*Physician earns top teaching award

Rouge Valley Health System
News Release

July 23, 2009 — Dr. Yehuda Nofech-Mozes loves his work as both a physician and an educator. As a paediatrician who divides his time between Rouge Valley Health System (RVHS) and the Hospital for Sick Children, he gets to treat many of the youngest patients at both hospitals. As the director of paediatric medical education at RVHS, he helps to guide the first paediatrics experience that many medical students ever have.

The University of Toronto has recognized his commitment to quality patient care and education, and has bestowed Dr. Nofech-Mozes with the Lionel Weinstein Clerkship Teaching Award.

The award is presented to a member of the university’s department of paediatrics who has shown excellence in teaching; has received the most nominations by students; has received the highest peer and student evaluations; and has shown innovation in his or her teaching and course development.

Dr. Nofech-Mozes oversees the education program at RVHS, which pairs a team of Rouge Valley paediatricians with University of Toronto medical students completing their six-week core paediatrics rotation and electives. Dr. Nofech-Mozes says that receiving the award, which was presented to him in June, would not be possible without the dedicated group of paediatricians who train and mentor the students, making the program such a success.

“I am very humbled by this honour. To me, this award is proof of the valuable one-on-one experience our students receive from our dedicated teaching team. This reward really belongs to all of them,” says Dr. Nofech-Mozes. “Because we are a community hospital, I believe we work even harder to provide a meaningful experience to our students,” he adds.

Dr. Karen Chang, site medicine leader of paediatrics at Rouge Valley Centenary (RVC), agrees. “We are very pleased that one of our physicians has been given this honour. We are also very proud of the work that our physicians are doing, by providing such a meaningful teaching and learning experience for these students.”

“We are fortunate to have such a dedicated and outstanding teacher committed to undergraduate students at the University of Toronto. Congratulations to Dr. Nofech-Mozes on this achievement,” says Dr. Stacey Bernstein, director of undergraduate medical education in paediatrics at the University of Toronto. 

For the six weeks that the students spend working under the supervision of paediatricians, they are either on-call seeing patients at the hospital, or they are at the paediatricians clinics. Half of their time is spent exploring general paediatrics and neonatology. The other half is spent learning at paediatric specialty programs available at RVHS. These include the Galaxy 12 Clinics in gastroenterology, nephrology, neonatal follow up, diabetes, scoliosis, paediatric consulting and adolescent medicine – all part of the RVHS paediatric program. Students also spend time with RVHS sub-specialists in their offices to experience cardiology, respirology, endocrinology, neurology and infectious diseases. Galaxy 12, a child and teen clinic based at Rouge Valley Centenary (RVC) is visited by more than 2,300 patients each year. Together, this gives students an extensive view of many aspects of paediatrics. Physicians at the Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering (RVAP) site have also been very supportive of the education program.

The program was rated highly in student satisfaction by third-year U of T medical students surveyed at the end of their placement. The program’s success is not only attributed to its committed physicians, but also its ability to put student feedback into action—often leading to changes and improvements. Creating a firm schedule that students must work around has also proven successful. All of this combined has made for an interesting and challenging program, which has highly impacted students.

“Dr. Mozes is a truly gifted teacher with an incredible zeal to teach. Each clinical encounter is filled with moment after moment of enthusiastic teaching opportunities. He not only taught me the medical aspects of paediatrics, but taught me the importance of a compassionate approach to patient care. I was more than just an observer as he involved me in the care of his patients. Dr. Mozes is an inspiration to me and represents the excellence that all physicians should strive for,” says one student in their nomination of the physician.

This year, U of T has introduced the Paediatric Longitudinal Experience (PedLE) which RVHS is part of. This program provides first-year U of T medical students with an opportunity to gain early exposure to paediatrics by shadowing paediatricians in a clinical environment. Both Dr. Nofech-Mozes and Dr. Ashley Roberts, paediatrician and infectious diseases specialist, are volunteering their time to this program, helping to expand and further develop Rouge Valley’s education efforts.

RVHS thanks the following physicians for their active participation in this program, their full commitment to excellence and quality patient care, and their mentorship of future physicians:

Dr. Ian Kitai, paediatrician, and infectious diseases specialist

Dr. Dennis Gurwitz, paediatric respirologist

Dr. Roland Beaulieu, paediatric cardiologist

Dr. Pamela Cooper, paediatric neurologist

Dr. Rahul Saxena, paediatrician and specialist in adolescent medicine

Dr. Margaret Gan-Gaisano, paediatrician and paediatric endocrinologist 

Dr. Carol Durno, paediatric gastroenterologist

Dr. Latifah Yeung, paediatric gastroenterologist

Dr. Mia Hahn, orthopaedic surgeon

Dr. Sultana Alkon-Mintsopoulos, paediatrician

Dr. Hubert Wong, paediatrician and paediatric nephrologist

Dr. Ashley Roberts, paediatrician and infectious diseases specialist

Dr. Leo Levin, paediatrician

Dr. Koshy Muthalaly, paediatrician

Dr. Peter Ramshaw, psychiatrist

Dr. Karen Chang, paediatrician and neonatologist

Rouge Valley Health System (RVHS) — The best at what we do

RVHS is an excellent acute care community hospital with many programs, including 24/7/365 emergency, cardiac care and mental health. Rouge Valley consists of several health sites, including two community hospital campuses: Rouge Valley Centenary in east Toronto; and Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering in west Durham. Together, a team of physicians (224 general practitioners and 325 specialists), 1,000 nurses and many other professionals care for a broad spectrum of health conditions. Working in consultation and partnership with community members, other hospitals, health care organizations, the Central East Local Health Integration Network and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Rouge Valley continues to improve its programs and cater to the needs of the growing communities of east Toronto, Ajax, Pickering and Whitby.

Contact

Akilah Dressekie

Communications Specialist

Public Affairs and Community Relations

Rouge Valley Health System

(416) 712-4873

adressekie@rougevalley.ca