The Professor-in-Residence Program

The Royal College Professor-in-Residence is a prestigious new program that will foster innovation and knowledge exchange at the Royal College. Annually a renowned expert will join the Royal College leadership team to examine health education and health policy with the goal of improving Royal College programs.

The Professor-in-Residence will be identified through an annual rigorous nomination process and will be selected by a review committee. The invited guest will present a Royal College Professor-in-Residence Lecture and will attend other College events.

The Professor-in-Residence
Royal College Annual Lecture

Registration is required. *Register Now*

Transforming Postgraduate Medical Education:  A Vision for Socially Just Specialty Training in Canada

Join us December 6 (5-6 pm ET) when Dr. Saleem Razack will deliver the 2023 Royal College Professor-in-Residence Lecture.  

Dr. Razack’s lecture “Transforming postgraduate medical education: A vision for socially just specialty training in Canada” will take place virtually. 

Registration is required to attend the event.   

At the end of this Session, participants will be able to:

1. Analyze the structure and processes of residency education in Canada and how they may help and/or hinder socially just health care outcomes for individual patients and communities.
2. Reflect on the inequities built into the knowledge systems of medicine and teaching strategies to develop structural competence and critical consciousness development in learners and in ourselves.
3. Imagine how residency education in Canada might be transformed for greater social justice and better health outcomes for all patients and potential patients in Canada.

This will be an interactive session whereby attendees will be able to ask questions. 

Section 1 Accreditation

This event is an Accredited Group Learning activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and approved by the Royal College Learning and Practice Improvement Unit. You may claim a maximum of 1 hour (credits are automatically calculated).

Announcing our 2023 Professor-in-Residence

Saleem Razack, MD, FRCPC, is the 2023 Professor-in-Residence. A pediatric intensivist, his research interests in Medical Education include the intersection of assessment and professionalism with representation, equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism.

At the RCPSC he has been a volunteer on the pediatrics examination board and also as a member of site accreditation teams. He is currently a CanMEDS educator at the College.  

Dr. Razack’s research interests in Medical Education include the intersection of assessment and professionalism with representation, equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism, for which he has had SSHRC and CIHR support.  He is the recipient of the AFMC May Cohen award for outstanding contributions to equity in medical education, the Haile T. Debas award for contributions to equity in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill, and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada award for outstanding contribution to Medical Education.  As a tertiary care subspecialist in a highly technological specialty, he has spent much of his time teaching and mentoring fellows to seamlessly incorporate social context and social determinants of health into their understanding of the critically ill children with whose care they are entrusted.  He is excited to start anew at UBC and hopes to serve in and contribute to the vibrant scholarly community in health professions education at UBC and to continue to contribute nationally and internationally. 

Our 2022 Professor-in-Residence

Nadine Caron, MD, MPH, FRCSC, is the 2022 Professor-in-Residence. A member of the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation, she is a practising surgical oncologist in northern British Columbia where she provides cancer screening, diagnosis and surgical care for individuals in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.

A senior scientist at Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at BC Cancer, Dr. Caron is also the inaugural First Nations Health Authority chair in Cancer and Wellness at UBC. She is a founding co-director of the UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health and a consultant in the development of B.C.’s first-ever Indigenous Cancer Strategy to improve Indigenous cancer outcomes and experiences in B.C.

Dr. Caron has been appointed to the 2022 Order of B.C. in acknowledgment of her outstanding achievements, including being the first general surgeon of First Nations descent in Canada, the first Indigenous female medical school graduate of UBC and a long-time advocate for equity in the health care system.

Our 2021 Professor-in-Residence

Dr. Jeffrey Turnbull, CM, MD, FRCPC, is the 2021 Professor-in-Residence. His lecture “Health Equity in 2021: Social Accountability Through the Lens of the Most Disadvantaged Communities” explores and articulates new models of care and future competencies for community centred care.

Dr. Turnbull is a general internist with a deep commitment to those who suffer from addiction and homelessness. His decision to leave his role as the physician-in-chief of the Ottawa Hospital to return to providing direct care to those suffering from housing instability made national headlines. He has been a vocal advocate for evidence-based treatments, such as safe injection sites, and other progressive ways of supporting those with addiction.

 Annual Royal College Lecture 2021 Professor-in-Residence

Our 2019 Professor-in-Residence

Dr. Brian Hodges, MD, PhD, FRCPC, is the 2019 Professor-in-Residence. A practicing psychiatrist and teacher, his research focuses on assessment, competence, compassion and the future of the health profession.

His lecture “The Future with AI: What will we need specialists for?” will explore the role of physicians in the changing world of technology.

His work has been recognized with the Association of American Medical Colleges Flexner Award (2015) and the Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education (2016).

Our inaugural Professor-in-Residence

The Royal College is delighted to welcome Dr. Richard Reznick as the inaugural Professor-in-Residence. A Professor in the Department of Surgery and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen’s University, Dr. Reznick’s career has combined a clinical interest in colorectal surgery with 30 years of dedication to the advancement of medical education.

For details please contact researchunit@royalcollege.ca.

About Dr. Richard Reznick

Dr. Reznick is a Professor in Department of Surgery and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen’s University and Chief Executive Officer of the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization.

Dr. Reznick was the founding Director of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine Centre for Research in Education at University Health Network, now known as the Wilson Centre.

He developed a research program in the assessment of technical competence for surgeons and ran a fellowship program in surgical education, and was instrumental in developing a performance based examination, which is now used for medical licensure in Canada.

As Vice President of Education at UHN he advanced multiple educational initiatives and partnerships. As Chair of Surgery at University of Toronto he helped advanced a successful pilot program in competency-based medical education in Orthopaedic Surgery, and now as dean at Queen’s, he has championed conversion of 29 specialty medicine residency programs to CMBE.

Dr. Reznick’s career has combined a clinical interest in colorectal surgery with 30 years of dedication to the advancement of medical education.

He has received a number of awards, including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Medal in Surgery and the James H. Graham Award of Merit.