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THIS IS THE SECOND DEPARTMENT THREATENED WITH ‘NOTICE OF INTENT TO WITHDRAW ACCREDITATION’ BY THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF CANADA HEADED BY DR. MABERLEY
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada have filed a notice of intent to withdraw accreditation from the University of Ottawa’s Department of Ophthalmology, found through a freedom of information request under the Canadian Access to Information Act filed by the Fulcrum
According to documents reviewed by the Fulcrum, Dr. Melissa Forgie, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and Sandy Tse, associate medical director and chair of the accreditation committee, received this notice of intent to withdraw by email in May 2024. There are only a handful of residents in the program, with only 2 or 3 admissions annually. The Canadian Ophthalmological Society in 2022 said there were around 220 residents total across Canada.
A notice of intent to withdraw accreditation is serious, serving as a final warning before a program loses its right to train residents. The last U of O program to receive a notice was the department of Neurosurgery in 2015. The Ottawa Citizen described this notice as “… an embarrassing black eye for [U of O’s] medical faculty”.
According to the Royal College’s handbook, page 8 of chapter 17 titled “Accreditation”, a notice of intent to withdraw accreditation for an already accredited program, such as the University of Ottawa’s ophthalmology department, means “there are weaknesses of sufficient magnitude to call into question the existence or safety of a functioning residency program.”
Review of a program’s accreditation is part of a regular review process, and for the department of ophthalmology, this is the Accreditation Review of Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME).
When the Fulcrum inquired, University of Ottawa spokesperson Jesse Robichaud provided details about this process, stating that:
“The regular Accreditation Review of Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) programs occurs on an eight-year cycle, with the latest cycle occurring most recently at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine in 2024. Each of the programs remains accredited, and most of the Faculty’s 76 PGME programs will be evaluated again in 2032 at the next regular review cycle. As part of the standard quality improvement process, the Ophthalmology program received an accreditation status in 2024 that mandates an external review, and it will undergo follow-up reviews in 2027.”
Dr. David Maberley, the chairman and head of the University of Ottawa department of ophthalmology, was previously the head of the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) department of ophthalmology from 2013-2021. In 2020, the UBCs department of ophthalmology was also given a notice of intent to withdraw from the Royal College. This was only made public through reporting by CTV News Vancouver, Penny Daflos, three years later.
In 2024, Daflos further reported that UBC’s department “made sweeping changes following a damning report outlining bullying and sexual harassment of student eye doctors.” The report, titled the “Miller Report”, written by lawyer Renee Miller and dated May 20, 2022, obtained in whole by the Fulcrum, stated that the “[UBC] program has persistent issues of unprofessional conduct and harassment: sexual harassment, racial, and bullying and harassment.”
An anonymous 2022 letter, written by a group of UBC Ophthalmology residents, fellows, and medical students to the Board of the Vancouver Coastal Health Agency, obtained by the Fulcrum, though heavily redacted, alleged that UBC’s ophthalmology department was engaged in “covering up and burying allegations of sexual harassment that have gone on for more than 3-5 years.”
The 2022 letter also highlights that “[f]or over 3 years, incidents of sexual harassment were voiced and documented by all resident trainees”, and “instead of victims concerns being taken seriously, there continues to be complete inaction on any formal disciplinary process or further investigation into these serious allegations.”
Dr. Maberley left his position as the head of the UBC department sometime in 2020, though it’s unclear exactly when his appointment at UBC ended, and he is approaching the end of his first 5-year term with U of O. The potential renewal of his term is set for March, though there have been no updates about this as of the time of publication.
When asked if Dr. Maberley and other faculty wished to provide comment, Robichaud also responded on behalf of the faculty and university, stating that:
“The program is currently addressing the identified follow-ups that pertain to optimizing oculoplastics training, evaluating previously implemented improvements for oculoplastics training, and supporting resident training requirements and responsibilities in the clinical setting. No matters of harassment were identified in the accreditation process.
This notice does not mean a program will lose its accreditation. There are many examples of programs receiving this notice that have successfully addressed the identified follow-ups within the timeframe provided. In these cases, residents were not adversely affected, and this quality improvement process enhances the program due to the accreditation process. For added context, an accreditation rating is a continuous quality improvement tool that serves to perpetually strengthen the academic structures, quality of education and learning environments that residents experience in their training. The ratings are not a comment on patient care or patient safety. Furthermore, an accreditation rating will not cause interruptions or obstacles to a resident’s training, education or licensure of clinical work.”
Any individuals with information about this story are encouraged to email editor@thefulcrum.ca
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