October 2023 SFU Medical School Update

As SFU Medical School planning and development progresses, read on for a quick update about what happened over the last month.

Progress on the search for a founding dean

The search for a founding dean is progressing this fall. An open forum to gather input from the university community on the qualities, attributes and types of experience the founding dean should possess, along with the opportunities and challenges they may encounter, was held on September 21 and accompanied by an online survey. For more information about the next steps in the process, have a look at the search committee timeline.

The medical school welcomes an acting associate dean, Indigenous health

While the founding dean search continues, the SFUMS welcomes Dr. Evan Adams as its acting associate dean Indigenous health and special advisor. He will provide leadership for integrating Indigenous knowledge systems within the school. Dr. Adams is Deputy Chief Medical Officer at First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), where he champions the improvement of overall public health and wellness of Indigenous B.C. communities and advocates for the transformation of health care systems in service of culturally safe care.

Read more about Dr. Adams—proud Tla'amin Nation community member, physician, avid runner and professional actor—here.

Establishing ad doc governance, admission pathways committees

In support of important planning milestones next spring, the medical school is now convening two ad hoc committees to guide key decisions. The first, starting mid-October, will consider Faculty governance structure options and provide a recommendation for the governance model of the SFU Medical School. The second, starting mid-November, will explore the development of flexible SFU undergraduate admission pathways—through existing programs and courses—for the medical school. Each committee will include faculty members from every Faculty and relevant content experts as needed, and each dean will nominate faculty members to serve. For more information or questions about these committees, email medical_school@sfu.ca.

New team members joining the medical school in September, October

A few new faces are joining the SFUMS team—and all are bringing their existing SFU knowledge and experience from diverse areas such as student engagement and retention, human resources and Provost and VP Academic. The team welcomes Jade Tran, Enissa Alhashimi and Ruby Sidhu, who are coming aboard in September and October as executive assistants providing administrative support to the new leadership and the team.

Have your say, and answer this month's quick survey question

We want to hear from you! SFU is home to a wealth of knowledge thanks to incredible students, faculty, and staff, and we need your help to create a shared vision for a medical school responsive to the unique needs of individuals, populations and communities.

In this month's survey, we want to know: What is the ONE most important quality or attribute the next generation of B.C. physicians should possess? It's quick and anonymous, and we'll share the results with you next month. Take the survey here.