The John G. Wade Visiting Professorship in Patient Safety and Simulation-based Medical Education

Background
In 2002, the Royal College, under the visionary leadership of Dr. John Wade, brought together a group of like-minded individuals to draft a plan and vision for patient safety in Canada. The National Steering Committee on Patient Safety was formed and Dr. Wade delivered the Committee’s first report, “Building a Safer System – a National Integrated Strategy for Canadian Health Care.” This critical document led to the establishment of the national agency responsible for guiding the patient safety agenda in Canada, the Canadian Patient Safety Institute.

Dr. Wade chaired the Royal College Health and Public Policy Committee and spearheaded the internationally recognized Royal College CanMEDS initiative. He has been Vice President of Medical Services at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, and Dean of Medicine at the University of Manitoba; he served as Manitoba’s Deputy Minister of Health from 1995 to 1997. In 2003 he was appointed Chair of the Founding Board of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute. He is currently the Chair of the Board of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

As an anesthesiologist, Dr. Wade has been an advocate for the use of simulation to assess the performance of individuals and teams of health care providers, and as a principal means to teach CanMEDS and patient safety competencies.

The inaugural visiting professorship has been facilitated by matched contributions from the Royal College and CAE Healthcare. The fund will be sustained through a campaign to solicit contributions to the fund.

Objectives
The purpose of the visiting professorship is to provide support for a distinguished educator to visit at least two regions in Canada each year, in order to promote the use of simulation in medical education, and its applications to improving patient safety. Ideally, the visiting professor will interact with a wide variety of medical professionals: students, staff, and allied personnel.

Nominations
Nominations will be sought from Canadian societies with expertise in patient safety and simulation.

Nominators are asked to summarize the reasons for their nomination, put forward a proposed itinerary for the visiting professor, and attach the nominee’s most recent curriculum vitae. Nominees need not be physicians or Fellows of the Royal College.

Selection
A subcommittee of the RCPSC Awards Committee selects the recipient annually. The subcommittee will be chaired by the Associate Director Professional Affairs.

The Visiting Professorship Program
The visiting professor will spend 3-4 days in each of the selected regions. The visiting professor will work with the Royal College and the local hosts to create an interprofessional teaching and collaboration program. The travel expenses of the visiting professor will be paid in accordance with Royal College guidelines. There will be a debriefing teleconference set up between the visiting professor, hosts and the Associate Director Professional Affairs once the visits are complete.

Closing Date
5 pm (EST) June 29, 2012. Late applications will not be considered.