This year’s recipients of the Donald Richards Wilson Award and the Duncan Graham Award are lauded for their dedication to CanMEDS integration and medical education leadership. 

• Dr. JoAnn Corey
• Dr. Anurag Saxena

Exemplifying and promoting CanMEDS Roles

The Donald Wilson Award is given annually to a medical educator or leader who has demonstrated excellence at integrating the CanMEDS Roles into a health-related training program. JoAnn Corey, MD, FRCPC, psychiatrist and associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University, is recognized by both colleagues and trainees for embodying and promoting the CanMEDS roles throughout her career. 

She is “an outstanding, innovative and courageous educational leader who has implemented major reforms to postgraduate Psychiatry education and the integration of CanMEDS Roles, and she serves as a tireless advocate and role model for improvements in the learning experience of Psychiatry residents,” says her colleague at McMaster’s DeGroote School of Medicine, psychiatrist Karin J. Neufeld, MD, FRCPC. “Her skills are matched by a highly effective interpersonal style that bolsters relationships, builds trust among residents and faculty, and affords for an exceptional learning environment.”

Setting a high standard 

Dr. Corey’s numerous past educational leadership roles include assistant director and director for the medical school’s Psychiatry Postgraduate Program, competency-based medical education lead and Waterloo Regional Campus regional education lead. In each role, she has promoted and exemplified the CanMEDS Roles.

“Specifically, she undertook a complete revision of the core academic curriculum for the Psychiatry residency program…drawing on Medical Expert, Communicator, Collaborator, Scholar, Health Advocate, Manager/Leader and Professional CanMEDS Roles,” says postgraduate medical education (PGME) associate dean Parveen Wasi. “She sets an incredibly high standard for postgraduate education and the integration of the CanMEDS roles and principles into the training and support of Psychiatry residents, and by extension, other medical residents as well.”

A natural progression 

For Dr. Corey, promoting the integration of CanMEDS Roles was not always consciously done. “In developing and creating educational opportunities and learning opportunities, it felt like the natural progression for a medical learner to move from learning the skills that are necessary in the individual CanMEDS Roles to activities that bring those CanMEDS Roles naturally together,” she says. “Because that's what we do every single day in medicine.

“We're not just doing one CanMEDS Role at any given time, and so they sort of organically came together in creating new educational initiatives and thinking about what would be helpful as learning opportunities.”

On winning the Donald Wilson Award for CanMEDS integration, Dr. Corey says it’s “beyond something that I would ever have thought might occur for me. To have been nominated and had the support of my department and my postgrad office for that is amazing.”

Outstanding contribution to PGME

Anurag Saxena, MD, FRCPC, recipient of the Duncan Graham Award, always puts residents first. This award is given annually to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to medical education.

The associate dean of PGME at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine, “takes a people-first approach to everything he does, which we believe is the foundation to his success in medical education,” say colleagues, Mark Sheridan, MD, FRCSC and Jay Kalra, MD, FRCPC, in their award nomination letter. “He genuinely cares about his patients, learners, and staff.”

Dr. Saxena oversees 30 residency programs and has led the development of several strategic plans, the current one of which prioritizes learner-centred programming; learner success and well-being; equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI); social accountability; Indigenous health and organizational accountability.

He has worked to enhance education in Indigenous health and EDI through access to courses in cultural humility and the role of practitioners in Indigenous wellness, professional development sessions on EDI, implicit bias training, transgender health sessions, refugee health sessions and ensuring diversity among preceptors.

Celebrating excellence

Dr. Saxena believes in recognizing and celebrating people for their achievements, which is why he established an annual PGME Celebration Night. “While we truly do value the intrinsic CanMEDS Roles, we are not very explicit about that,” he says of his motivation in starting the event. 

He started Celebration Night at the college to address that gap – an event that, he says, “also sends a message across the organization that these competencies are highly valued by us and we do notice them and we celebrate them.”

Drs. Sheridan and Kalra say these “events highlight how Anurag breaks down boundaries and brings people together, providing an inclusive experience where our residents really feel celebrated and valued.” 

Research on education and leadership

An active researcher, Dr. Saxena has 64 peer-reviewed publications, 934 citations, and 145 refereed conference presentations – much of which are focused on education and leadership. 

He says his research has “always been driven by what is going to be practically relevant and at the same time, address some of the fundamental issues in medical education – like social accountability. Issues straddling the academic and practitioner boundary are truly important for me.”

Dr. Saxena joined the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan in 1995, having also served as head of the Division of Hematopathology for 19 years. He says he is “truly honoured” to win the Duncan Graham Award.

“In moments of distress, a recognition like this allows you to say, ‘Well, you can continue on this path. You know it is good.’”