Leadership old

Dr. Marcus Law

Marcus Law, MD MBA MEd CCFP FCFP
Associate Dean, MD Program

Dr. Marcus Law is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and the Associate Dean, MD Program at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. At Temerty Medicine, he has taken on many roles including Academic Lead in Educational Technology, Director of Preclerkship Renewal, and most recently, Director of Foundations in the MD Program. In this role he has led the successful implementation and ongoing review of a new and innovative pre-clerkship curriculum.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Dr. Law immigrated to Canada with his family and settled in Toronto, where he completed an undergraduate Pharmacology degree. Dr. Law stayed in Toronto to complete his medical degree in 2000 and a Family Medicine residency at Michael Garron Hospital, where he went on to become the Director of Medical Education for 13 years. He also served as the Director of Technology-Enabled Learning at the Centre for Faculty Development in Toronto.

Dr. Law holds an MBA degree from the W. P. Carey School of Business and a Master of Education degree from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

At the national level, Dr. Law has been actively involved with the Canadian Association for Medical Education as their President. He was also a chief examiner and deputy registrar for the Medical Council of Canada.

Dr. Law’s academic work and research focus on translating our understanding of how medical students develop expertise into effective educational design and the implementation of theory-informed large-scale curricular redevelopment in medical schools.

ORCID | PubMed

Dr. Alison Freeland

Alison Freeland, BSc MD FRCPC
Associate Dean, Mississauga Campus

Dr. Alison Freeland joined the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto in June 2015. Dr. Freeland is a Psychiatrist and currently holds the position of Vice President, Education, Academic Affairs and Patient Experience at Trillium Health Partners (THP), a large community hospital that offers acute care and specialized regional services to people living in Mississauga. As Associate Dean, Mississauga Campus, she works with the medical education team at both THP and UTM, where 210+ MD Program students from U of T are based. Dr. Freeland is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto.

 

Zia Bismilla

Zia Bismilla, MD MEd FRCPC
Director, Clinical Skills

Dr. Zia Bismilla is an academic pediatrician and hospitalist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She completed her pediatric residency and general academic pediatric fellowship training at the University of Toronto. She also completed a fellowship in medical education research at the Wilson Center, University of Toronto and received a Master in Education from the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 2008. Her specific interests include advancing the field of pediatric hospital medicine education, simulation and its role in both teaching and assessment in medicine, and standardized communication practices for patient and family-centered care. 

Jeremy Edwards

Jeremy Edwards, MD FRCPC FASE
Director, FitzGerald Academy

Dr. Jeremy Edwards earned undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and medicine at the University of Toronto before going on to complete postgraduate training in internal medicine and cardiology. Subsequently, he completed a two year fellowship in echocardiography at St. Michael’s Hospital. He joined the Department of Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto in 2011 as an Adult Cardiologist with a clinical interest in valvular heart disease and interventional echocardiography. He has held a number of medical education leadership roles prior to becoming Academy Director in October 2021. He is passionate about supporting and empowering medical learners to succeed at achieving their individual goals.

Gina John

Gina John, MBA
Director of Operations

Gina John is the Director of Operations in the MD Program and oversees the management and administration of human resources, financial resources, and operational infrastructure.

Gina has been with the University of Toronto since 2005 and her career has included leadership roles in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, and at the Rotman Commerce Career Centre.

During her time at U of T, Gina has engaged in a number of professional development activities, including the Business Manager Leadership program and the Rose Patten Mentoring Leadership Partnership.

Gina holds a Bachelor of Science (Biological Sciences) and a Bachelor of Education (Secondary Education), both from the University of Alberta, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Windsor.

 

Dr. David Latter

David Latter, MD CM FRCSC FACS
Director, MD Admissions and Student Finances 

Dr. David Latter graduated from McGill University in 1982. He completed residencies in General Surgery and Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at McGill University (1982-1989) and a clinical fellowship in Thoracic Transplantation at Stanford University in California (1990).  Dr. Latter was a member of the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University from 1991 to 1996.  In 1996, Dr. Latter was appointed to a position at the University of Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital Division of Cardiac Surgery where he is currently the Division Head. During his 19 years at the University of Toronto, Dr. Latter has held various positions, including Chair of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Examination Board (2001-2004), Program Director of the Cardiac Surgery Residency Program (2003-2009), Acting Chair of the Department of Surgery (May 2010-April 2011). Currently, Dr. Latter is the Director of Clinical Fellows (2006-present) and Vice Chair of Education (2008-present) for the Department of Surgery. Dr. Latter specializes in adult cardiac surgery with a special interest in mitral valve surgery. 

 

Dr. Jana Lazor

Jana Lazor, BScPhm MScPhm EdD FCSHP
Director, Faculty Development

Dr. Jana Lazor joined the Faculty of Medicine in January 2010 as the Director of Faculty Development for the new Mississauga Academy of Medicine and in 2015 she became the  Director of Faculty Development for the MD Program at the University of Toronto, overseeing the Office of Faculty Development that offers a wide range of faculty development resources and activities that are designed specifically to support faculty members across all four academies.

Jana is a pharmacist, healthcare educator and an Integrated Scholar at the Centre for Faculty Development. She has completed a Bachelors Science of Pharmacy, Masters of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hospital Pharmacy Residency Program, and Doctor of Education in Higher Education, with a specialization in healthcare education and sub-specialty in patient education.

She is an Associate Professor- Teaching Stream, in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and is also cross-appointed as an Associate Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the School of Graduate Studies. She has held different roles relating to Health Professions Education across the education continuum. Her current practice and scholarship focuses on the design and evaluation of learning-centered faculty development programs that support curriculum change, renewal, and innovation. Throughout her career she has been recognized with a number of Faculty Development awards.

 

Hana Lee

Hana Lee, MEd
Director, Enrolment Services and Faculty Registrar

Hana Lee is the Director, Enrolment Services and Faculty Registrar at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Hana oversees a wide range of functions that support the MD student life cycle from initial applicant contact through convocation. Hana is committed to keeping MD students informed about important dates, requirements and process related to admissions, registration, student finances and transition to medical school.

Hana joined the MD Program in May 2014 as the Coordinator, Admissions and Academic Awards, and was then appointed as the Associate Registrar, Admissions and Registration from 2015 to 2019. Hana's previous experiences at the University include undergraduate admissions and counseling in the Department of Computer Science and Division of Engineering Science.

 

Sarah McClennan

Sarah McClennan
Director, Mississauga Academy of Medicine

Dr. Sarah McClennan is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, has held the Academy Director role since 2017 and has been a Staff Emergency Medicine Physician at Trillium Health Partners since 2008. She has previously held a variety of leadership positions to encourage teaching, research, education, and the effective implementation of clinical programs and services.  Her goal is to engage with medical students to develop a curiosity and passion for lifelong learning, and to encourage a collaborative learning environment where teaching is valued and promoted.

Anne McLeod

Anne G. McLeod, MD FRCPC
Director, Year 1 Foundations

Dr. Anne McLeod completed her MD degree at the University of Toronto, Hematology training at McMaster University, and fellowship in Hemostasis at Harvard University. She is a member of the Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology and the Thromboembolism Team at Sunnybrook. She is the Division head of Obstetrical Medicine and is the current Chair of the RCPSC Hematology Examination Board. Her main academic focus is undergraduate medical education, and she is currently lead for the Blood Weeks and Course Director for Introduction to Medicine in the first year of the Foundations Curriculum, MD Program.

James Owen

James Owen, MD CCFP
Director, Year 2 Foundations

Dr. James Owen is a family physician at Unity Health Toronto and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. His clinical practice is focused on HIV primary care and prevention, 2SLGBTQIA+ health, and care for vulnerable populations. He is the course director for the Complexity and Chronicity course in the second year of the Foundations curriculum. He previously held the position of 2SLGBTQIA+ lead for the MD Program and was a co-recipient of the Miriam Rossi Award for Health Equity in Medical Education in 2019.

Andrea Page

Andrea V. Page, MD MScHQ FRCSC
Director, Wightman-Berris Academy

Dr. Andrea Page completed clinical training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Toronto, including a year as Chief Medical Resident, as well as graduate work in translational research at the Institute of Medical Science, prior to joining the Department of Medicine and Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Toronto in 2012. Since 2013, Dr. Page has been the Site Director for the Internal Medicine program at Mount Sinai Hospital, and from 2018-2020 was one of two interim Co-Directors of the Mentorship, Equity, and Diversity portfolio for the Department of Medicine. She is currently a Clinician-Educator and attending physician on the ID rotation at Sinai Health and University Health Network, and on the Internal Medicine Clinical Teaching Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Page is the recipient of several teaching and education awards, most recently including the William Goldie Prize in Teaching from the Department of Medicine, and the John W. Bradley Award for Education Administration from the Wightman-Berris Academy.

Dr.  David Rojas

David Rojas, PhD
Director, Program Evaluation

Academically, Dr. Rojas is an engineer with a Masters in Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences (Program Evaluation) who completed his doctoral research fellowship at The Wilson Centre, University Health Network. He is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and presently an Evaluation Scientist at the MD Program, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. David’s area of research includes program evaluation practices in Health Professions Education, with a focus on complex educational systems in hospitals and academic institutions. He is particularly interested in capturing and understanding unintended consequences in educational environments, the use of big data in program evaluation, the evaluation of accreditation practices and international academic collaborations, and simulation effectiveness.

Previously, Dr. Rojas has been an Evaluation Scientist at the Centre for Ambulatory Care Education (CACE), Women’s College Hospital, where he has evaluated the educational impact of virtual care practices, expanding this project across multiple hospital institutions. In the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Rojas has co-led the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of the Learner Assessment of Clinical Teacher (LACT); and re-designed the evaluation process and practices at the MD Program advocating for proper utilization of evaluation data. He is the co-chair of the Data Management Advisory Group, leading innovative work around the standardization of tools and practices between the MD Program and PGME. David is also an invited consultant for the AFMC to evaluate the impact of changes to the CARMS process nationally, and currently leads a multi-institutional collaboration to study the effect of accreditation in medical programs. He has a strong publication record that is advancing theory-driven evaluations transforming the field of HPE evaluation in the process.

Glendon Tait

Glendon Tait, MD MSc FRCP FCPA
Director, Student Assessment

Dr. Glendon Tait is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He is Director of Student Assessment for the University of Toronto MD ProgramDr. Tait practices Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry with Sinai Health and is a Centre Researcher at the Wilson Centre.

Dr. Tait completed a B.A. (Hons) from the University of New Brunswick, an M.Sc. from the University of Alberta, and M.D. from the University of Calgary. He subsequently completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a Fellowship in Health Professions Education Research at the Wilson Centre for Research in Education at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Tait has led the implementation of programmatic assessment in the MD program, shifting more emphasis to the learning and coaching functions of assessment. For this work, Dr. Tait was awarded the University of Toronto W.T. Aikins Award in 2020 for Development and Use of Educational Innovations. He has served on the 2020 Ottawa Conference International Consensus Panel for health professions assessment.

Having served in several national leadership capacities, he is currently the Past-President of the Canadian Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine and is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychiatric Association. 

Gemini Tanna

Gemini Tanna, MD FRCPC
Director, Peters-Boyd Academy

Dr. Gemini Tanna is an Associate Professor and Clinician Teacher in the Department of Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She is a proud “U of T lifer” and completed all of her undergraduate and postgraduate training at the University of Toronto, including a nephrology subspecialty fellowship as well as the Master Teacher program.  She joined Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in 2006 and has held a number of medical education leadership positions prior to becoming the Peters-Boyd Academy Director in April 2022. Dr. Tanna is the recipient of several education and leadership awards, including a W.T. Aikins Faculty Teaching Award, the Dr. Joanne Bargman Mentorship Award and the Dr. Kevin Imrie Sunnybrook Department of Medicine Leadership Award. Her academic interests include empathy and resiliency in medicine and mentorship.  She considers herself as much a learner as a teacher and feels that life is best lived by staying humble and being kind. 

Alireza Zahirieh

Dr. Alireza Zahirieh, MD FRCPC
Associate Director, Peters-Boyd Academy

Dr. Alireza Zahirieh is an Associate Professor and Clinician Teacher in the Department of Medicine and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.  He completed medical school training at Western University in 2002 before coming to Toronto for his internal medicine and nephrology training.  He joined the Faculty of Medicine in 2009 after completing the Department of Medicine Master Teacher Program.  Dr. Zahirieh has held a number of leadership positions prior to becoming the Associate Academy Director in April of 2022.  He has also been a recipient of multiple teaching awards at Sunnybrook and more broadly the University.  His academic interests include HIV associated Kidney Diseases and the incorporation of point of care ultrasonography into clinical practice.