June 16, 2014

Colleagues,

It’s been a very busy first two weeks on the job!  I would have to say one of the highlights for me so far was meeting our newest graduates from the Class of 2014 and celebrating their Convocation together.  It was a proud day for each of them, and I want to thank you for your role in shaping their early medical education.

I very much appreciate the time many of you have taken to meet with me so far, to welcome me, and to give me your perspective on our college.  I look forward to continuing these conversations with you in the coming weeks and months, as your insights are very helpful and will help direct our collective next steps.

You may know that Dr. Olatunbosun, who was our Acting Vice-Dean, Faculty Engagement, is currently on administrative leave.  For now, the college will not be recruiting a permanent replacement.  Instead, I am committing to serve in this capacity.

As you know, meaningful engagement with all faculty members is a key priority for me.  I want to know and understand your concerns, and discuss the actions we can take to strengthen our college.  My intention is to continue meeting with all faculty members across the province.  If your research group, department, or practice group has an upcoming opportunity for me to join you, I would invite you to contact Kathy (kathy.kalyn@usask.ca) to see if we can work it into the calendar.

Our 2+2 undergraduate medical education curriculum will begin for our incoming first year class this August, as our second-, third- and fourth-year students continue in the existing program.  The introduction of the redesigned curriculum presents us with an increased number of teaching assignments as we work through the years of curriculum overlap.  The UGME Office, together with our department heads, has begun recruitment efforts for clinical teaching during the 2014-2015 academic year.  I encourage you to carefully consider how you will get involved and support our collective effort to deliver a high-quality educational experience for our students.  The success of our program is built on your expertise and contributions, and I deeply appreciate your continued support.

So, as the days go on, please do continue to stop me in the hallways to introduce yourself, even if it is for the second or third time!

Sincerely,
Preston