It was touch-and-go, but the weather held out to help make this year’s annual graduation ceremony of family medicine residents a wonderful event. Held at the Scarboro Golf and Country Club on June 16, it was attended by graduates, families, friends, physician preceptors and SHN leadership. Words of advice and congratulation were shared; awards were given; pictures were taken; a beautiful lunch was enjoyed; and most importantly – our graduates were celebrated for this milestone achievement that will set them off on a bright career path serving in the field of health care.
Congratulations and welcome to our colleagues and new physicians: Dr. Rebecca Dehmassi, Dr. Andrea Lee, Dr. Meera Mahendiran, Dr. Brandon Norris, Dr. Hrishov Sarker, Dr. Shankar Sethuraman, Dr. Kent Tang, Dr. Hannah Tateishi and Dr. Weiting Xiong.
University of Toronto’s Department of Family and Community Medicine recognized physicians who have made outstanding contributions to teaching in our program as well as residents who excelled in various ways during their time in the program. The award recipients this year were:
PRECEPTOR AWARDS
New Teacher Award
Recipient: Dr. Paula Pop
“Dr. Pop is an amazing educator who ensures residents are well taken care of and the patients assigned to them are helpful to meeting educational goals. She spends a lot of her time teaching one-on-one and making sure that useful topics and objectives are met during the geriatrics rotation.”
– award nominator, Dr Han Yan
Clerkship Teaching Award
Recipient: Dr. Deepan Arulchelvam
[NEW AWARD] Continuous Reflective Assessment for Training (CRAFT) – Presented to the Preceptor(s) who completed the most Field Notes
Recipients: Dr. Nisha Ravichandiran for Family Medicine, Dr. Paula Pop for Specialty (Geriatrics), and an honorable mention to Dr. Richard Brodie for Palliative Care
Lifetime Achievement Award
Recipients: Dr. James Carson for Family Medicine and Dr. Carol Peng for Specialty
Dr. Barnett I. Giblon Award – Presented to a Family Medicine Preceptor for outstanding contributions in the areas of Family Medicine, Education, Research or Community Service
Recipient: Dr. Susanna Fung
Teaching & Education in Emergency Medicine Award
Recipient: Dr. Caroline Chan
RESIDENT AWARDS
Clinical Excellence Award – Given to the resident with the highest POWER in Family Medicine
Recipient: Dr. Shankar Sethuraman
“Dr. Shankar Sethuraman is an excellent teacher and role model for clerks in my community office. He has participated in FMLE, small group seminars on Fatigue/Depression, Family Violence and Motivational Interviewing and acted as a resource for clerks regarding electives, CARMS and career paths.”
– award nominator, Dr. Dave Wheler
Communication Excellence Award – Given to the resident with the highest POWER for Communicator
Recipient: Shankar Sethuraman
Professional Excellence Award – Given to the Resident best exemplifying professional behaviour and attitudes with the highest POWER for Professional Role
Recipient: Kent Tang
[NEW AWARD] Continuous Reflective Assessment for Training (CRAFT) – Given to the Resident who received the most Field Notes
Recipient: Meera Mahendiran
Palliative Care Collaborator Award – Given to the Resident best exemplifying excellent collaboration skills, highest graded resident on Palliative Care rotation
Recipient: Hannah Tateishi
Resident Award for Clerkship Teaching
Recipient: (R1) Daniel Borins and (R2) Shankar Sethuraman
Quality Improvement Project Award: Excellence in Manager Role
Recipients: Kent Tang, Shankar Sethuraman and Hrishov Sarker
Project title: “Effective reminder strategies for improving rates of Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) among eligible patients for colorectal (CRC) screening at the family medicine office”
Research Academic Project Award: Excellence in Scholar Role
First Place: Meera Mahendiran
Project title: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the SPIKES Model to Break Bad News- A Systematic Review
Second Place: Kent Tang and Wei Ting Xiong
Project title: Factors that influence low acuity Emergency Department visits in Scarborough
Dr. Elana Fric Memorial Award – Given to the resident who made outstanding contributions in the areas of Health Advocacy and Patient-Centred Care
Recipient: Hannah Tateishi
“Hannah has always excelled above average with regards to her clinical knowledge and interactions with patients. She has excellent rapport with patients. Hannah ensures that she follows up on patient results in a timely manner with executing plans and communicating with patient and preceptors. She advocates for patients as well by researching and helping them with accessing community resources. She also has an excellent sense of humour which put patients at ease.”
– summary of comments from her Preceptors
