Dean's Message: Reflecting on Our Achievements, Acknowledging Our Challenges

At the end of this academic year drawing near, let us take a moment to reflect on our activities over the past few months. As we take pride in our accomplishments and acknowledge the challenges before us, we are guided by an enduring commitment to social responsibility.

Among this year’s highlights was the installation of Meric Gertler as the new President of the University of Toronto. He challenged us to engage with our surrounding communities to find new opportunities for learning and research. In many ways, our faculty and students have embraced meaningful innovation. From the student-run IMAGINE Health Clinic to the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at St. Michael’s, U of T Medicine is working in the community, contributing to our knowledge and gaining new insights.

But we have not rested there. In the past year, we have seen new examples emerge, with our students leading the way. A drive led by U of T Medicine students became the most successful organ and tissue donor drive in Ontario when more than 5,000 members of the U of T community registered through the Trillium Gift of Life Network. Pre-clerkship medical student Phillip Gregoire and more than 200 of his colleagues are petitioning Toronto police to stop automatically disclosing suicide attempt records in a national police database. Such advocacy shows just how committed our students are to making an impact in our society.

This fall we launched Partnership for Excellence: Medicine at the University of Toronto and Academic Hospitals, the comprehensive history of our Faculty. Authored by Professor Edward Shorter, the book chronicles our growth from a small provincial school to our global position we occupy today. It reminds us that many of our greatest achievements were born from strong collaborations and support through a close partnership with our great affiliated academic hospitals. That is still true today, which was one of the key themes that emerged from Fulfilling Our Potential, a strategic planning retreat that marked the halfway point in our current strategic plan. The retreat was an opportunity to reaffirm our goals, bringing together students, faculty, staff, hospital partners and international thought leaders. The high value we place on collaboration was evident in these discussions and forward planning.

However, we struggle to secure the resources we need to truly fulfill our potential. The recent changes to the CIHR grant application process have not only been frustrating, but present a financial challenge to the Faculty as we help those researchers facing a funding gap of six to 18 months. This exacerbates the persistent problem of less than optimal revenue growth and increasing operating expenses.

This is why Boundless — our fundraising campaign — is so important.

With the support of generous donors, we are able to make up some of these shortfalls and ensure that the important work of our Faculty can be sustained. For example, this year we were privileged to receive a $5-million donation from Brian and Joannah Lawson in support of the Centre for Child Nutrition, Health and Development, which is a high priority for our scholarly work. This donation will support expanded nutrition training in our MD program and an annual conference to educate practicing health professionals. It will also ensure the Centre's research findings are conveyed effectively to public and private stakeholders to achieve the goal of a healthier population. By aligning our donor’s interests with our Faculty’s priorities — such as childhood nutrition, neurodegenerative disease and complex disease — we will meet our strategic academic goals.

Confucius tells us to “study the past if you would define the future.” Informed by our strategic plan and driven by our vision and mission, U of T Medicine will continue to improve health through innovation in education and research.

Catharine Whiteside
Dean, Faculty of Medicine
Vice-Provost, Relations with Health Care Institutions