by Wayne Weston, MD, CCFP, University of Western Ontario

“I am not a teacher but an awakener.” – Robert Frost

Brian has made an enormous contribution to the development of academic family medicine during his long and productive career spanning thirty-four years - and still going strong!
Brian has been a pioneer in academic family medicine throughout his entire career. After graduating from Queen’s in 1962, and then practicing in Orillia for two years, he did an additional year of training in Pediatrics, a year in Internal Medicine and a third year as a Teaching Fellow in Family Medicine. That was in the days before family medicine residency programs when almost everyone entered general practice after a one year rotation internship. One of the first to recognize the importance of additional training in medical education he spent a year at Michigan State University to obtain an MA in Educational Psychology in 1969. Also in 1969 he was one of the first twelve Canadian physicians to sit and pass the first certification examination in Family Medicine, sitting as one of the six practice eligible candidates. He was the first Chair of the new Section of Teachers of Family Medicine from 1978-1980 and was the first recipient of the D.I. Rice Merit Award Travelling Fellowship of the College of Family Physicians of Canada in 1987. After serving as Chair of the Departments of Family Medicine at Dalhousie and Western, he was the first family physician to become a Dean of a medical school in Canada in 1999.

He has been a tireless worker for the College of Family Physicians. As chair of the Committee on Educational Objectives from 1979-1983, he set the tone for serious attention to sound educational principles in all of the College’s educational activities ever since. He served as chair of numerous other College committees and was President of the College of Family Physicians of Canada from 1989-1990.

In 1980, along with David Shires, he co-authored a textbook of family practice:  “Family Medicine, a Guidebook for Practitioners of the Art” writing fifteen of the chapters. The book had a second edition in 1986 and was translated into Spanish. It was one of the first textbooks of family medicine available, was well-written, authoritative, and very practical for day-to-day use. He has numerous other publications including a classic paper on continuity of care that everyone quotes. He has made 180 presentations all over the world - all across Canada and throughout the U.S., numerous presentations throughout Australia, as well as Amsterdam, Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Africa, and the First International Meeting on Family Medicine in China. His expertise is highlighted in the areas of ethics, teaching, faculty development, and developmental disabilities.

Brian was a member of the Steering Committee of the EFPO (Educating Future Physicians for Ontario) project from 1995 to 1998. This was the largest, most important, collaborative, educational project ever conducted in Canada, and perhaps in the world. This project changed the curricula of the five Ontario medical schools, making them more responsive to the evolving needs of the people of Ontario. Brian was Chair of the Needs Assessment and Community Partnerships component of the project from 1995 to 1998. This was one of the most important aspects of the project and one of the most challenging to conduct, since it involved people from all walks of life as well as professionals.

On a more personal note, I have had the pleasure of working in the Department at Western under Brian’s leadership. I heard many stories, now urban legends, of Brian’s skill as a teacher. He was famous for his gentle encouragement of residents to find the answers to their questions within them rather than his jumping in and taking over the care of patients. As a chair he demonstrated the kind of leadership one would expect of a great educator - he encouraged, stimulated and challenged us to be the very best we could be while at the same time providing the support needed to get through the tough times.

From us at Western and from family medicine all over the world, thanks Brian! Congratulations on being this year's Ian McWhinney Awardee.