Surgeon is first-ever U of T award winner.
Dr. John Hagen, left, and Dr. Andrew Smith.
Photo/COURTESY
Humber River Regional Hospital's chief of bariatric surgery is the first-ever winner of a University of Toronto leadership award. Dr. John Hagen, medical director of the bariatric program, was awarded the inaugural Robert Mustard Mentorship Award at the 33rd annual Assembly of General Surgeons Thursday, May 27 at the Sutton Place Hotel.
The honour recognizes a doctor who acts as a mentor, is devoted to excellence in clinical training, and who provides exemplary teaching, leadership and expertise to the U of T's senior general surgery residents.
The winner is determined by a vote of the surgical residents.
Hagen is based at Humber River's Finch Avenue campus, with the bariatric surgeries taking place and both the Finch and Church Street sites. Last year, Humber River performed 400 bariatric surgeries at the two locations.
Bariatric surgery, also known as gastric bypass, is used to treat obese patients unable to lose weight by conventional methods by surgically altering the gastrointestinal tract to reduce the amount of food they are able to eat and absorb.
Hagen said he was thrilled to be the inaugural winner of the award.
"It was a great honour to be chosen for this award and I share it with my colleagues and senior management who've been extremely supportive of our general surgery program," he said.
"They understand the importance of sharing our expertise with students from around the globe. It's a true team effort and we value our close relationship with the University of Toronto and take pride in the high level of teaching we offer at Humber River."
The university's Dr. Andrew Smith said Hagen's influence has been exemplary, not only in training surgical students but in mentoring faculty as they learn advanced laparoscopic surgical techniques.
"Dr. Hagen is recognized through the City of Toronto as an individual with superior skills and foresight in the process of implementing minimally invasive surgical techniques," he said.
"His surgical skill combined with his generosity of spirit and warm, unassuming manner have made him the ideal teacher for learners of all ages."
Humber River president Dr. Rueben Devlin said Hagen deserves the award, due to his outstanding leadership.
"Thanks to his work and the work of his colleagues in the program, our partnership with the University of Toronto has been very successful," he said.
"We recently expanded our general surgery program partnership with the University of Toronto to better accommodate the increasing number of medical students looking to do their core rotation in general surgery at Humber River."
This is not the first time Humber River's bariatric surgery program has received praise. In February 2009, the hospital announced it would boost the number of procedures it performs after being named one of four Ontario centres of excellence by the provincial government.