Lab Members

Affiliations: 

Director & Scientist, Centre for Advancing Collaborative Healthcare & Education 

Affiliate Scientist, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute / Program Lead, Teaching for Transformation,

Scientist, The Wilson Centre 

Scientist, The Institute for Education Research 

Associate Professor, Dept of Speech-Language Pathology & Rehabilitation Sciences Institute & Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, University of Toronto

Research focus:

Advancing our knowledge of critical reflection and application of critical pedagogy in the health professions/sciences to foster more collaborative, compassionate, and ethical health care and health science.

In what way does your work embody praxis?

Through my research I aim to overcome false dichotomies that divide otherwise aligned people: knowledge creators and knowledge users; research and practice, professionals and patients/clients, institutions and communities, qualitative and quantitative, technical and artistic, and more. I draw upon epistemologies of practice and critical perspectives on knowledge and knowledge mobilization to inspire nuanced dialogue and propel meaningful growth/change.

Links:

Google Scholar | Research Gate | LinkedIn | University of Toronto

Affiliations:

Scientist, Michael Garron Hospital

Scientist, The Wilson Centre

Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto

Assistant Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management & Education, University of Toronto

Research Focus:

Taking a critical lens to admissions and assessment policies and practices to strive for equity and inclusivity in health professions education.

In what way does your work embody praxis?

My worldview has been shaped by my former experience as a psychometrician, a position in which I aimed to make theory-informed improvements to admissions and assessment practice. Now as an education scientist, I remain committed to praxis and improving the theory-practice link by producing meaningful and useful research. I plan to build upon my previous studies and query equity imperatives and initiatives in Health Professions Education admissions and assessment practices, policies and paradigms.

Links:

Wilson Centre | University of Toronto | Google Scholar | Research Gate | LinkedIn

Affiliations:

PhD Candidate, Rehabilitation Science Institute, U of T

Wilson Centre Fellow

ExCel Lab Member

Biography:

Jacquelin is a PhD student at the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Stella Ng and Dr. Nikki Woods. Before coming to health professions education, she completed an undergraduate degree in English Literature from McGill University. Her research interests are focused on patient-provider communication and the way we prepare medical learners to practice as adaptive communication experts. Jacquelin's doctoral work seeks to identify the conceptual knowledge underpinning patient-provider communication and explore the intersection of this knowledge with current educational approaches in HPE.

In what ways does your work embody praxis?

My work aims to explore the value of communication theories for health professions education as the foundation to build skills that will ultimately support expert communication in clinical practice.

Links:

LinkedIn

Affiliations: 

PhD Student, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and The Wilson Centre

Biography:

Melanie MacKinnon is a PhD student in Health Professions Education Research (HPER) doctoral concentration offered by the institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, in collaboration with the faculty of the Wilson Centre, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Melanie is a practicing Physiotherapist, and she holds an Assistant Professor, teaching stream position in the Department of Physiotherapy, in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She completed a Master of Clinical Science in Physiotherapy (Manual Therapy) at Western University, a Master of Science in Physiotherapy from the University of Toronto and an Honours Bachelor of Science Kinesiology (First Class Honours) from Dalhousie University. 

In what ways does your work embody praxis?

Under the supervision of Dr. Stella Ng and Dr. Sarah Wright, Melanie's research aims to explore assessment strategies to support humanistic and social aspects of clinical practice.

Links:

Google Scholar | LinkedIn

Affiliations:

Wilson Centre for Research in Education, University Health Network, University of Toronto 

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University

Biography:

Grecia Alaniz is a Research Fellow at the Wilson Centre, as well as a PhD Candidate in the Health Professional Education doctoral program at Western University, and a practicing pelvic health physiotherapist. She completed her Master of Science in Physiotherapy and Honours Bachelor of Science (Kinesiology) at McMaster University. Grecia's research interests draw on the intersections of reproductive and sexual health, technology, and critical health discourses. Through her doctoral work, Grecia aims to understand the ways in which dominant discourses shape and inform the use of various reproductive technologies in maternity care provision, based on the experiences of maternity care providers. Grecia is also the recipient of the SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Doctoral) for 2022-2025.

In what ways does your work embody praxis?

My doctoral research examines the discourses shaping maternity care practices with the aim to inform critical reflexive pedagogies that shift maternity care practices toward more equitable, inclusive approaches to care across professions.

Links:

LinkedIn | Google Scholar

Affiliation:

CACHE Team Member

Biography:

Farah Friesen, MI, is Manager, Research & Knowledge Mobilization at the Centre for Advancing Collaborative Healthcare & Education (CACHE). She joined CACHE in a Research & Strategy Associate role beginning September 13, 2021, on the heels of a whirlwind (pandemic-focused) year as the Coordinator, Office of the CEO, Women's College Hospital and a prior 6.5-year tenure at the Centre for Faculty Development (CFD). At the CFD, Farah played a number of pivotal roles including as a knowledge broker, research coordinator, and program coordinator. Trained as a librarian (Master of Information), Farah has a passion for facilitating collaboration and informed decision-making through access to information and knowledge mobilization.

Farah's main research interest is in critically examining traditional academic performance indicators, encouraging alternative perspectives on metrics, and working towards a broader (re)definition of research and educational impact. Farah will extend these efforts into supporting the Centre's research and scholarship agenda.

In her spare time, Farah enjoys working out, thinking about mind-body dualism, following philosophy and psychology debates on free will/determinism, and attempting to watch all the movies from Roger Ebert's Great Movies List (there are close to 500 films and so far she has watched about 300 of them).

In what way does your work embody praxis?

Links:

Google Scholar | LinkedIn