Message from the Chair
Hello,
My name is Narmin Kassam, and I am privileged to be the Chair and Clinical Department Head of Medicine — the largest department in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta and the second largest clinical department within Alberta Health Services in the Edmonton Zone.
I'd like to take a moment to tell you a little more about us, but first I would like to acknowledge that we are located on Treaty 6 territory and respect the history, languages, and cultures of the First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and all First Peoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our institution.
At the Department of Medicine, our core mission is to undertake outstanding education, research and high-quality clinical care to provide the best possible health outcomes for Albertans. We have 14 divisions that work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary, multicultural and ethnically diverse collegial environment with over 1,400 clinicians, scientists, learners and administrative support.
Our outstanding clinical and academic faculty provide innovative and multi-specialist in-patient, ambulatory, and virtual care services across the Edmonton Zone, Northern Alberta, and the Northwest Territories.
We administer award-winning education programs across the spectrum of undergraduate, postgraduate and graduate training. With 16 residency training programs, we take immense pride and joy in educating and training tomorrow’s finest doctors and researchers from all over the globe. Our Medical Educators are leaders in the implementation of the Royal College Competency by Design Medical Education framework within our Department.
Our inquisitive scientists are internationally renowned, generating new knowledge and improving health outcomes across a multitude of health disciplines locally and globally. Our research and clinical teams are recognized internationally, making global headlines.
Our homegrown Translational Medicine graduate training program, the first of its kind in Canada and one of few in the world, teaches the attitudes and skills required to excel in the field of Translational Research. Led by our PhD and clinician scientists, the program pushes learners to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to disease treatment by looking for discoveries in the lab and extrapolating their relevance to patients at the bedside.
Many of our department members are visionary leaders at national, provincial and local levels, including the University, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and Alberta Health Services. Some overseeing large scale projects, such as Connect Care, the newly designed provincial clinical information system which allows healthcare providers a central access point to digital patient information and will ultimately drive continuous quality improvement for patient care.
During challenging times through the global pandemic, our team has rallied to provide unsurpassed patient care and adopted novel teaching approaches to educate our learners, and our researchers have displayed unprecedented adaptability and versatility in producing high quality work, to fulfill our academic mission. Our experts have seized the opportunity to contribute in the fight against COVID-19 with tireless efforts to provide evidence-informed guidance and seek treatments.
These are the people who are the backbone of the Department of Medicine, and it's a privilege for me to serve as the Chair and Clinical Department Head. Whether at the bedside, in the classroom or in the lab, we will continue to strive for excellence in education, research and clinical care for Albertans.
I invite you to take a moment to review our Annual Report, which highlights some of our recent accomplishments.
Dr. Narmin Kassam
Chair, Department of Medicine
and
Clinical Department Head, Edmonton Zone, Alberta Health Services