A message of gratitude, pride and celebration

The time has arrived for my final report as the Associate Dean for the Schulich Medicine — Windsor Campus.

As I write this message, I am filled with a range of emotions and chief among them is pride. What has been accomplished during the past 10 years is amazing and transformative, and there is plenty of evidence of such.

I arrived in September 2011, at the beginning of the fourth year of operations as a satellite medical school campus. It was the first time that there were students in each of the four years concurrently. It would be another two years before there would be 38 students in all four years of the Schulich Medicine — Windsor Campus. Physician shortages in Windsor-Essex were still prominently discussed in the media in 2011, and the walls of the Campus were somewhat stark, save for a few artifacts within the fledgling trophy case.

Fast forward to the Schulich Medicine — Windsor Campus today: vibrant, confident and making a difference. Schulich Medicine has graduated 239 physicians who have had the majority of their medical training in Windsor. These learners have done amazingly well with a residency match rate of more than 99 per cent and with many going on to train in some very competitive specialties across Canada. About one-third of this year’s graduating class originate from the Windsor-Essex County area and with successful pathway programs like Anatomy & Healthcare Day, it appears a steady flow of local applicants for the coming years is likely.

Not only has the size of the undergraduate medicine class increased from 24 to 38, more medical graduates are training here than ever before – full-time residents in Family Medicine and Psychiatry, and part-time residents logging in nearly 2,500 resident training weeks annually. Approximately three-quarters of the Family Medicine residents practise locally following their training and some have even been known to advertise in the media seeking new patients. Several have since joined the ranks of the teaching corps; among these we can count a few who now are course/academic leaders.

The dedicated faculty are truly inspirational. Many have been recognized for their contributions as expert medical educators for example highly coveted national teaching awards, including the most recent 3M National Teaching Fellowship, and teacher, practitioner and/or distinguished service awards of the year for various specialties. Distinguished Leader, CAME Merit Awards, Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medals, full professorships and honorary doctorate degrees are just a few others that have been received. Such excellence results in educational programs receiving high evaluations by learners and this too helps students with their ability to be successful with residency matches and such.

The walls of the Dr. Murray O’Neil Medical Education Centre are now alive with photos of learners, faculty and staff, banners chronicling values, historic events and research posters; even the occasional statue made out of muffler parts.

Among the more prominent though are the plaques recognizing the Awards of Excellence recipients; these are truly a source of pride because they speak to how the Schulich Medicine — Windsor Campus has matured. Just ask any award recipient what this means to them to have been recognized by their peers. Moreover, these plaques only tell part of the story as there are now as many receiving other prestigious endowed awards as there are identified on this wall.

Increasingly, donations from local organizations and individuals are making awards like these and support for other programs including research possible. Last year, a third of the Medicine Class of 2020 had a research project receive funding.

Scholarship and intellectual discovery within the School’s medical education community are growing at an impressive pace.

Earlier this year, I invited faculty, staff and learners to tell me about their peer-review publications and posters at research conferences. To say that I was overwhelmed is an understatement: as of today, this 2008-2018 list includes 404 publications and 213 other forms of scholarship. It continues to grow daily.

There are so many additional accomplishments, which I could add, suffice it to say, there are many areas of which we can be proud.

A recent socioeconomic impact study conducted by two promising medical students is a project that is very close to my heart.

The goal of the research was to better understand what it means to have a regional medical education campus in a community like Windsor-Essex.

This team discovered that people across several key local community sectors strongly believe that health care has improved, there is greater civic pride, a greater focus on interprofessional education and partnerships, the community is more aware of and appreciative of medical learners and Windsor’s economy has been stimulated all because of the Schulich Medicine — Windsor Campus.

The students have been busy presenting their findings at conferences and will soon submit their manuscript for publication. Talk about an amazing story especially noting the short time-span in which it has occurred. Such success comes because of the determined and consistent efforts of so many.

There are simply too many individuals to name here but having two universities invested in the success of the Schulich Medicine — Windsor Campus is an excellent starting place, as well as a highly supportive medical community.

To all who read this column, please know that I will treasure the many lasting memories that I take with me into retirement of my time as a member of the Schulich Medicine — Windsor Campus family. Thank you. Merci. Chi Miigwetch.

I shall continue to follow the Schulich Medicine — Windsor Campus story with fascination and delight.

Gerry Cooper EdD
Associate Dean