Dr. Eva Knell Faculty Award: Leadership and Excellence in Resident Education
To fund an award that will celebrate the outstanding contributions of teachers in the Department of Family Practice Residency Program.
Project Description
The UBC Department of Family Practice is proud to establish the Dr. Eva Knell Faculty Award for Leadership and Excellence in Resident Education. This award will be given annually in honour of Dr. Eva Knell whose longstanding and outstanding contributions as a leader, educator, mentor, advocate, and peer within UBC’s Department of Family Practice spanned several decades. The recipient will have made similar contributions in some or all of the following areas that are highlights of Dr. Knell’s teaching legacy:
- Longstanding commitment to excellence in teaching
- Steadfast focus on a learner-centred approach
- Leadership role(s) within UBC’s Department of Family Practice
- Mentorship of colleagues, residents, and peers
- Dedication to resident resilience and wellness
- Commitment to IMG education and well-being
- Contributions to medical education locally, provincially, and nationally
- Commitment to Faculty Development
- Innovative Curriculum Design
We are excited to announce that the Department of Family Practice and its Postgraduate Training Program have provided initial gifts totaling $20,000 to help promote and pay tribute to Dr. Knell’s outstanding qualities. Please spread the word and share this important fundraising initiative with your family, friends, colleagues, and community! If we are able to raise $50,000 an endowment can be established to ensure the award will continue in perpetuity.
Challenges and Impact of Your Support
When Eva retired last year, the Department of Family Practice acknowledged that an outstanding leader, who was a role model to her colleagues and residents, would no longer be with the resident training program. To help promote Eva’s contributions and best qualities amongst leadership into the future, the Department has decided to create a Faculty Award in her name. This award will support community-based physician educators whose extraordinary leadership and dedication to learners are transforming the future of healthcare for us all.
A portion of the total funds raised through this campaign will be awarded annually to faculty recipients who deserve to be recognized for their dedication to residents in the UBC Family Medicine Residency Program. Our program offers a unique approach to postgraduate medical education supporting residents to pursue lifelong learning opportunities and build lasting community connections. This award will spur on program leaders whose efforts are charting bold new paths toward the highest quality of family medicine.
About Dr. Eva Knell
Dr. Eva Knell recently retired as a clinical professor from the UBC Faculty of Medicine after more than 30 years of serving the Department of Family Practice. She went above and beyond in her approach and dedication to students and residents, ensuring each new cohort of primary care providers received a transformative and compassionate education in Medicine. Early in her career Eva was recruited to design curriculum for the newly established St. Paul’s Hospital Residency site, and her trajectory in medical education and leadership took off from there. Dr. Knell was later asked by Dr. Rod Andrew to help shape the International Medical Graduate (IMG) program. The UBC Family Medicine IMG program was the first in Canada to offer residency training in family medicine for doctors who trained in countries other than Canada or the United States. While Associate Department Head of UBC Family Practice, she focused on designing systemic supports for community-based practitioners and faculty. As Associate Program Director she continued to focus on curricular and faculty development, aiding residents in academic difficulty, and initiating systemic supports for resident resilience. Throughout this time she also continued her work as Behavioural Medicine faculty encouraging residents to also focus on the art of medicine, kindness, and compassion.
Eva’s passion for lifelong learning inspired her to pursue extensive training in medical education, communication skills and conflict resolution studies which were reflected in her revolutionary approach to curriculum development and evaluations—she is renowned for her ability to create safe and respectful spaces for resident learning and for collegial work. Eva’s impact at the Department of Family Practice will continue to positively shape future generations of family doctors for years to come. We want to magnify Eva’s teaching legacy by recognizing other leaders who share her drive, passion, dedication and love for their work, students, colleagues, and patients.