We are delighted to announce this year’s award recipients and Honorary Fellows. Every year, the Awards Committee diligently reviews many nominations against a robust scoring system; the committee takes great pride in the thorough effort to select the successful recipients from a truly outstanding group.

Watch for recipient stories in upcoming publications where we will showcase the exceptional work and dedication that led to this well-deserved recognition. Until then, please join us in congratulating them!

National Awards

Steven Miller, MD, FRCPC, is the recipient of the 2023 James H. Graham Award of Merit. Dr. Miller is a professor and head of the UBC Department of Pediatrics, as well as chief of Pediatric Medicine at BC Children’s Hospital & Sunny Hill Health Centre.

This award recognizes an individual whose outstanding achievements reflect the aims and objectives of the Royal College.

Elder Be’sha Blondin is the recipient of the 2023 Dr. Thomas Dignan Indigenous Health Award. A First Nations Elder from the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Elder Blondin has forty years of experience in Indigenous traditional healing.

This award acknowledges and celebrates Canadian physicians or physicians-in-training who epitomize a zeal and devotion to Canadian Indigenous rights and the dogged pursuit of justice for Canada’s Indigenous Peoples.

Christopher Watling, MD, FRCPC, is the recipient of the 2023 Duncan Graham Award for Outstanding Contribution to Medical Education. Dr. Watling is a professor in the Departments of Oncology, Clinical Neurological Sciences and Family Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University.

This award recognizes an individual who has made a lifelong contribution to medical education.

Kerri Purdy, MD, FRCPC, is the recipient of the 2023 Royal College AMS Donald Richards Wilson Award for CanMEDS Integration. Dr. Purdy is associate professor of medicine and head of the Dermatology & Cutaneous Science Division at Dalhousie University.

This award recognizes a medical educator or an individual leader of a team, program or department who has demonstrated excellence in integrating the CanMEDS roles into a Royal College or other health-related training program.

Early Career Leadership in Medical Education Award

This award recognizes new Royal College Fellows (with seven or fewer years of post-training full-time practice) who have shown outstanding leadership, initiative, service and/or innovation in one of three key areas of the Royal College mandate.

Brent Thoma, MD, FRCPC, is the recipient of the 2023 Royal College Award for Early Career Leadership in Medical Education/Continuing Professional Development. Dr. Thoma is an emergency physician and a Trauma Team leader, as well as professor and medical education researcher at the University of Saskatchewan.

Michael Quon, MD, FRCPC, is the recipient of the 2023 Royal College Award for Early Career Leadership in Health Policy/Health Systems. Dr. Quon is a general Internal Medicine specialist at The Ottawa Hospital.

Mohit Singh, MD, FRCPC, is the recipient of the 2023 Royal College Award for Early Career Leadership in Professional Practice/Patient Care. Dr. Singh is a clinical lecturer at the University of Alberta and associate program director for the Addiction Medicine Fellowship program.

Honorary Fellows

This recognition is bestowed upon exceptional physicians, surgeons or other individuals who are not eligible for Fellowship and have demonstrated outstanding performance in a particular vocation or a specific area of professional activity directly or indirectly related to the field of medicine.

Jamiu Busari, MD, MHPE, CCPE, is named a 2023 Honorary Fellow of the Royal College. Dr. Busari is associate professor of medical education at Maastricht University.

Patrick O’Connell, MD, FRCSI, is named a 2023 Honorary Fellow of the Royal College. Dr. O’Connell is emeritus professor of surgery at the University College of Dublin.

Note: Our website is currently undergoing a transformation; the names of the 2023 award recipients and Honorary Fellows will be reflected on the respective web pages shortly.