Roundup

Higgins Day 2025

Dear Colleagues,

At this week’s Higgins Day event, we proudly celebrated the outstanding achievements of our residents and educators. Now in its 37th year, the H. Patrick Higgins Memorial Scholarship Award of Merit continues to recognize excellence in resident research. This year’s award, which includes a $2,000 prize and a commemorative plaque, was selected from 27 high-quality resident presentations. Our sincere thanks to this year’s judging panel: Drs. Dalia Rotstein, Natasha Sabur, Yin Ge, Dani Cuthbert, Nikki Goldberg, Charlie Tan, Natasha Rupani, as well as Brian and Kevin Higgins.

I am very pleased to announce that Kaylee Sohng was selected for the top award for her presentation:
“Cholesterol Medications & Severe Anaphylaxis”, supervised by Drs. Peter Vadas and Erika Lee.
Congratulations, Kaylee!

Additional awards presented at this year's event include:

• William P. Jones III Memorial Scholarship Award
  Christiane Gafrey
  “Perceptions of Care in Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Persons with Inflammatory Bowel Disease”
• Quality Improvement/Education Category
  Tina Marvasti
  “IV Iron Therapy in Heart Failure”
• Research Category
  Jeremy Rosh
  “Outcomes of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Does Day of Admission Matter?”
• Clinical Vignettes Category
  Nickrooz Grami
  “Pinpoint – A Case from St. Michael’s Hospital”

We also celebrated the recipients of several prestigious teaching and postgraduate awards:

• Murray Muirhead Awards
  • PGY1: Huaqi Li
  • PGY2: Divya Santhanam
  • PGY3: Mitali Chaudhary
• Connon Award: Daniel Huang
• Gerald Wong Award for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence: Omar Saeed
• Dr. Robert Sargeant Postgraduate Education Award:
  Alex Muccilli, Nikki Goldberg, Linda Wang, Mario Ostrowski, Dhruv Nayyar, and Ann Young

This year also marked the inaugural presentation of the Divisional Subspecialty Resident Awards. Congratulations to the following recipients:

• Cardiology – Dr. Robert Chisholm Award: Julianah Oguntala, Mehroz Ehsan
• Critical Care – SMH Critical Care Resident Excellence Award: Kathleen Simms
• Endocrinology – Dr. Amir Hanna Clinical Excellence Award: Yucheng Zhang
• Geriatrics – Dr. Marisa Zorzitto Award: Lotus Alphonsus
• Hematology – Award for Excellence in Hematology: Arjun Pandey, Matthew Fuda
• Infectious Diseases – Bill Fong Excellence in Postgraduate Infectious Disease Award: Divya Santhanam
• Medical Oncology – Award for Excellence in Medical Oncology: Ilias Ettayebi
• Nephrology – Division of Nephrology Outstanding IM Resident Award: Junghoon Ko
• Respirology – Dr. Victor Hoffstein Excellence in Respirology Award: Nawazish Naqvi
• Rheumatology – SMH Division of Rheumatology Award of Excellence: Sivakami Mylvaganam

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s event. The afternoon was filled with exceptional presentations that reflected the talent, insight, and dedication of our learners. It was a true pleasure to witness the spirit of academic and clinical excellence on display.

Congratulations to all!

With best regards,

Natalie Wong, MD, FRCPC
Interim Physician-in-Chief
Department of Medicine, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto

Department of Medicine Weekly Roundup - June 26

Please see below for the following updates:

• The Department of Medicine is delighted to welcome Dr. Tasnim Vira, Division of Cardiology to the active staff!
• New Partnership: ICES & GEMINI
• CIHI and GEMINI team up to modernize hospital data and improve patient care
• Annual compensation process for non-union and management staff
• Chief Medical Resident Update

Department of Medicine Weekly Roundup - June 19

Please see below for the following updates:

• Announcement: Medical Director of the Unity Health Stroke Program
• The Department of Medicine is delighted to welcome Dr. Mike Colacci, Division of GIM to the active staff!
• Congratulations to the 2025 Art Slutsky Day Awardees
• Congratulations to the U of T Nephrology Recognition Awardees
• Engagement Survey
• SMH Department of Med - 37th Annual - Higgins Day Resident Research Event – June 23, 2025

• Service changes to the Occupational Medicine and WSIB Clinic at St. Michael’sCongratulations Dr. Charlie Tan - Recipient of The Early Career Teaching Award and the Best Academic Half Day (AHD) Lecture Award
• REMINDER: Submit your 2024/2025 Annual Activity Reports – Active Staff Members
• Open call to participate in DoM Strategic Planning Workshops
• Mask fit testing required before August 31 for all St. Michael's physicians
• Changes to Piperacillin-Tazobactam dosing and method of administration across Unity Health
• Engagement Survey
• SMH Department of Med - 37th Annual - Higgins Day Resident Research Event – June 23, 2025

Please see below for the following updates

• Celebrating Excellence and Gratitude: A Message from Dr. Natalie Wong
• New DOM Research Published in Nature Communications and Cited by WHO
• Congratulations to Dr. Ronita Lee – Recipient of the MOTP Award for Excellence in Curriculum-Based Teaching
• SMH Geriatrics Clinician-Scientists Shine at Canadian Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting
• Engagement Survey
• SMH Department of Med - 37th Annual - Higgins Day Resident Research Event – June 23, 2025

Please see below for the following updates:

• Congratulations Dr Nazik Hammad- Celebrating Excellence in Global Oncology Mentorship
• Claudia dos Santos led a team in Toronto to develop a highly accurate blood test for predicting sepsis.
• Join CAIRN-UofT: A New Research Network for Chronic Autoimmune and Inflammatory Diseases
• Engagement Survey
• SMH Annual DOM Reception – June 4 – 5:00pm,  Pantages Hotel
• SMH Department of Med - 37th Annual - Higgins Day Resident Research Event – June 23, 2025

Please see below for the following updates:

* 14CC celebrates Nursing Week. We are so fortunate to be able to work with such amazing nurses here at St. Mike’s!

Please see below for the following updates:

• • Medical Grand Rounds session on "Reporting and Analytics in Epic" with Trevor Jamieson and Mark McPherson
  • Temerty Medicine Announces New Learner Management System
  • Measles Communication
  • Doctors Day Profile
  • Are You Ready For Promotion?" with Dr. Moira Kapral, Jun 25, 2025  |  (2026-27 Candidates)
  • SMH Annual DOM Reception – June 4 – 5:00pm,  Pantages Hotel
  • SMH Department of Med - 37th Annual - Higgins Day Resident Research Event – June 23, 2025

   

Please see below for the following updates:

1. 2025 Complete Physician Award
2. Stephen Hwang joins CTV Your Morning and Anne-Marie Mediwake to talk about this groundbreaking program
3. Multidisciplinary infective endocarditis working group
4. Are You Ready For Promotion?" with Dr. Moira Kapral, Jun 25, 2025  |  (2026-27 Candidates)
5. RSVP to the SMH Annual DOM Reception – June 4 – 5:00pm,  Pantages Hotel

Dear Colleagues,

As further testament to all the amazing things that our DOM group does, a number of our members and their initiatives were highlighted in the CEO’s message. In fact, we were featured in everyone of them except for the last one. That being said, our structural heart group is working with a company that makes robotic TMVR and anticipate doing their very first case in the near future. We anticipate being featured in next year’s message J.

Natalie

Interim Physician-in-Chief

Message from the President and CEO: Happy National Physicians' Day 2025

To all our Unity Health Physicians,

This National Physicians’ Day, please accept my sincere gratitude for your commitment to excellence in patient care, education, research and innovation. At Unity Health, our mission is to deliver the highest quality of care to everyone we serve – and your dedication plays a vital role in shaping the experiences of our patients and residents each day.

I am grateful for your partnership and leadership in advancing our organizational priorities, including the development and implementation of Epic, our new electronic health record system. Your active involvement, feedback and commitment have been critical to ensuring that Epic is designed to support high quality, patient-centred care. Your engagement has helped shape a system that will improve workflows, enhance communication, and benefit our patients, staff, learners, and communities.

In addition to your leadership on Epic, here are a few ways you have helped Unity Health deliver on our vision: The best care experiences. Created Together.

• Creating cross-site collaboration: The St. Michael’s Geriatric Program expanded further across Providence, giving older rehabilitation patients access to comprehensive geriatric consultations. Thanks to the leadership and expertise of our physicians, this expansion has strengthened care across our network, improving outcomes for elderly patients.
• Connecting communities to timely, integrated care: At St. Joseph’s, the Acute Internal Medicine (AIM) Clinic celebrated its one-year anniversary this year, with more than 2,400 patient visits, and many patients avoiding hospital admissions. With physician collaboration, this clinic provides care to patients where and when they need it, while avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions. It is also developing system partnerships, through programs like SCOPE.
• Revolutionizing care through digital transformation: VITAL is the next phase of GEMINI, an AI platform that started at St. Michael’s and harnesses hospital data. It recently secured a $30-million federal investment to help create one of the largest and most diverse health data platforms in the world, expanding GEMINI across three provinces and 20 million Canadians. Led by physician-scientists, it will enable infrastructure for clinical trials, quality improvement and learning health systems, positioning Unity Health as a leader in Canadian health data infrastructure.
• Leading in world-class specialty care: Providence recently opened the Stroke and Neurology Clinic, driven by the commitment of our medical teams to provide specialized, timely care. With physician leadership at the forefront, the clinic is improving access to critical and world-class services in the East end, and making sure patients receive coordinated, expert treatment close to home.
• Reimagining teaching and learning: With the leadership and collaboration of physician educators, Unity Health is preparing the next generation of medical professionals. This past year, more than 3,500 undergraduate medical learners, residents and fellows benefitted from the knowledge and expertise of Unity Health doctors and their teams.
• Driving world-class research and innovation: This year, St. Michael’s became the first hospital in Toronto to successfully perform a robotic mitral valve repair – making us one of the few places in Canada with the expertise to offer this surgery. Driven by physicians, innovations like this mean Unity Health patients benefit from the most advanced technology, and generate new knowledge to impact care beyond our walls.

Our network and communities are stronger because of your dedication to your profession. Through your careful consultation, compassionate care, and personalized treatment plans, our patients and residents feel heard, supported and cared for throughout their health journeys. Your leadership as physicians continues to drive innovation and collaboration across our network, and inspire the next generation of health care professionals.

Thank you for the role you play across our network and within the health care system. Unity Health physicians live and embody our organization’s core values in interactions with patients, families and colleagues. I am proud of the exceptional care you provide every day.

Happy Physicians’ Day!

Tim Rutledge
President and CEO
Unity Health Toronto

Please see below for the following updates:

• President’s Impact Academy Winner: Knowledge Translation Program
• 60 Minutes: Bird flu poses growing risk to people as pathogen spreads
• Update on the transition from WebCV to Elements
• Fahad Razak, Samir Sinha and David Naylor discuss their work on Canada's pandemic response
• Year 1 agreement supports new parents
• Congratulations to Dr. Laura Chu!

Congratulations to our DOM colleagues who have been recommended by the Dean for promotion effective July 1 2025:

To Associate Professor:  Jennifer Watt, Jonathan Ailon, Maria Wolfs, Jeff Mosko, John Graham and Victoria Korley

To Full Professor:  Gustavo Saposnik, Warren Lee and Jeff Perl

Thank you to our Promotion Committee members and promotion coaches for their commitment to our DOM colleagues going through this process.

Natalie

Interim Physician-in-Chief

Please see below for the following updates:

• SMH DOM Award Announcements
• SMH Murray Muirhead  & J.J Connon Resident Award Announcements
• SAVE THE DATE – SMH Department of Medicine Annual Reception – June 4, 2025 – 5:00pm
• Featured in the Globe and Mail
• Good News Update: Dr. Brandon Tang and his wife, Linda, are excited to welcome their baby boy