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Dr. Paola Fata appointed Director of the Division of General Surgery

Published: 8 July 2020

The Department of Surgery is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Paola Fata as Director of the Division of General Surgery, ۲ݮƵ University and ۲ݮƵ University Health Centre, effective July 15 2020. We are very grateful to Dr Barkun for his leadership this year as he guided the Division throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Dr Fata is Associate Professor of Surgery at ۲ݮƵ University whose clinical practice focuses on Trauma and Acute Care general surgery. Dr Fata completed medical school at ۲ݮƵ University, followed by General Surgery residency at the University of Manitoba where she also obtained a Master’s of Science degree. She completed a trauma fellowship and was an attending surgeon at Inova Fairfax Regional Trauma Center in Virginia, joining the faculty at ۲ݮƵ in 2005. She also completed the Teaching Scholar’s Program at ۲ݮƵ.

Dr Fata is nationally recognized for her work in education and for her important leadership roles. For the past 4 years she has served as Assistant Dean, Resident Professional Affairs at the Faculty of Medicine. Prior to that, she was the General Surgery program director for a decade. As Assistant Dean she created multiple new policies and resources to improve resident well‐being. Dr Fata has been recognized multiple times for teaching excellence at the Department and the Division levels, both for postgraduate and undergraduate teaching, and was named to the Faculty Honor List for Educational Excellence. She has twice served as an Osler fellow and received the Kathryn Rolph Award for contributing to the advancement of women in the Department of Surgery.

Dr Fata currently serves as President of the Canadian Association of General Surgeons (CAGS), having been asked to extend her term to a second year. During her tenure, she completed a comprehensive strategic planning exercise, stabilized the financial health of the society and significantly increased membership and attendance at the annual meeting. Prior to this role, she served on the CAGS board for over a decade and led multiple committees. In addition, Dr Fata has chaired and served on multiple committees at the Royal College, including co‐chairing the specialty workforce collaborative and serving as vice‐chair of the focused competency working group in trauma. Her research interests include the evaluation and improvement of learning environments and surgical workforce planning. Dr Fata is also an accomplished artist, musician and cook, as well as proud mother of Xavier.

Please join me in warmly congratulating Dr Fata on her appointment to these important leadership roles.

Liane S. Feldman, MDCM FACS FRCS
Edward W. Archibald Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, ۲ݮƵ University
Surgeon‐in‐Chief, ۲ݮƵ University Health Centre

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