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Dr. Ronald Gottesman Appointed Inaugural Wendy MacDonald Chair in Pediatric Medical Education

Published: 17 July 2017

The Department of Pediatrics is happy to announce the appointment of Dr. Ronald Gottesman as the inaugural Wendy MacDonald Chair in Pediatric Medical Education, starting August 1, 2017 for a five year term.

The Chair was established in 2013, with the support of the MacDonald Family and others in the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, to honor the enormous contribution over decades of the now late Wendy MacDonald to medical education in the Department of Pediatrics at McGill University. Dr. MacDonald was a remarkable medical educator who was the Director of our UGME Clerkship Program for almost 40 years. Many Faculty members attribute their decision to pursue a path in pediatrics to Dr. MacDonald's early influence.

As envisioned by its Memorandum of Agreement, the Chair was envisioned to be dedicated to medical education in child health. The occupant would be someone with a strong scholarly background in education with either a PhD in the field of pedagogy or an MD with a demonstrated track record in health professions education. The individual selected to the Chair would be expected to develop both an independent research program and work collaboratively to support and foster educational programs and build research capacity within the educational segment of Departmental academic activities. 

Dr. Gottesman is presently a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and a member (and former long-time Director) of its Division of Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Gottesman has a long and extensive track record as a leader and scholar in medical education particularly in the field of simulation. His dedication to inter-professional education is evident by his cross appointment in the Ingram School of Nursing through his innovative formulation of a curriculum for advanced practice nursing. He is a member of the Centre for Medical Education and he has received multiple medical education awards at the Departmental, Faculty and national levels: Paige & Bernard Kaplan Award in Clinical Teaching, the Faculty Honour Roll for Educational Excellence, the Canadian Association of Medical Educators Certificate of Excellence, and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada Clinician-Educator Leadership Award. 

Dr. Gottesman meets the requirement of appointment to this Chair as per its MOA. He is an established educational scholar with a demonstrated and recognized excellence in health professions education, who works collaboratively and creatively across professions and disciplines. He is a sought after mentor for younger educational scholars. He has consistently demonstrated an innovative approach which does not hesitate to challenge existing ways of teaching. Finally, Dr. Gottesman has put forward an innovative cross cutting proposal to utilization of the annual funds to be generated by the Chair that will maximize its scholarly impact. 

Congratulations Dr. Gottesman!

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