Winter 2015 (Volume 25, Number 4)

Awards, Appointments, Accolades

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The Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC) Department of Medicine Pre-clerkship Teaching Award recognizes exemplary teaching in the first two years in medical school. As the most recent recipient of this award, I was prompted to reflect on the role rheumatologists played in my own education. As a student, I was inspired by excellent role models such as Dr. Dafna Gladman, Dr. Lynn Russell, and Dr. John Sibley.

I became even more appreciative of their efforts when I transitioned into a medical teacher myself. I will strive to repay my mentors by passing on knowledge, skills, and dedication to patient care to the next generation of physicians.

Dr. Mary Bell received the Ontario Rheumatology Association (ORA) Rheumatologist of the Year Award presented at the ORA Annual General Meeting in May 2015. This award is given to an Ontario rheumatologist who has made a significant and meaningful contribution to the ORA in keeping with its pillars of engagement. She suggested that the association embark on an EMR journey that has resulted in the highest rate of EMR adoption in any specialty. She has been active in the Models of Care Committee supporting all aspects of our work, and an advocate for Allied Health Professionals working in community and hospital environments. She has also diligently supported our work with the Ontario Pharmacists Association with dissemination of the Medscheck Programme. Dr. Bell has been a great supporter of the ORA: “I think that more has been done for rheumatology in Ontario by the ORA in the past 10 years than by any other group over the past 30 years!”

Dr. Bell has an MD from the University of Toronto and an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McMaster University. She served as the Head of the Sunnybrook Hospital Division of Rheumatology and was the Director of Continuing Education and Knowledge Translation for the University of Toronto. She has led and has been awarded for her work on several successful national projects, including Getting a Grip on Arthritis and the Patient Partners in Arthritis Programme. She continues her research at the Arthritis Community Research and Evaluation Unit (ACREU).

Dr. Dafna Gladman was awarded the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons 2015 Mentor of the Year. The regional Mentor of the Year Award was established to recognize Fellows of the Royal College in good standing who have had a significant impact on the career development of students, residents, and/or Fellows. The nominee must have demonstrated their ability to be an excellent role model in demonstrating the qualities or competencies of a “professional” as described in the CanMEDS framework. Dr. Gladman is a recognized, international leader in both systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) with emphasis on database development, prognosis studies, genetic markers for disease susceptibility and expression, assessment instruments, and quality-of-life measures.

This scholarly work is complemented by an extraordinary track record mentoring student learning and experience. She served as Program Director for the University of Toronto rheumatology program between 1992 and 2003, overseeing the training of approximately 40 rheumatologists, many of whom have gone on to become community and academic leaders. She has supervised research projects for a staggering number of students of different levels including 13 core medical resident projects, 68 rheumatology fellow projects, 64 undergraduate student projects, and 19 graduate (MSc and PhD) projects.