Recognizing Excellence in Mentorship
The Faculty of Medicine’s Dr. Barbara Stubbs is being recognized by the Canadian Medical Association for her commitment to mentorship with the 2014 May Cohen Award for Women Mentors. She joins a sorority of celebrated women who have dedicated their careers to mentoring others.
Dr. Stubbs is an associate professor and Director of the Professional Development Program in the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM). She has been supporting mentors and mentees in the DFCM since 2007.
“This award is very significant, and I am so grateful for the CMA’s recognition. It speaks not only to my work but also to all those men and women in my department and across the Faculty of Medicine who have taught me about mentorship,” says Professor Stubbs.
Professor Stubbs leads the DFCM’s Mentorship Network. The confidential matching service connects mentors and mentees through an online service and is facilitated by a team of professional development representatives across the department’s clinical sites. There were 15 faculty mentors when Professor Stubbs and her team first launched the network in 2007. The program now has 75 mentors who support many mentees.
Professor Stubbs says most physicians will have a variety of mentors throughout their professional lives whether they realize it or not. Some provide psycho-social support whereas others can help with career development. She feels the best mentors are those who are one or two steps ahead of you in their career because they are able to provide relevant guidance. The key is to work with someone you trust—someone who can help you navigate through complex situations or tough decisions.
“A lot of us feel like we can handle everything on our own because there’s a culture of autonomy in medicine that can make it challenging to ask for help. Mentorship is a natural relationship that is mutually beneficial for the mentor, mentee and organization. It makes all of us better at what we do,” says Professor Stubbs.
She credits her career success to her own mentors and role-models in the Faculty of Medicine including Dean Catharine Whiteside, Deputy Dean Sarita Verma, DFCM Chair Professor Lynn Wilson, Department of Medicine Professors Wendy Levinson and Laurie Morrison, Professor Susan Lieff (Department of Psychiatry), Professor Jamie Meuser (DFCM) and Professor Karen Leslie, Director of the Centre for Faculty Development. “My incredible advisors gave me the support, advice and confidence I needed to be successful,” she says.
Dean Whiteside, Professor Wendy Levinson and Professor Morrison are past winners of the Award. Other Faculty of Medicine recipients include Professors Robin McLeod (Department of Surgery), Mary Gospodarowicz (Department of Radiation Oncology) and Jenny Heathcote (retired). Professor Stubbs is the 14th recipient.
Professor Samir Sinha is also being recognized by the CMA with their Award for Young Leaders. Sinha, the expert lead of the Government of Ontario's Seniors Strategy, is director of geriatrics at Mount Sinai and the University Health Network Hospitals. He was recognized for developed an innovative Acute Care for Elders (ACE) strategy that is positively transforming the care of older adults across the entire continuum of care. He has been previously recognized with an Action Canada Fellowship and received the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine Alumni Dean's Rising Star Award.
Both Sinha and Stubbs will receive their awards at the CMA’s 147th annual general meeting on August 20 in Ottawa.
