Dalhousie Alumni Association Award of Excellence for Teaching Recipients
2021
Dr. Catherine Craig, (Professor; Simulation Coordinator - Obstetrics) Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine
Dr. Catherine Craig has been selected as the 2021 recipient of the Dalhousie Alumni Association Award of Excellence for Teaching. Dr. Craig, professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, has worked in the department for the past 27 years. She is being recognized for her excellence as an educator, mentor, advocate, and innovator.
Dr. Craig has developed an innovative, evidence-based simulation program for undergraduate and postgraduate students that prepares them for high acuity, low frequency, and challenging clinical situations in obstetrics. Dr. Craig’s students describe the learning environment she creates as positive, safe, and supportive, which enables learning to be optimized and confidence to be nurtured. Her impact in the area of simulation has also been noted nationally and internationally. She has been a leader in the development of a national simulation program for Obstetrics and Gynaecology residency training programs and has also assisted in incorporating simulation as an integral part of the Competence By Design (CBD) curriculum through her work on the Royal College CBD Committee. At an international level, she has been instrumental in teaching at Train the Trainer simulation workshops in Rwanda and lecturing at the Songea University College School of Medicine in Tanzania. She has also collaborated with Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana in the development of an obstetrics simulation program for their residents. Further, Dr. Craig has made seminal contributions to the literature, often supervising resident trainees, with her main focus being in the area of simulation in medical education.
Dr. Craig is also committed to the wellbeing and resilience of the members of her department. She has made an impact through her leadership in the development of a departmental Wellness and Safety Committee that has undertaken many initiatives to enhance wellbeing in the workplace. She has additionally spearheaded the design and implementation of a wellness curriculum for residents in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She is described by her nominators as having an emotional intelligence that enables her to be immensely effective as a mentor and as an advocate. Her longstanding commitment to education, mentorship, advocacy, and innovation has been invaluable to learners and her colleagues in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.