James Owen MD, CCFP

Biography

Dr. James Owen is a family physician at Unity Health Toronto and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. His family practice is located at the Wellesley-St James Town Health Centre in downtown Toronto. His clinical practice includes comprehensive primary care for people living with and at-risk of HIV, as well care for sexual and gender minority populations, people living with mental health conditions and substance use, and other vulnerable or marginalized groups. In the MD Program, he is the Year 2 Director of the Foundations Program. He previously led the development of the second-year Complexity and Chronicity course and was its course director until Spring 2022. He also held the role of 2SLGBTQIA+ Health Lead for three years. He was a co-recipient of the 2019 Miriam Rossi Award for Health Equity in Medical Education.

From the Nomination

"He has proven to be an exceptional innovator, successful in designing novel courses and appropriate content, involving fantastic faculty to deliver his curriculum. Most importantly, he prioritizes student voices to help shape his vision and is approachable and keen to receive and integrate feedback. Dr. Owen has made invaluable contributions as a teacher and leader in medical education in the MD Program at University of Toronto."

"His commitment to ensuring students think about patients and the factors that influence a patient’s well-being in a holistic manner is unwavering... His design of the CNC course was innovative and inclusive, with an unparalleled openness and flexibility to making improvements based on learner feedback and the changing landscape of patient’s needs."

About the Award

These awards are named after William Thomas Aikins, the first Dean of the Faculty of Medicine after its reorganization in1887. They are the Faculty’s most prestigious awards in the MD Program. They were established to recognize and formally reward outstanding teachers in the areas of Individual Teaching Performance (Foundations and Clerkship), Development and Use of Educational Innovations, and Course / Program Development and Coordination. Recipients of these awards have significantly contributed to high-quality undergraduate teaching by establishing and integrating new and effective methods of instruction into the curriculum.