Robert McMurtry is a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and special advisor to the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care. He is actively involved in discussions on creating an accessible medical system for the Canadian public, and has long advocated for more effective public involvement in healthcare policy.

Education

McMurtry graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

in 1965, and is a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada () is a regulatory college which acts as a national, nonprofit organization established in 1929 by a special Act of Parliament to oversee the medical education of specialists in Canada. The ...

Career

During his residency in

orthopedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

, he spent 2 years in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, first in a mission hospital in Sekhukhuniland (

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) and then with the

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA; in French: ''Agence canadienne de développement international''; ''ACDI'') was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was me ...

(CIDA) in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. Following his residency, Dr. McMurtry did a fellowship in

hand surgery Hand surgery deals with both surgical and non-surgical treatment of conditions and problems that may take place in the hand or upper extremity (commonly from the tip of the hand to the shoulder), American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Retriev ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. He started his practice at the former Sunnybrook Hospital (now Sunnybrook and Women's Health Centre) in 1975. It was there that Dr. McMurtry founded and directed Canada's first Trauma Unit and the multi-disciplinary Hand Unit. In 1987, he was appointed Professor and Chair of Surgery at the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

and Chief of Surgery at Foothills Hospital in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

(Canada). In 1992, he became Dean of Medicine at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

and subsequently Dean of Medicine and Dentistry, a post he held until 1999. In 1999, he became the first Cameron Visiting Chair at

Health Canada Health Canada (HC; )Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary units, department of the Gove ...

- a post carrying the responsibility for providing policy advice to the Deputy Minister and Minister of Health for Canada. In December 2003, he was appointed to the

Health Council of Canada The Health Council of Canada was a national, independent, public reporting agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Announced as part of the 2003 First Ministers' Accord on Health Care Renewal with a mandate to report publicly to Canadians, the H ...

and is Chair of the Wait Times and Accessibility Work Group. Dr. McMurtry is the founding Assistant Deputy Minister of the Population and Public Health Branch of

. He was appointed to the

Roy Romanow Roy John Romanow (born August 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician who served as the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001. He was the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 1987 until his retirement in 2001. He was the Mem ...

's Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada in 2002 as a Special Advisor to Commissioner Romanow.

Present

McMurtry is Professor of Surgery at the

Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry The Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry is the combined medical school and dental school of the University of Western Ontario, a public university in London, Ontario, Canada. The medical education section is one of six in Ontario and one ...

and Orthopedic Consultant at St. Josephs Health Care in London, Ontario. His work involves clinical practice as well as teaching and research. McMurtry is an expert advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca.

Awards

In June 2003, he received the Presidential Award of Excellence from the Canadian Orthopedic Association. In 2011 he was admitted to the Order of Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMurtry, Robert Canadian orthopedic surgeons Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario University of Toronto alumni Living people Members of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Year of birth missing (living people)