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Our successes in the Faculty of Medicine during this past year could not have happened without a tremendous amount of collaboration among faculty, staff and students, and all of you had a hand in our many victories. There are too many to mention them all, but any list would have to include: the expansion our physical footprint in health facilities throughout B.C.; the opening of Canada’s only free-standing academic hospice on UBC’s campus; the launching of new residency programs in Fraser Health and on Vancouver Island; the recruitment and appointment of new leaders for two of our largest research institutes; the forging of new ties and renewing existing relationships with academic health institutions in China; the extension of clubfoot treatment to yet another impoverished country, and the roll-out of a public education campaign in B.C. to screen for a rare liver disease; the release of definitive findings about a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis, and the publication of promising findings about HPV control; the receipt of the largest single gift ever made to the Faculty, as well as the largest estate gift we have ever received. Making these and our other accomplishments all the more remarkable was the fact that they were achieved in an environment of continued financial constraint. Even as the Faculty extends its reach to all corners of the province, the ties that bind us together are getting stronger – something to remember as the year comes to end, and we take time to appreciate the relationships that sustain us through good times and bad. Please make the most of the holiday season, and I look forward to seeing you in January, when we can begin again – with renewed vigor – to achieve a new list of accomplishments in 2014. I very much look forward to being a continued part of our amazing enterprise in this new year to come. Gavin C.E. Stuart, MD, FRCSC |