On September 1, 2024, Dr. Laura Farrell became the Regional Associate Dean (RAD), Vancouver Island for the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine and the Academic Director, Vancouver Island for the UBC distributed programs at the University of Victoria (UVic). She is the third RAD to lead the MD Undergraduate Program-Island Medical Program (IMP) in its 20-year history and holds the role of Academic Director, Vancouver Island, UBC Distributed Programs, UVic.
A graduate of both UVic and UBC, Dr. Farrell has worked with the UBC Faculty of Medicine for more than 15 years. From 2008 – 2021, she held several roles at the IMP, including Internal Medicine Clinical Education Lead, Master Teacher, and IMP Site Assistant Dean, Education. For the past three years, Dr. Farrell’s leadership role had a provincial scope as the Associate Dean of Student Affairs for the UBC MD Undergraduate Program. In her new dual role, Dr. Farrell will provide strategic leadership at the IMP to ensure the delivery of outstanding undergraduate medical education. She will also support the integration of UBC distributed postgraduate residency programs, health professions programs, and academic research on Vancouver Island. Together with foundational partners UBC, UVic, and Island Health, Dr. Farrell will continue to cultivate a supportive and thriving medical education community focused on transforming health for everyone.
We sat down with Dr. Farrell to learn a little more about her next five years as RAD and Academic Director, and to learn a little more about her.
Understanding that it’s still early in your term, can you give us a peek into your vision for the future of medical education on Vancouver Island?
We have a strong, wonderful team of medical educators and administrators across the Island that offer diverse learning opportunities for our learners, and this team continues to grow. We will continue striving to ensure this team has the tools and supports necessary to sustainably provide excellence in medical education. In addition, I hope to continue work with learners to understand their needs and tackle challenges together as our programs grow. Immersed in our programs, learners have important insights to contribute, and working together, we can co-create success of our programs. And we will continue work with community partners to better understand local needs, including how our teaching programs might synergistically contribute to excellent care for patients across the Island, helping to transform health for everyone.
You’ve talked about building strong collaborative partnerships, including diverse voices in decision-making, and creating academic research opportunities on the Island. Why are these important aspects of your vision?
So often we are working in silos on shared goals. By working together to innovate and co-create solutions in medical education, all partners benefit from the diverse voices, experiences, and resources on our teams. For example, our undergraduate medical, postgraduate residency, and new health professions programs can look to share resources and align supports for their learners on the Island. Our programs can also benefit by exploring collaborations with our partners to harness opportunities for primary care and multidisciplinary training experiences, as well as research opportunities, across our Island teaching sites. In other words: we are stronger together.
You have worked with the UBC Faculty of Medicine for more than 15 years. How will this previous experience help you in this role?
I have diverse experiences teaching medical students and residents, engaging in medical education research, partnering on innovations, creating curriculum, and building supports for learners. This has given me a good understanding of the challenges that might be encountered on a day-to-day basis and as we grow and evolve. I hope I can use what I have learned to help navigate these challenges and to ensure that what we are doing is sustainable and meets people’s needs. And I expect that going forward I will continue to learn and grow from all those around me who bring their own experiences and expertise.
Well, I think that’s enough of the high-level questions for a minute! Let’s also get to know you. What book are you currently reading?
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, but my favourite book this year is Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese.
Who’s your medical hero?
This is a tough question as I have been mentored and taught by so many great people over the years. One person I’ll always be grateful to is Dr. Ernie Janzen in Lethbridge. Overwhelmed and nervous in my first year of clinical practice as a General Internist, he taught me to (try to) remain calm, thorough, and diligent. (Not to mention his clinical acumen and work ethic was inspiring!)
Where’s your favorite place to spend an afternoon in Victoria?
At the Hartland Dump – mountain biking with friends or family!
Do you have any Vancouver Island bucket list items?
I hiked the West Coast trail with some of my fellow graduates of the UBC Class of 2002 right after we wrote the LMCC, and I would love to go back and hike it with my family.
Any last comments?
I am sincerely grateful for Dr. Bruce Wright for his leadership and service to advancing medical education on Vancouver Island during his 10-year term as RAD, as well as for his generous gifts of time and mentorship to many of us in this program. I am also so excited to have rejoined the amazing team on the Island as we work together to provide excellence in health professions education to our next generation of physicians and healthcare professionals.