The Royal College is pleased to announce Senator Flordeliz (Gigi) Osler, MD, FRCSC, as the 2024 Professor-in-Residence. In this role, Senator Osler will join the Royal College leadership team to examine health education and health policy with the goal of improving Royal College programs.

During her term as Professor-in-Residence, Senator Osler says she is keen to work with Royal College leadership to help address the national health care crisis.

“Canada’s health care system is in crisis with over 6 million Canadians lacking access to primary care, lengthy wait times, toxic drug deaths and overwhelmed emergency rooms across the country,” says Senator Osler. “Frank conversations on leadership, advocacy and politics are needed to drive change to the fundamentals underpinning our health care systems.”

Appointed to the Senate of Canada on September 26, 2022, Senator Osler is an internationally renowned surgeon and health care advocate. Born in Winnipeg to immigrant parents from the Philippines and India, she completed her medical education at the University of Manitoba and further specialized in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery followed by subspecialty training at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. She also holds advanced certifications from the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto. 

Senator Osler is an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba and was formerly the head of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck at St. Boniface Hospital from 2010-19. In 2018, she became the first female surgeon and racialized woman to be elected president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), where she promoted equity, diversity and inclusion in medicine and led the development of the CMA’s inaugural policy on equity and diversity. 

She has held various leadership roles in medical organizations, including the Canadian Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the Federation of Medical Women of Canada (president), the Canadian Medical Forum (chair) and the Virtual Care Task Force (co-chair). Senator Osler has received numerous awards and currently serves on the Standing Senate Committees on Social Affairs, Science and Technology and Fisheries and Oceans.

Senator Osler will deliver the annual Professor-in-Residence Lecture in December. More details and a registration link will be shared in the coming months. 

Learn more about the Professor-in-Residence Program.