Faculty
Dimitri Anastakis, MEd, FRCSC, FACS, FICS
Dr. Dimitri Anastakis is a Professor of Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine. He is also appointed to the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. Dr. Anastakis is the Vice Dean of Continuing Education and Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. He is also the President and CEO of SIM-one, Ontario’s Simulation Network. He is the former Chair of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, and has served in the past as the Associate Director of Surgical Services at University Health Network in Toronto.
Dr. Anastakis obtained his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1988. He then completed his Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery training at U of T in 1995. He was an R.S. McLaughlin Fellow and studying brachial plexus and peripheral nerve surgery at the Clinique de Longeraie in Lausanne, Switzerland. He holds a Masters of Health Professions Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Masters of Health Care Management from Harvard University. Dr. Anastakis’ clinical practice focuses on brachial plexus and peripheral nerve surgery and reconstruction of the paralyzed upper extremity.
Dr. Anastakis is an internationally recognized clinician, educator, scholar, and academic leader. He is respected clinician with major leadership roles in numerous societies and organizations. He is an educator and scholar with a long-standing track record of excellence in innovation and creative thinking. Dr. Anastakis has been involved with and has studied technical skills teaching and assessment, and visual spatial abilities in surgical skills acquisition. Currently, he is studying structural and functional cortical changes following peripheral nerve injury, repair and rehabilitation.
As an academic leader, he is recognized for the design and successful implementation of strategic visions, high performance teams, collaborative partnerships and growth strategies. He is skilled at understanding and capitalizing on entrepreneurial opportunities in health and education sectors. Dr. Anastakis is committed to health professions education and to the important role educators play in transforming our health care system.
Zubin Austin, BScPhm, MBA, MISc, PhD
Zubin Austin is Associate Professor and inaugural holder of the OCP Research Professorship in Pharmacy at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto. His research interests relate to health professional development and education He has published over 80 peer manuscripts and has received awards for his research from the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. He has also authored three textbooks. He is an award winning educator having received the Ontario Government’s Leadership in Faculty Teaching Award and the University of Toronto’s President’s Teaching Award, and he has been named undergraduate professor of the year by students on twelve separate occasions.
Tamara Jayne Bahr, BEd, MScCH
Tamara is the Manager, Academic Technology, Postgraduate Medical Education at the University of Toronto. Tamara joined the Faculty of Medicine in 2006 as an instructional designer and Educational Technology liaison. Prior to joining UofT she designed electronic and digital educational resources and systems for the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario. Her background in both education and the health sciences has lead to a satisfying career in the area of curriculum development for technology enhanced teaching and learning environments at Postgraduate Medical Education University of Toronto. Tamara will begin a PhD in Education at OISE UT in the fall of 2014. Her research interests are the use of social media to enhance educational experiences and effective assessment practices for multimedia based teaching and learning.
Maria Bystrin, MBA
Maria E. Bystrin, MBA, is the founding Director of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) office at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto. Maria is an accomplished teacher, education administrator and business person with over 25 years of progressive work experience in private industry and post-secondary education. At the Faculty of Pharmacy, Maria is a senior member of the management team and is responsible for the development and management of all continuing education initiatives including the Canadian Pharmacy Skills program for internationally educated Pharmacists. Prior to joining U of T in October 2005, Maria was Director of Professional and Continuing Education for the Business School at one of Canada’s largest colleges where she managed a portfolio of over 32 programs attracting over 10,000 students annually. Maria has also worked as a consultant to private industry with a concentration on marketing and entrepreneurship.
Kate Hodgson, DVM, MHSc, CCMEP
I am a veterinarian and graduated from Cornell University with a DVM in 1992. I practiced mixed animal medicine and then companion animal medicine for 10 years. (I describe companion animal medicine to my human health care provider colleagues as a mixture of the complexity of geriatric medicine in a pediatric non-speaking patient.) I received my MHSc in Family and Community Medicine from the University of Toronto in 2005- with a focus on continuing medical education. In May, 2008 I passed the National Commission’s international exam and became a Certified Continuing Medical Education Professional (CCMEP). I now work in both veterinary and human Medical Education. I am a Medical Education Consultant for the Office of Continuing Education and Professional Development at the Faculty of Medicine at U of T and teach in programs for the Department of Family and Community Medicine. I work for Community Veterinary Outreach program bringing veterinary preventive health care to underserved populations and creating bridges for public health. I speak and publish internationally on One Health topics.
Simon Kitto, PhD
Dr. Simon Kitto is a medical sociologist who has been undertaking research in medical education, sociology of surgery and health services for more than ten years. He is the Director of Research in Continuing Education and Professional Development, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Surgery, and a Scientist at the Wilson Centre, University of Toronto. His main research interests are studying how structural, historical and socio-cultural variables shape clinical practice, educational settings and activities. Often, this involves studying issues related to identity/role expectation and formation, competency acquisition/performance and profession-based evidence/knowledge production. Dr Kitto’s work has gathered attention internationally and nationally resulting in invitations to present his work in the UK, Australasia, North America and Europe.
Dr Kitto is also a Visiting Scholar at the Medical Case Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and has held a position as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Surgery at Monash University since 2004. Recent international collaborations include invited presentations, workshop and keynotes in Sweden, Finland, Denver, Japan and the Netherlands. His most recent international research collaboration is as a Co-Principal investigator with Professor Scott Reeves, founding Director of Center for Innovation in Interprofessional Education, University of California, San Francisco, ‘Understanding the nature of interprofessional teamwork in intensive care units: a multi-institutional ethnographic study’. Dr Kitto has published over 50 research articles and several reports, chapters and books. He is also an associate editor for the Journal of Interprofessional Care, BioMed Central Medical Education Journal and the Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions.
Mandy Lowe, MSc, BSc(OT)
Mandy Lowe is the Director of Education and Professional Development at the University Health Network and Associate Director, Centre for Interprofessional Education, University of Toronto. She holds a status appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. She is the Director of the University of Toronto’s ehpic (educating health professionals for interprofessional collaboration) certificate program, a widely recognized faculty and professional development certificate program that annually attracts faculty, researchers, practice leaders, administrators and others from across Canada and globally. Mandy is passionate about education, professional and faculty development, education scholarship and leadership and is an invited speaker nationally and internationally.
Susan Rock, MEd, CMP
Susan Rock is the Director, Operations for Continuing Education and Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Susan has been working in the field of continuing adult education for over 25 years. For the past 17 years, she has specialized in medical education, including a management position with The College of Family Physicians of Canada. Susan has a Masters degree in adult and higher education and has focused her own professional development on strategic leadership, medical meeting planning, and innovations in technology as applied to administrative systems and educational delivery.
Ivan Silver, MD, MEd, FRCPC
Dr. Ivan Silver joined the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in December 2011 as the Vice President, Education. Prior to coming to CAMH, Dr. Silver was the Vice Dean of Continuing Education and Professional Development at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto (2005-2011). Prior to this (2002-2009), he established a teacher and education training centre for faculty in the Faculty of Medicine (The Centre for Faculty Development).
Dr. Silver received his medical education at Dalhousie University; he completed a psychiatry residency program at the University of Toronto and has been a geriatric psychiatrist since 1981. He returned to school in the 1990’s to receive a MEd from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Silver has built a national and international reputation as a skilled clinician and health professional educator. Amongst his many awards and honors is the 3M Teaching Fellowship, a national award that recognizes outstanding contributions to teaching across all universities and their faculties in Canada.
In his role as the VP of Education, Dr. Silver is working to create a learning environment that will draw students and trainees to CAMH. He is dedicated to inter-professional collaboration, work-based learning, and linking health professional education to the principles of knowledge translation, quality, and patient safety. He envisions establishing a student centre at CAMH, as well as a new centre for discovery and innovation in mental health education and teaching. He would like to create new communities of practice and networks in mental health education locally, provincially, nationally and internationally.
Dr. Silver is also deeply interested in fostering the careers of those engaged in education and teaching. He is continuing his scholarship and research in inter-professional and work-based education and life-long learning.
Suzan Schneeweiss, MEd, FRCPC
Dr. Suzan Schneeweiss is the Academic Director for Continuing Education and Professional Development Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Dr. Schneeweiss is an Associate Professor of Paediatrics and an Emergency Paediatrician at The Hospital for Sick Children. She has been Director for Continuing Education for the Department of Paediatrics for the past 9 years and has been working with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons as a CPD Educator since July 2010. She holds a Masters Degree in Health Professional Education from OISE, University of Toronto. She brings with her a wealth of experience working with this office in various capacities including the Continuing Education Leaders and Directors Committee, Faculty Council CEPD Committee, Strategic Planning Committee and has led in program planning for CE faculty development.
Jane Tipping, MADEd
An adult education specialist with an expertise in continuing professional development. She has a background in faculty development, continuing health education, instructional design and educational problem solving. Currently Jane works as an educational consultant with the Office of Continuing Education and Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto In addition to this Jane develops programs and workshops dealing with communication, relationship and life purpose.