doreen Yee, Ezequiel Vidal, Ameya Bopardikar Pictured below: Drs. Urooj Siddiqui, Julie Yu, Daneyla Lee, Howard Meng, Stephanie Ladowski, Jordan Tarshis, Paul McHardy, Adam Snyman, Bilal Ansari, Ameya Bopardikar, Mohammed Qureshi
FELLOWS HOLIDAY DINNER Wednesday, November 27, 2019
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april 4-5, 2020 Toronto Anesthesia Symposium MaRS Discovery District
SAVE THE DATE : 2020
november 11, 2020 Faculty Development Day Resident Education Day
may 8, 2020 41st Annual Shields Research Day The Ritz-Carlton
university of toronto closure December 23, 2019 - January 3, 2020
get in touch !
Designed and prepared by: Pilar Barrios
123 Edward Street, 12th floor Toronto, ON M5G 1E2 www.anesthesia.utoronto.ca anesthesia@utoronto.ca UoTAnesthesia