I want to take this opportunity to thank faculty, staff and researchers for all your hard work, dedication to patients and learners as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year.
We are all aware of the challenges faced by the health system currently and the health human resource shortages we are seeing on every front. I know this has further impacted our clinical faculty as we seek your support for our undergraduate medical education (UGME) program while you are simultaneously trying to meet your patients’ needs. Your fortitude to adapt, change and advance our priorities over the last three years has been tremendous and is greatly appreciated!
This is a unique time in the Max Rady College of Medicine’s history. The Rady Faculty of Health Sciences strives to be a leader in interprofessional education and promote interprofessional collaboration (IPC) among all health professions. To meet the need for new models of care in health, Rady is working to continuously evolve curricula to ensure a robust two-year program for first- and second-year students, as well as an increasing number of interprofessional clinical practice opportunities for our learners around the province.
Today’s health care crisis and focus on primary care is igniting medical school expansions across Canada. We may be called upon to expand our own training capacity in our MD and master of physician assistant studies programs in the not too distant future in support of the Province’s efforts to meet the health care needs of Manitobans.
With already-approved program expansions in nursing and respiratory therapy across Rady Faculty, we are facing new space challenges while at the same time addressing the mandatory renewal of aging infrastructure. This, along with predicted budget shortfalls the next few years, will also be challenging but we are confident with some due diligence in our financial planning and potentially some increased provincial funding tied to expansions, we will weather this storm, too.
Looking forward to 2023, it will be a year of renewal as we conduct a comprehensive review of our medical school admissions policies, UGME curriculum, as well as addressing the issues identified by the PGME accreditation report. While challenging it will be a huge opportunity in our drive to excellence and to improve our learner satisfaction.
As I conclude my first few months as dean, I can’t help but reflect on one of the first events I attended in my new role: meeting members of the Medicine Class of 1962 at their 60th reunion in September. What struck me was that while I had graduated with my MD in 1986, nearly 25 years later, we shared a lot in common (including some of the same profs) as proud University of Manitoba medicine alumni.
And a few weeks later when I met 100 more alumni at the Dean’s Homecoming breakfast, I realized that our education and training at the Max Rady College of Medicine plays a key role in determining our career paths – and more importantly the kinds of physicians we become and contributions we make.
I wish you all a healthy and relaxing holiday season with family and friends. Happy holidays!
Dr. Peter Nickerson
Vice-provost (health sciences)
Dean, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Dean, Max Rady College of Medicine