Head, Department of Surgery

The Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia Health and the IWK Health Centre are jointly recruiting for the position of Head of the Department of Surgery.

The Department of Surgery is the second largest in Nova Scotia Health. It is an academic department of almost 300 members from within the Maritime Provinces, striving to promote innovations in surgical education and research, while advancing excellence in clinical care. In its central hub of the Halifax Regional Municipality, the Department of Surgery has approximately 100 members from 9 surgical disciplines providing tertiary and quaternary care for the Atlantic Provinces. The Department of Surgery offers residency and fellowship programs in most of its adult and pediatric surgical specialties distributed over a multitude of teaching hospitals in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

The headship is a combined clinical and academic position, which is unique when compared to many similar departments in Canada. The Head of the Department serves as a board member of the Canadian Association of Surgical Chiefs, liaising with other Department Heads to identify hurdles, which impact care, prioritize global solutions, and facilitate innovations, such as mentorship programmes for women in surgery. This position requires a significant role interfacing with Government to focus on a breadth of provincial issues from strategic perioperative planning to negotiation of an Academic Funding Plan.

The Head is responsible for overseeing all the academic surgical programs, all academic promotions and clinical appointments of faculty, as well as annual oversight visits to community Maritime hospitals. This position comes with the additional significant role of interfacing with all 9 Surgical Subspecialty Division Heads and senior hospital leadership, and when called upon, representing the Department in the media. The position is a five-year, limited term appointment with an underlying continuing academic appointment. The Department Head position is subject to renewal for a second five-year term conditional on satisfactory annual performance evaluations and a positive review of the first term as Head.

Home to three Dalhousie campuses, Halifax is a vibrant, coastal urban centre of 425,000 people that has everything you’d expect from a big city within a close-knit community. One of Canada’s fastest-growing cities, Halifax is home to innovative tech and entrepreneurial communities, as well as thriving financial and ocean technology sectors. Halifax plays an essential role in the economic development of the North Atlantic seaboard and fosters a flourishing offshore industry, ground-breaking life sciences research and development, and a wealth of business opportunities. Ranked as first among mid-sized cities in North America in overall cost competitiveness, Halifax is the economic leader in the region with the resource, labour force, and cost advantages to attract high-profile businesses. The spectacular location and creative sides of Halifax are what make the city truly one-of-a-kind. The city boasts a vibrant atmosphere including live Theatre, world-class Symphonic performances, and many museums and art galleries. Halifax is also home to sports franchises, rowing clubs, as well as an active inter-university sports scene, a thriving amateur sports culture, and many opportunities for personal fitness. There are also endless outdoor adventures to be had while kayaking, sailing, surfing, hiking, rock-climbing, skiing, whale watching, and more.

Dalhousie is the leading graduate and research university of Atlantic Canada, with more than 18,500 students, including 3,500 in graduate programs, from 115 countries. Its medical school (www.medicine.dal.ca), founded in 1868, teaches scientific excellence and humanity in medicine, facilitates leading health research, influences social and health policy, and helps drive the regional economy. Through Dalhousie, the Department of Surgery is affiliated with New Brunswick’s Horizon Health Network and has additional affiliated staff throughout the Maritime provinces.

Nova Scotia Health (http://www.nshealth.ca) is the largest employer in the province. More than 23,000 employees, 2,500 physicians and 7,000 volunteers combine to provide care at more than 45 facilities throughout the province. The Central Zone provides core health services to 400,000 Halifax region residents (40% of the population of Nova Scotia) and tertiary and quaternary acute care services to residents of Atlantic Canada. The QEII Health Sciences Centre is the principal teaching hospital affiliated with Dalhousie University, and a centre for health care research.

IWK Health Centre (https://www.iwk.nshealth.ca) provides quality care to women, children, youth, and families in the Maritimes and beyond. It is engaged in leading-edge research, works to promote healthy lifestyles for families, and supports education opportunities for health professionals and other learners. Services provided by the Health Centre are delivered through three programs: Children’s Health, Mental Health and Addictions, and Women’s and Newborn Health.

The successful applicant should have exceptional leadership skills as evidenced by experience in other leadership roles, and preferably certified leadership training. The individual’s leadership style should be able to foster trust, create open communication, and facilitate challenging decision-making, while promoting the personal growth of its members and enhancing innovation within the Divisions. The applicant should have a vision with short- and long-term goals and a plan of action for the advancement of the Department as a whole, while seeking to engage all its membership toward collective growth in all facets of clinical care, academic teaching and research. The successful candidate must have a medical degree or equivalent; must have or be eligible to obtain an active medical license in Nova Scotia; and must have specialty certification in a Surgical Discipline by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or equivalent.

Applications must include a curriculum vitae and a summary statement of clinical, teaching, research and administrative interests. Review of applications will begin December 12, 2020 and will continue until the position is filled.

Dalhousie University is committed to fostering a collegial culture grounded in diversity and inclusiveness. The University encourages applications from Indigenous persons, persons with a disability, racially visible persons, women, persons of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity, and all candidates who would contribute to the diversity of our community.