Congratulations to Faculty members named to the 2021-2022 Faculty Honour List for Educational Excellence! See the list of recipients below. A virtual symposium to recognize the honorees took place on June 10 with family members and colleagues of the recipients in attendance.
Coordinated through the Faculty Development Office, the goal of the Faculty Honour List is to recognize outstanding contributions to education in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in the areas of teaching, educational leadership and innovation, faculty development, and research and scholarly activity.
Dr. Michelle Elizov, Associate Dean, Faculty Development Office, congratulated the recipients for their work.
“It is significant to be recognized on the Honour List at any time, but it is particularly noteworthy during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Elizov. “This has not been an easy or smooth ride, and yet each of the recipients continue to make significant contributions to our educational mission. This is a wonderful achievement on your part that we are humbled to recognize.”
Dr. Annette Majnemer, the Faculty’s Vice-Dean, Education also spoke highly of the recipients and their work.
“I sincerely want to congratulate each of the Honour List recipients during this most-exceptional year,” Dr. Majnemer remarked. “Each of you make unique and valuable contributions to teaching, learning and educational scholarship within your units, and across our Faculty. The educational work that you do makes an enormous difference in the lives of our learners and your colleagues.”
Dr. Joanne Alfieri
(Oncology)
“Dr. Alfieri is a natural leader and a committed educator, having taken the career steps towards the advancement of the cause of medical education,” one colleague noted.
“Throughout all of this time, Joanne has led with vision and foresight, bringing best evidence into practice and leading with courage and humility,” another colleague said. “Her passion for educational excellence and her commitment to educational innovation is inspiring, as is her desire to ‘make an impact’ on the lives of her learners and colleagues. In addition, Joanne exemplifies a scholarly approach to all that she does, ensuring that the literature informs her practice and that she contributes to the research in this field.”
Dr. Dan Deckelbaum
(Surgery)
“Dr. Deckelbaum has clearly demonstrated excellence in teaching, research/innovation and contributions to the university and scholarly communities,” a colleague stressed. “He is a recognized leader in academic global surgery and disaster preparedness who has developed novel educational approaches, registries and collaborations to improve the care of injured patients at home and around the world and been recognized for this work.”
Prof. Deborah Friedman
(Dept. of Pediatrics & Dept. of Pediatric Surgery)
“Debbie is an energetic teacher and educator; her passion is woven into all aspects of her educational initiatives, always keeping her focus on maintaining the highest standard of education and well-being of her learners, including patients and their families as well as the community at large,” a colleague noted. “Ms. Friedman’s dedication to and successful accomplishments in health professions education at all levels and for diverse groups demonstrates that she is very well-deserving of this honour.”
Dr. Lisa Marie Münter
(Pharmacology & Therapeutics)
“Dr. Munter is an outstanding, innovative, efficient and highly energetic teacher,” one colleague said. “She is a dedicated faculty member and a valuable role model for her colleagues and students alike.”
“I think very highly of Lisa,” another colleague emphasized. “She brings a critical and more importantly, a collegial spirit to the table. This has also been evident in many other education and research activities she has undertaken since arriving at McGill. It has been a genuine pleasure for me to work with her.”
Dr. Jadranka Spahija
(School of Physical & Occupational Therapy)
“Dr. Jadranka Spahija’s contributions to teaching, education and learning have been outstanding in terms of leadership, course development, and quality and use of innovative teaching strategies,” a colleague said. “She is also a role model for students due to her commitment to their learning, knowledge and expertise, and overall caring and professionalism.”
“Dr. Spahija is a dynamic, resourceful, considerate and dedicated faculty with an exceptional degree of creativity, outstanding leadership, diligence, focus and commitment to teaching, research and student supervision,” another colleague stressed.
Dr. Ning-Zi Sun
(Medicine)
“Dr. Sun’s passion for excellence in medical education research and her ability to transform patient care through her knowledge and educational skills are exceptional,” a colleague noted. “She incorporates her academic, scholarly teaching approaches into her daily clinical practice, ward coverage and General Internal Medicine service. She carries on with these activities in addition to her administrative duties in her many roles. Dr. Sun is making invaluable ongoing contributions to the medical education practices at McGill University and the McGill University Heath Centre teaching hospitals.”
Prof. Jodi Tuck
(Ingram School of Nursing)
“Ms. Tuck has made MANY contributions to the quality of Nursing education within the Ingram School of Nursing,” a colleague said. “She has also had an influence at the provincial and international level. Adjectives to describe Jodi include: extremely bright, detail oriented, visionary, student-centered, creative, up-to-date, affable, great at writing, advocate, and dependable (among others). Jodi has had multiple and major contributions to all programs within the Ingram School of Nursing. Her unwavering dedication paired with her solid expertise as a nurse educator are commendable.”
Dr. Meredith E Young
(Institute of Health Sciences Education and the School of Medicine)
“Where Dr. Young really excels, and the reason we wanted to nominate her for this award, is her day in and day out support and mentorship to her colleagues,” wrote a colleague. “Whether they are junior, senior or peers she is constantly pushing us to get better and learn more about educational theory, practice and research.”
“Her door is always open to requests for informal advice, to consultations by students, to invitations by colleagues for collaboration in various projects, and for mentorships,” another colleague noted. “She is unflinchingly generous with her time, although one may have to stand in line and respect the queue. This is testament to the value we attribute to her sage counsel. It also demonstrates her passion for education and is a source of pride for our entire community.”
Dr. Samara Zavalkoff
(Pediatrics)
“I reviewed the pediatric critical care medicine fellows’ comments on Dr. Zavalkoff’s teaching and leadership abilities,” one colleague wrote. “Perhaps this one sums up best why she is highly deserving of the Faculty Honour List for Educational Excellence (direct quote): ‘We want to be just like her.’”
“Over the course of her career, the success of many of her trainees, past and present, is in no small part a direct result of her excellent mentorship,” another colleague stressed. “It is rare to encounter a teacher and program director so selflessly and tenaciously committed to the success of her mentees. We are each eternally grateful for having had the opportunity to learn from Dr. Zavalkoff, and for the mentorship she provided each of us throughout our training and beyond, in our early careers.”