Chase McMurren MD CCFP MDPAC(C)

Biography

Dr. Chase Everett McMurren lives and works in Tkarón:to | GichiKiiwenging | Toronto, though comes from sikóóhkotoki | Lethbridge, Alberta, which is on traditional Siksikaitsitapi | Blackfoot Confederacy Territory and is covered by Treaty 7. His clan is the Turtle and his spirit name is Water Song Medicine Keeper. His ancestors are Michif/Métis, Celtic, French and Ukrainian. Dr. McMurren feels privileged to practice medicine & provides integrative medical psychotherapy, primarily for physicians and artists struggling with grief and overwhelm. Dr. McMurren also has a small home-visiting palliative practice for long-living people with advanced illness. Currently, Dr. McMurren serves as the Indigenous Health Theme Lead in the MD Program and the Indigenous Practitioner Liaison within the Office of Indigenous Health in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. McMurren is honoured to the Co-Chair of the National Consortium for Indigenous Medical Education (NCIME) Working Group on Physician Wellness and Joy in Work.

From the Nomination

"Dr. McMurren is able to create a learning environment where dialogue is encouraged (and an expectation) and where critical reflection and the challenging of one’s own views, habits and perceptions is the objective. His ability to address the unique challenges that Indigenous people face, as patients, as learners and as educators within the Institution while subsequently promoting a culture of acceptance and belonging is encouraging."

About the Award

The Miriam Rossi Award for Health Equity in Undergraduate Medical Education aims to recognize University of Toronto MD Program faculty members for their commitment to diversity and health equity in undergraduate medical education. The award is named after Dr. Miriam Rossi, a pediatrician, teaching faculty, and former Associate Dean of Student Affairs in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, and a strong advocate and mentor for minorities. It was established in 2017 in recognition of Dr. Rossi’s outstanding contributions to health equity in medical education. Dr. Rossi led several initiatives to improve diversity in the U of T medical school, in particular the creation of the Summer Mentorship Program (SMP), established to encourage young Black and Aboriginal students, who are under-represented in medicine, to pursue careers in the health sciences. Like many of her contributions, the SMP was developed to help improve equity in the field of medicine, healthcare and society as a whole.