REBECCA ARCHER, DVM, is supervised by Dr. Linda Snell and Prof. Maryam Wagner.
She is a small animal veterinarian who is on leave from faculty at the University of Calgary and is currently living on the south shore with her husband and two girls. Her thesis is on experiential learning with expanding class sizes and is supported by a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship.
Hands-on learning, like simulation, is critical to health professions education (HPE) but is resource-intensive and difficult to do with large class sizes. She is exploring new learning technologies to bridge this gap. She has published two papers while at 麻豆AV on Phronesis and Faculty Development both in a veterinary context.
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ETHAN BAZOS, HBSc, MSc, is supervised by Prof. Meredith Young and Prof. Nicole Ventura. Ethan is a clinical anatomist by background, having originally trained at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry in the University of Western Ontario.
Ethan has a rich teaching portfolio (e.g., previous academic position held at a medical institution, and numerous teaching assistantships across various healthcare professions). At 麻豆AV, he continues to teach clinically oriented anatomy as a teaching assistant in various FMD (Fundamentals of Medicine and Dentistry) courses.
His current research explores how Anatomical Sciences Education can use different models of education (e.g., Authentic Learning Theory, Authentic Assessment) to reinforce the learning of clinically relevant anatomical knowledge required of health professions students. More specifically, his research is currently exploring how clinically relevant (or authentic) assessment practices can be mobilized in a medical curriculum to solve issues of knowledge retention suggested to occur by clerkship and residency directors.
Ethan has been awarded a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for his project titled 鈥淭he use of authentic assessment in anatomical sciences education: From conception to ensuring quality practices鈥�. In addition, Ethan is a recipient of the Doctoral Scholarship Award from the Research Group in Pursuit of Validity (RGPV) in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic calendar years. The RGPV is a research initiative supported by the Fonds de recherche du Qu茅bec 鈥� Soci茅t茅 et Culture (FRQS).
TERKUMA CHIA, BSc, PDE, MSc, is supervised by Prof. Tracie Barnett and Prof. Peter Nugus. His academic background includes a master's and a bachelor's in anatomy from the University of Nigeria and the University of Ilorin, along with a graduate diploma in education from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria.
Over the past nine years, he has contributed to the education of Nigerian students pursuing careers in the health professions, holding teaching positions at ECWA College of Health Technology, Kagoro, School of Nursing Mkar, and Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja. Terkuma's extensive teaching experience has been a driving force behind his research endeavours.
Focused on health professions research, he has demonstrated scholarly productivity by publishing numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and actively participating in conferences. His research interests centre around understanding the intricacies of student learning, particularly within the context of anatomical sciences education. Currently immersed in his doctoral research, Terkuma applies Paulo Freire's concept of conscientization to investigate how knowledge about health, specifically behaviours that contribute to obesity, is learned through social networks.
Terkuma is proud to have received grants and scholarships that have supported his academic pursuits, including 麻豆AV鈥檚 Anti-Black Racism Graduate Excellence Award. He has also been nominated for the Vanier Graduate Scholarship, and ranked second among 19 麻豆AV candidates nominated. He aspires to make valuable contributions to the field of health science education.
ALLISON CHRESTENSEN, BSc(OT), MPH, is supervised by Prof. Elizabeth Anne Kinsella. She completed her BSc degree in occupational therapy (OT) with magna cum laude honors at the Medical College of Georgia. She has over 20 years of experience as an OT with specialization in oncology rehabilitation.
After earning her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Georgia in 2008, Allison worked in quality improvement and patient engagement, leading large-scale projects for North Carolina Medicaid waiver programs. Later, she developed a patient engagement program at Duke Health. She currently operates a consulting firm through which she develops education programs and provides technical support for healthcare organizations and biotechnology companies.
Allison has a particular interest in engaging health humanities practices and qualitative research methods to understand and address clinician well-being. She was inspired to pursue her PhD in health sciences education based on her experience teaching pre-medical students in Duke University鈥檚 鈥淩eimagine Medicine鈥� program as well as reflections on the challenges she encountered as a clinician. Her doctoral research is a phenomenological study of moral distress in internal medicine and pediatric residents.
In her free time, Allison enjoys growing and cooking her own vegetables and exploring the mountains, small towns, and coast of North Carolina.
KHOA DUONG (he/him), MD, MPH, MScHPE, is supervised by Prof. Meredith Young. With a strong background in medical research, public health and education, Khoa has always been passionate about the intersection of healthcare and pedagogy. Khoa earned his medical degree from University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (UMP), Vietnam, and a master's in public health from Universit茅 Paris-Sud, France, under the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie scholarship.
After completing his residency, he joined the faculty at the Department of Internal Medicine and the Medical Education Center at UMP, where he has actively contributed to clinical service, education and research in areas such as pulmonary and sleep medicine, smoking cessation, palliative care, interprofessional education and global health. Reflecting on his own experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, Khoa moves his focus to health sciences education (HSE) to prepare future professionals for challenges of our time.
Khoa earned his MSc in HSE at Boston University, generously supported by the prestigious Fulbright scholarship. He is excited to continue his scholarly journey in his PhD research, exploring advocacy and agency in HSE, especially in various settings which are different in culture and resources.
Khoa is a museum nerd, a curious traveler, and a mindfulness practitioner.
JENNIFER FITZPATRICK, BSc, MS, CGC, is supervised by Prof. Aliki Thomas. She obtained her BSc in Biology at 麻豆AV and her Master鈥檚 (MS) in Human Genetics at the University of Michigan.
She is a genetic counsellor and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics. She has worked clinically at the Hospital for Sick Children, the University of Maryland Medical Centre, the Jewish General Hospital and the Montreal Children鈥檚 Hospital. She is currently the Director of the MSc in Genetic Counselling Program at 麻豆AV and enjoys teaching and learning with students in the Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences, Science and Law.
She began her PhD studies at the IHSE in 2021. The focus of her research is on the structure and delivery of genetic counselling education and its possible impact on learners, particularly those from underrepresented groups. She has received the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors 2023 Research Grant for her doctoral project.
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NANCY FORGET, BSc(OT), MSc is being supervised by Prof. Carlos Gomez-Garibello and Prof. Maryam Wagner. She holds a BSc in Occupational Therapy from 麻豆AV, an MSc in Biomedical Research (Rehabilitation Sciences) and a Graduate Diploma in Advanced Professional Studies (Public Health) from the University of Montreal.
As an occupational therapist, she has developed expertise in hand therapy, and has worked for many years in public and private institutions in Quebec and Ontario. Since 2007, she has been teaching in rehabilitation programs at the Universit茅 de Sherbrooke, Universit茅 de Montr茅al, McMaster University, but mainly at 麻豆AV, where she became a faculty member in 2008.
Her main research interest is around assessments. Her previous research has allowed her to participate in the development of two patient-reported outcome measures: the MIDA to measure oral impairment and disability and the DIF-CHUM to measure functioning in people with Dupuytren's contracture, for which she received a grant from the American Society of Hand Therapists and scholarships from the Centre Hospitalier de l'Universit茅 de Montr茅al and the Fonds de Recherche du Qu茅bec - Sant茅. Having been a clinician and an educator, she aims to bridge the gap between the academic and clinical worlds through her doctoral project, which will focus on how to assess health professions students' competencies and their readiness for practice.
ELIZABETH HORNYAK-BELL, BScOT, MHSc, is supervised by Prof. Elizabeth Anne Kinsella. She is an occupational therapist and clinician-educator from Guelph, Ontario, who focuses on pediatric practice. She is also a clinical preceptor, mentor, and Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct) at McMaster University and has worked on numerous educational initiatives and social justice projects related to marginalized voices.
Elizabeth obtained her master鈥檚 degree in bioethics from the University of Toronto in 2018 and continues her passion for health sciences education, ethics and humanities as a doctoral student at the IHSE.
Elizabeth is inquisitive about the moral and epistemological underpinnings of healthcare practice, what makes a 鈥済ood鈥� practitioner, and how practical wisdom is enacted in professional practice. She believes these concepts have relevance for considerations of what 鈥渟hould鈥� be taught in the health care curriculum, as well as for considerations of the hidden curriculum and the theory-practice gap. Elizabeth鈥檚 doctoral research focuses on the intersection of ethics and epistemology, exploring the epistemic tensions experienced by healthcare professionals in practice.
Outside of her work commitments, Elizabeth enjoys gardening, engages in creative visual art projects, and is currently learning the intricacies of Scottish Country dance.
MELANIE LANGELIER, BSc, MSc, is supervised by Prof. Peter Nugus. She has been a nurse since 1999.
Since her graduation, she gathered clinical experience in a variety of settings, namely in burn unit, homecare, emergency, internal medicine as well as in several leadership and educational positions. She completed her masters in nursing in 2018, where she focused on the different educational needs of patient populations across generations and focusing on the needs of digital native populations.
For the past 10 years, she has worked in different rare diseases specialities, where she observed that the manner in which physicians deal with uncertainty, in the context of rare diseases, affects their access to a quick and precise diagnosis. Her PhD thesis looks at doctors鈥� engagement with uncertainty in the decision-making process through the learning journey.
KAREN MONIZ, BSC, MEd, is supervised by Prof. Peter Nugus. With an academic background clinical nutrition, Karen earned a Master of Education in Health Sciences Education from the University of Alberta in 2018. She is currently an Assistant Professor (Adjunct) and the former Director of Faculty and Staff Development in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta.
Karen has also worked in provincial primary care, community health services, acute care cardiology, CICU and the Heart Transplant Program at the University of Alberta Hospitals and affiliated clinical sites, while teaching students in healthcare professions at MacEwan University. Her passion for teaching and learning in healthcare education led her to begin her PhD studies in 2020.
Karen鈥檚 ethnographic research focuses on how professional cultures in healthcare can shape teacher identity in the workplace. In 2022, Karen received the Maurice Hitchcock Award for Outstanding Poster 鈥� USC Innovations in Medical Education: 鈥淭he Teaching Connection When Your Clinic is Your Classroom: Ethnography as an Innovation.鈥�
OSAMU NOMURA, MD, MA, is supervised by Prof. Jason Harley. A pediatric emergency physician from Japan, he holds a Master of Arts in Educational Psychology (Health Professions Stream) from 麻豆AV.
His , 鈥楯apanese medical learners鈥� achievement emotions: Accounting for culture in translating western medical educational theories and instruments into an Asian context鈥�, was published in Advances in Medical Education in 2021. After graduating in 2019, he worked as a clinician-educator in a Japanese medical school.
Throughout his career, Osamu鈥檚 passion for learning and discovery continued to grow, leading him to take a road less travelled. In 2022, he chose to pursue a PhD, driven by a desire to contribute more to the field of health sciences education and become an independent researcher. His doctoral project aims to discover the emotion regulation process of medical trainees using self-reported questionnaire and physiological sensor data.
Osamu has also received a 2023 Rising Star 鈥� Certificate of Excellence Award from the Canadian Association of Medical Education (CAME).
ANTOINE PRZYBYLAK-BROUILLARD, BA, MA, is supervised by Prof. Peter Nugus and Prof. Sylvie Lambert. He completed his BA and MA in Medical Anthropology, where he conducted ethnographic research with Medical Assistance in Dying advocates in Belgium and Quebec.
Prior to beginning his PhD, Antoine worked in hospital research institutes supporting qualitative-based studies. During this time, Antoine was exposed to the fields of health professions education and implementation Science.
Following his work on a particularly challenging eHealth educational implementation project, Antoine was inspired to pursue a PhD focusing on improving implementation processes through qualitative inquiry with patients. His research aims to understand the way a new eHealth technology (e-IMPAQc) can be integrated into cancer patients鈥� care trajectory and support shared decision making between patients and healthcare professionals.
Antoine is the recipient of a FRQS doctoral award, a Dialogue 麻豆AV stipend and a Innove-Onco PhD scholarship. He is an author in multiple medical journals and a lecturer at the University of Ottawa. In his spare time, Antoine greatly enjoys woodworking with hand tools and reading speculative fiction novels.
SUCHISMITA SARKAR, MD ANATOMY, MBBS, is supervised by Dr. Rosario (Charo) Rodr铆guez and Prof. Tamara Ellen Carver.
Dr. Sarkar embarked on her academic journey by earning a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, from 2002 to 2006, followed by a Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Anatomy from Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, from 2008 to 2011. With over 14 years of experience as an anatomical sciences educator and researcher in both governmental and private medical institutions across India, she has held various faculty positions and administrative roles, and served on numerous committees, all dedicated to advancing undergraduate medical education in medicine and allied health sciences.
Before pursuing her PhD in Health Sciences Education, Dr. Sarkar was instrumental in implementing competency-based curriculum research at both undergraduate and graduate levels in India. Her work has been recognized through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentation awards. To further refine her expertise, Dr. Sarkar pursued advanced training, including the AMEE Essential Skills in Medical Education 鈥� Assessment (AMEE ESME-A) and the National Faculty Development Program at the Regional FAIMER Institute at CMC Ludhiana, India.
Currently, Dr. Sarkar鈥檚 research focuses on exploring academic leader identity formation among participants in 麻豆AV鈥檚 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences' Leadership Development Program (LDP), investigating how their experiences shape their leadership identities. Outside of academia, she enjoys painting with watercolours, exploring new places and nurturing her plants, reflecting a balance of creativity and care that mirrors her professional journey.
MAIA SIEDLIKOWSKI (she/her/elle), RN, MSc, CNCCP, is supervised by Prof. Meredith Young.
She is a Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse Clinician and the Professional Development Educator for the Montreal Children's Hospital Centre for Pediatric Simulation (Medical Director: Dr. Ilana Bank). Maia鈥檚 role involves partnering with clinical teams to design, lead, and evaluate interprofessional and interdisciplinary in situ scenarios to mirror real-life situations. Her aim is to establish collaborations among frontline clinicians, educators, researchers, and institutional administrative leaders to promote the use of in situ simulation for safety and quality improvement initiatives.
She holds a Bachelors with Honours in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Ottawa, a Masters of Science in Human Nutrition from 麻豆AV, and a Masters of Science in Nursing from 麻豆AV. She obtained her Canadian Nurses Association Certification in Critical Care Pediatrics in 2022 and her Heart and Stroke Pediatric Advanced Life Support Instructor Certification in 2023.
Beyond her work at the 麻豆AV Health Centre, she is committed to community advocacy and has previously served as Secretary of the Board of Directors at Head and Hands. She now sits on the Montreal Children's Hospital Mission Safety Committee.
Her research interest is the use of in situ simulation as a risk-management tool to detect latent safety threats, assess individual, team, and institution-level factors that contribute to and protect against safety events, and identify underlying mechanisms through team reflexivity.
NIKI SOILIS, BA (Com), MA, is supervised by Prof. Elizabeth Anne Kinsella. With an academic background in Educational Technology, Niki joins the program with extensive experience in developing large-scale educational programs in both public and private health sectors, across various geographical and clinical settings, and using various educational modalities, from in-person training to simulation-based education and online learning.
Prior to joining the PhD program, Niki worked as the Education Manager at the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning (SCSIL) within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, where she worked with Program Directors and Curriculum Managers to design and implement simulation-based curricula for students within the medicine, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, and post-graduate residency programs. Through this work, she was able to combine her professional skills in curriculum design with her passion for social justice and equity by co-founding the Simulation on a Social Mission (SoSM) initiative with Dr. Farhan Bhanji, after observing that vulnerable and underserved populations were underrepresented in health professions curricula. Her academic interest lies in designing socially accountable curricula in health professions education (HPE) to meet the needs of diverse patients and communities.
Niki鈥檚 program of research aims to investigate innovative educational approaches that immerse learners in the experiences of communities and explore their effectiveness in preparing students to care for vulnerable populations. Her PhD study is looking at nursing students鈥� perception of learning to work with individuals who are in a situation of homelessness through a simulated virtual reality experience, followed by a nine-week fieldwork experience at a homeless shelter. Niki's favourite pastimes are cooking, cycling and having fun with her two young children, family and friends.
CAROL WISSA, BSc, MSc, is supervised by Prof. Maryam Wagner and Prof. Campbell Rolian. She completed her BSc in Anatomy and Cell Biology and her MSc in Experimental Surgery at 麻豆AV.
As a Teaching Assistant, Carol has supported numerous anatomy laboratory courses at 麻豆AV, working with undergraduate medical, dentistry, PT/OT, kinesiology and anatomy students. Carol鈥檚 research interests focus on anatomy education and the use of inclusive teaching practices. Her Master鈥檚 research involved the development of patient decision aids for women with pelvic floor disorders, including stress urinary incontinence (SUI). This project deepened her interest in pelvic anatomy and highlighted the importance of inclusivity in both patient education and anatomy teaching.
Currently, her PhD research focuses on developing a core curriculum for abdominal and pelvic anatomy for undergraduate medical schools, using a Delphi panel method. Her work prioritizes inclusivity, particularly regarding differences in sexual anatomy and development, and gender identity. Carol鈥檚 commitment to improving health outcomes through education is driven by her experiences both in the lab and classroom, where she has consistently observed the need for more inclusive and contextually relevant teaching practices in anatomy.
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