Dear Colleagues,
It is with profound sadness that I share the news that our beloved colleague and Clinical Associate Professor Dr. Abdulkarim Jiwa passed away last Thursday at Vancouver Hospital. As many of you are aware, Dr. Jiwa was a valued and highly respected colleague in the Department, UBC Hospital Outpatient Psychiatry Unit, Mood Disorders Program, Student Health Service, MS Clinic and the Consult-Liaison Service, for which he had previously served as Chief for many years. He had been a long-serving member of our clinical faculty at UBC Psychiatry, and up until his passing, remained a very engaged member of the Department. This news will no doubt come as a shock and be met with a very deep sense of loss amongst his many friends and colleagues at UBC and beyond..
Dr. Jiwa’s distinguished medical career began at Makrere University in Uganda, where he obtained his medical degree in 1971. Thereafter, he relocated to Vancouver to pursue his residency training at UBC Psychiatry, which he completed in 1976, then embarked on a six-month clinical fellowship under the supervision of the late Dr. Ralph Shulman. Upon completion of his fellowship, Dr. Jiwa was appointed as a Clinical Instructor in 1977, and was subsequently promoted to Clinical Assistant Professor in 1982 and then to Clinical Associate Professor in 1987.
Over the last 47 years, Dr. Jiwa had been actively involved in the clinical supervision of medical students and residents at UBC Hospital. His reputation as a teacher was by all accounts excellent, and his opinions and expertise in consult-liaison were highly esteemed by his peers. For nearly five decades, Dr. Jiwa was a fixture and a welcome presence here on the UBC campus, and we will sorely miss seeing him in the wards, hallway and cafeteria at UBC Hospital, mood disorders program rounds, as well as at our annual Research Days, the most recent one at which he was in attendance less than a month ago. We will all fondly remember Dr. Jiwa’s gentle friendly nature, his collegiality, and the generous mentorship he provided to countless junior colleagues, students and trainees.
On a personal side, amongst his many hobbies, Abdul was also a passionate golfer. He made many winter golf trips to Palm Springs with members of the UBC mood group and other colleagues. He had a trademark “helicopter shot” and an uncanny ability to “dial the distance” with the driver such that he could use it even on par 3s. Those of us who had golfed with him have a lifetime of stories and many fond memories, and we will very much miss his presence.
On behalf of myself and members of the UBC Department of Psychiatry, I send our sincerest condolences to his wife Theresa, his children Adam and Ashley, and his extended family and loved ones during this most difficult time. A Celebration of Life will be held at the family home on Saturday August 10th.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lakshmi N. Yatham, MBBS, FRCPC, MRCPsych (UK), MBA (Exec)
Professor and Head, UBC Department of Psychiatry
Director, Institute of Mental Health, UBC
Regional Head and Program Medical Director, VCH/PHC
The UBC Department of Psychiatry Administration Office respectfully acknowledges the land on which we live, work and play is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-waututh).