Announcement: Dr. Emil Schemitsch re-appointed as Chair/Chief of the Department of Surgery
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Emil Schemitsch has been re-appointed as Chair/Chief of the Department of Surgery, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London, effective January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2025.
After graduating from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine in 1984, Dr, Schemitsch completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Toronto in 1991. He completed fellowships in orthopaedic traumatology, biology and biomechanics at the University of Washington and in adult joint reconstruction at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1993, he began his career at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto, serving as Head of Orthopaedic Surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital from 2000 to 2012. Dr. Schemitsch was appointed as the University of Toronto ‐ St. Michael's Hospital Term Chair in Fracture Care Research in 2013. In 2016, he began his role as Chair/Chief of Surgery at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London.
Dr. Schemitsch has served as Program Chair for numerous national and international academic meetings. He founded the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) Basic Science Focus Forum, the primary forum for the dissemination of basic science research related to trauma. Dr. Schemitsch is on the editorial board for the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma and is the Editor-in-Chief for OTA International. Dr Schemitsch was formerly the President of the Canadian Orthopaedic Association and the Canadian Arthroplasty Society.
For his research efforts, he has received international recognition including the OTA’s Bovill Award and the American-British-Canadian Travelling Fellowship from the Canadian Orthopaedic Association. Dr. Schemitsch’s program of research in musculoskeletal trauma and arthritis has led to more than 550 publications in top journals, hundreds of guest lectures around the world and numerous grants (including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, PSI, Ontario Trauma Association, AO, and OMeGA Medical Grants Association).
Dr. Schemitsch received the Award of Merit from the Canadian Orthopaedic Association in 2019. This award is presented for excellence in service to the field of medical organization as it relates to orthopaedic surgery specifically; and personal contributions to the advancement of orthopaedic research, orthopaedic education, health care organization or orthopaedic education of the public. In 2018, he was inducted as a Fellow into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He has supervised numerous students, graduate students, residents and fellows and has won numerous teaching awards.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Schemitsch on his re-appointment.
John Yoo, MD, FRCS(C), FACS
Dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Western University
Dr. William J. Sischek MD, FRCPC, CCPE
Integrated Vice President
Medical & Academic Affairs
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC)
St. Joseph’s Health Care London
