Winter 2015 (Volume 25, Number 4)

University of Toronto Community Rheumatologist Award

By Claire Bombardier, MD, FRCPC

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Community rheumatologists play key roles in the advancement of rheumatology; as such, the University of Toronto Community Rheumatologist Award was created in 2009 to honour these individuals and celebrate their achievements. The award is given to a community rheumatologist “in recognition of outstanding and sustained leadership in rheumatology in Ontario.” Recipients serve as role models for our trainees and faculty, contribute to our academic mission, and effectively advocate for the rheumatology profession and for the improvement of patient care.

Every May, the call for nominations for the Community Rheumatologist is announced. The winner of the award must meet the following criteria:
1. Be a community rheumatologist in Ontario;
2. Show evidence of outstanding contribution to Ontario rheumatology at large and to the University of Toronto faculty, graduates, and undergraduates;
3. Demonstrate their contribution has been sustained over many years; and
4. Display leadership in the following areas: advocacy, creative professional activity, education, research, and patient care.

Two letters of support must accompany each nomination; any faculty member or trainee within the University of Toronto’s Rheumatology Division can make nominations. The review committee will consist of the Division Director, Program Director, Chief Resident, and one other member of the program committee. The letter of nomination should describe the rationale for the nomination, outline the recipients’ outstanding contribution and their impact on the rheumatology community, and provide evidence of their sustained contribution over many years.

To exemplify how highly community rheumatologists are thought of, excerpts taken from nomination letters used to describe previous winners include: “has gone beyond the call of duty to contribute to the betterment of patient care, research, and rheumatology practice in Ontario,” “there is not a rheumatologist in this province who remains untouched by the creative efforts, political savvy, financial foresight, hard work and contributions,” “has a long history of leadership in community rheumatology at the provincial, national, and international levels,” “provides an excellent rheumatology experience for residents who participate in seeing patients at his clinical site. Feedback from the participating residents indicates that this is an extremely valuable learning experience, both in terms of the rheumatology they learn and the practice insights which they gain,” and “an excellent role model for future community-based rheumatologists.”

The name of the recipient of the University of Toronto Community Rheumatologist Award is announced at the Annual Ogryzlo Research Day dinner during the after-dinner proceedings. This award is not necessarily given out every year. For more information, please visit this link.

Claire Bombardier, MD, FRCPC
Professor of Medicine,
University of Toronto
Director,
Division of Rheumatology,
University of Toronto
Senior Scientist,
Toronto General Research Institute,
University Health Network Canada Research Chair in Knowledge Transfer for Musculoskeletal Care
Past Co-scientific Director,
Canadian Arthritis Network
Toronto, Ontario