Please see below for the following updates:

• Congratulations to Samir Grover!
• Quality Improvement Partnership with the CPSO
• The Division of General Surgery and Department of Surgery welcomes Dr. Anna Dare
• Jeffrey C. Lozon Physician Leadership Award

Samir Grover is leaving the active staff of SMH-UHT to become Executive Vice-President of Education at the Scarborough Hospital Network as of November 17, 2023. We wish Samir all the very best in his new role! 

Samir will retain a courtesy appointment and will continue to provide part-time clinical support at SMH.  Please read on for a message from Samir.

Dear All,

I have resigned from St. Michael's Hospital as of November 17, 2023. I am closing my gastroenterologic practice. I understand that the GI division and Department of Medicine are hiring either a successor physician or a locum tenens physician in the interim.

I am moving on to Scarborough Health Network as their executive VP of Education.

Some of you know that I was a "Fitzie" originally and came back to work at St. Mike's. I've always viewed this institution as the pinnacle of clinical and academic work in the country. When I entered my office this morning, I had the same sense of wonder and respect that I had when I first walked in as a medical student in 1997. 

It has been a genuine pleasure working with you and your divisions. I wanted to thank each of you and your division members for enriching my professional life and making it such a pleasure to come to work every day.

All the best.

Samir Grover

--

Sent on behalf of Dr. Irfan Dhalla, Vice-President Care Experience & Equity, Executive Lead, CPSO QI Partnership

As you know, Unity Health Toronto has entered into a Quality Improvement Partnership with the CPSO. All active staff physicians were offered the opportunity to participate in this program earlier in the year. (We anticipate that new active staff physicians will be offered the opportunity to join on an annual basis.)

Given that the CPSO requires participation in either its QI for Individuals program or a group-based program such as the partnership through Unity Health, there are advantages to our physicians in participating in the partnership.

Most Unity Health physicians who decided not to opt out completed the two required CPSO modules before the September 1 deadline. However, approximately 100 physicians across the organization have not completed the modules.

The CPSO has extended the deadline to October 1 for physicians who have not yet complete the required modules.

Most physicians who completed the two modules reported that it took them less than 90 minutes. This was my personal experience as well.

The CPSO may or may not offer a further extension. If they do not, the CPSO will likely remove physicians who have not completed these modules from the list of physicians who are participating in the QI partnership. These physicians may then be selected for participation in the QI for Individual program by the CPSO.

Therefore, it may be of interest to physicians in your department who have not completed the two modules to do so before October 1. Instructions from the CPSO on how to do so are provided below.

Thanks

Irfan

Please see below for some instructions to assist you with completing your outstanding QI Program requirements:  

1. Please ensure you are using Google Chrome as your browser.  
2. Log into CPSO’s Member Portal.    
3. Click on the Quality Improvement Program tile.    
4. Click on your active case (e.g., CAS-9999-9999).   
5. Click on LMS on the left-hand side, then click Proceed to LMS.    
6. Click on the Practice Profile option on the left-hand side and proceed to complete the activity.    
7. Complete the Reflective Exercise and generate PDF report to trigger the completion status.  

Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the Self-Guided Chart Review.    

Sent from the Office of Dr. Najma Ahmed, Surgeon-In-Chief:

Anna Dare (MBChB PhD FRCSC) is joining the Division of General Surgery as a GI Surgical Oncologist and Surgeon-Scientist. Her clinical interests are in the management of colorectal cancer, including young-onset and hereditary CRC. She also treats patients with small bowel and gastric malignancies. She is trained in open, laparoscopic, trans-anal and robotic surgical approaches.  Originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, Dr Dare completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge, followed by general surgery residency at the University of Toronto, and surgical oncology fellowships at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre and the University of Toronto. Dr Dare has an academic background in epidemiology, health economics, and global health systems research. Her clinical, research, policy and advocacy work focus on understanding and addressing inequities in access, quality and outcomes in surgical and cancer care.

Administrative assistants (Dare/Louridas/Chesney): Nicole Glazik and Melissa Sambrano 

Central referral email (Dare/Louridas/Chesney): [email protected]

Thank you.

______________________________________________________

Najma Ahmed MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS

Surgeon-in-Chief, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto

Vice Chair Education, Professor of Surgery, University of Toronto

Trauma/Acute Care Surgery, St. Michael’s Hospital

The Jeffrey C. Lozon Physician Leadership Award is given annually to a physician member of St. Michael’s Hospital who has demonstrated outstanding leadership skills in promoting the mission and vision of the hospital. Nominations will be accepted from any member of St. Michael’s, including both medical and non-medical staff. Self-nominations are also accepted. The nominator must provide their own letter of nomination and two supporting letters.

Please submit nominations to the Medical Staff Officeby emailing [email protected]. The submission deadline is Oct. 13. Please click here for the terms of reference.