2024 Support Staff Awards of Excellence Winners
Congratulations to the winners!
Service Excellence Award
Michelle Akimov – Executive Assistant and Postgraduate Medical Education Program Administrator, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
Michelle’s commitment to excellence is evident in every aspect of her work, demonstrating exceptional dedication, innovation and leadership. Her outstanding communication skills foster a positive and collaborative work environment, and her meticulous attention to detail ensures smooth and efficient administrative processes, implementing solutions that improve the overall experience for residents and faculty. Michelle’s proactive problem-solving has led to significant improvements, such as streamlining the residency program’s onboarding process and introducing a new tracking system for resident evaluations, dramatically improving the timeliness and accuracy of feedback and directly contributing to the residents’ professional growth. Recently, she stepped up as the executive assistant to the university chair, managing increased responsibilities with remarkable initiative and efficiency. Her contributions have significantly enhanced departmental operations and morale, and are an inspiration to all.
Service Excellence Award
Catherine Dumoulin – Senior Advisor, Strategic Planning and Implementation
Skilled in strategic thinking and leadership, Catherine actively seeks avenues for Faculty growth. Her contributions in support of the Faculty of Medicine are far-reaching, a testament to her innovative spirit and commitment to excellence. Highly organized and skilled in event management, she displays meticulous planning in ensuring Faculty initiatives and events are a seamless success. She proactively takes the lead in researching and developing new programs and initiatives, instrumental in launching key programs such as Clinical Science and Translational Medicine (CTM). A central player in producing the Faculty’s Strategic Plan and Progress Reports, she ensures the highest standards of accountability. Catherine’s well-established reputation for a willingness to help, be it supporting colleagues or stepping in where needed, boosts morale and furthers the successes of the department and Faculty.
Service Excellence Award
Manon Levesque – Intermediate Coordinator, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Manon has demonstrated exceptional performance over the past year, rising to the occasion of stepping up to cover a leave in the Department while concurrently performing her own position. For eight months, Manon managed dual responsibilities, supporting the anatomical residency program and administrating undergraduate medical activities, as well as adding value in reviewing and improving processes. Her organizational and communication skills enabled her to prioritize tasks efficiently, meeting numerous conflicting deadlines. She played a crucial role in the successful accreditation of the Anatomical Pathology and Medical Microbiology residency programs, achieving the highest standard by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. Her contributions during this challenging period demonstrate her dedication, growth, and a flexibility and capacity to respond calmly to stressful situations.
Award for Service Excellence – First 2 Years of Service
Laura Darbon – Lead Coordinator, Office of Continuing Professional Development
Since joining the demanding world of medical education event planning, Laura has proved to be a skilled planner, with her exceptional dedication and innovative problem-solving having a profound impact on the Faculty and community. She quickly adapted to the challenging role, ensuring the smooth running of major events like the Annual Refresher Course for Family Physicians, which saw significant increases in sponsorship and registration revenue under her leadership. Laura’s proactive nature and willingness to support her colleagues are invaluable, as evidenced by her successful planning of the Ottawa Dizziness Symposium and her role in the upcoming 2025 Hip Symposium. Her commitment to enriching the learner experience and implementing wellness activities demonstrates her dedication to improving the overall experience for attendees.
Award for Service Excellence – First 2 Years of Service
Lindsay Dumas-Boland – Program Administrator, Department of Medicine
Lindsay’s service excellence, compassion, and commitment have led to significant improvements within the Internal Medicine Residency program. Seeking strategies to improve processes and infrastructure, Lindsay has directly contributed to the program’s success. Within months, she established an advanced SharePoint site enabling residents to easily attain essential information like policies and guidelines, call schedules, and wellness resources, and the site’s enhanced document-sharing capabilities facilitate communication among residents and faculty. She improved the electronic leave system, creating a functional leave request bank and streamlining the approval process. Her key role in transforming the weekly Academic Half Day into a hybrid format allows residents to participate from various locations. Lindsay’s novel solutions are already having a far-reaching impact and significantly improving the services offered to residents.
Award for Service Excellence – First 2 Years of Service
Johanna Radisch – Lead Executive Assistant, Strategic Planning and Implementation
Johanna has shown tremendous enthusiasm and commitment in mastering the complicated Faculty landscape while managing two very large portfolios as Lead Executive Assistant to the Dean and to the Executive Vice-Dean of Education. Organized and professional, she has taken the initiative to collaborate with members of her team to help streamline and automate various administrative tasks. She provides valuable insight in discussions, keen to share her passion and expertise in IT systems. Her expertise with Microsoft PowerBI enabled her to assist in developing of an educational assessment platform, translating ideas for the design of the evaluation process into the tool, which will be key in transforming how the Faculty personalizes the delivery of programs. Johanna’s exceptional contributions have led to solutions improving the service the team provides.
Award for Innovation, Transformative Thinking and Continuous Improvement
Meghan Hach – Senior Manager, Business Operations, International and Global Health
Meghan’s innovation and creativity bring immense value to the IGHO portfolio through the expansion and enhancement the Faculty’s programs, responding to the diverse needs of its partners and boosting its brand, global presence, revenue and impact. She has increased participation in the summer student program five-fold, with content tailored to the respective needs of international students. Her initiatives have also expanded programs in Tanzania and Benin, and her co-creation of a unique "bridge year" program for Khalifa University graduates has been transformative, preparing students for the MCCQE exam and residency. Under Meghan’s leadership, there has been a significant increase in business development with the Gulf Corporation Council, showcasing her effective collaboration, and her contributions in support of the Planetary Health lead have enhanced the visibility and impact of this portfolio.
Award for Innovation, Transformative Thinking and Continuous Improvement
Greg Nasmith – Project Specialist, Family Medicine
Greg plays an instrumental role in the Department’s ground-breaking work to develop innovative technology, impacting learners and faculty members alike. He supports all aspects of the project lifecycle, such as defining requirements, building and writing script for eLearning modules, and helping produce podcasts and video tutorials. His perseverance, organization and professionalism saw the first cohort of learners experience and benefit from virtual reality as part of their Quality Improvement training. His development of tools and resources has also reduced administrative burdens and supported the university community. Greg’s expertise is sought by other departments for collaboration, and his guidance is ensuring that lessons learned and knowledge gained from implementing novel technologies will expand the University’s impact on learners through cutting-edge education.
Engagement Award
Rachel Glennie – Program Administrator, Department of Medicine
Praised as the backbone of the Internal Medicine Residency program, Rachel uses her wealth of knowledge and experience to support and motivate her team and Program Administrators. With extensive expertise in residency programs, she is a crucial resource in assisting individuals both within the Department and in the Faculty’s other clinical departments. Rachel consistently seeks out creative strategies to advance her team, the program, and the objectives of PGME. Her positive attitude and concern for the well-being of others is the basis of her success; she is creative in identifying opportunities for team building, problem-solving, and infusing energy into daily operations, and she values the hard work of her team, ensuring they have the support and guidance necessary to excel and grow in their professions.
Engagement Award
Meghan Marcotte – Senior Advisor, Marketing and Communications Office and the Awards Office
Engagement and recognition are key pillars of the Faculty’s strategic plan, and Meghan has taken exemplary initiative to improve the competition processes for the Faculty’s array of internal awards. Beyond managing the awards, she strives to increase their accessibility to engage the community and enhance participation. Demonstrating exceptional collaboration and professionalism, she has revamped processes including nomination and review platforms and rubrics; developed and disseminated new category descriptions and criteria; and ensured accountable and representative review committees, resulting in record nominations for awards, including among francophone and female nominees. She proactively engages winners and other community members to uncover further potential for internal and external awards; winners have personally thanked Meghan for her crucial role in their success.
Team Service Excellence Award
Internal Medicine Postgraduate Medical Education Team, Department of Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital
Lindsay Dumas-Boland, Justine Fortier, Rachel Glennie, Karen Parr
The PGME Internal Medicine team has demonstrated exceptional dedication to improving their program. They introduced advanced skills training in the first year of rotations, elevating the standard of skill acquisition and enhancing competencies. Their creation of a comprehensive program map and alumni survey has enriched the quality of the learning experience and ensured continuous improvement. By identifying and addressing gaps in non-traditional learning opportunities, they have developed a customized, interdisciplinary training strategy. The team prioritizes workplace wellness, establishing initiatives like a wellness committee, emergency supplies cupboard, and resident buddy system. Their extensive knowledge-sharing extends from the local in support of the efficient operation of all Faculty programs, up to the international level. Recent accreditation results underscored the team's unwavering commitment to surpassing expectations.
Metabolomics Core Facility
Dassine Azouaoui, Shama Naz, PhD
The MCF team significantly enhances the Faculty’s research capacity, providing access to cutting-edge methodologies, detailed protocols and state-of-the-art equipment. Under Dr. Shama Naz’s meticulous management and Director Mireille Khacho’s leadership, the MCF staff consistently delivers highly accurate and reproducible metabolic data to researchers, and the team’s support empowers many researchers, especially those lacking expertise in metabolic analyses, to explore new research avenues and make major discoveries. Excellence of service is evidenced in the team’s availability to discuss new project directions; provide advice on study design, sample acquisition, processing, and analytical approaches; and foster collaboration through the creation of customized protocols. MCF’s development of innovative approaches further expands their services and research capacity, and their guidance ensures timely acquisition of reliable results by the uOttawa research community.
Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Undergraduate Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education
Leila Armesto, Geneviève Brazeau, Geneviève Breton, Katherine Dickson, Olivia Gaudreau, Katherine Gignac, Ema Grenier, Paige Hewett, Carole Lefebvre, Louise Lemay, Marc Ste-Marie et Jennifer Therrien
Over the past year, the GPS/UBPS team has completely revitalized service to students and faculty, resulting in dramatic improvements in response time, quality and support. Under Geneviève Breton-Harper's leadership, the office was restructured to provide program-level support, significantly improving efficiency and personalized service. The team reduced email response times from weeks to hours and enhanced the student experience through personalized academic counseling. Despite challenges, they maintained high service standards and facilitated communication effectively. Their empathetic approach, collaborative spirit and unwavering dedication to student support have fostered the positive energy and environment needed to launch new programs successfully. Their commitment to excellence has profoundly impacted the academic community and resulted in significant improvements to the student experience.
