The Southern Medical Program is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Vincent Arockiasamy as the new Site Director, Undergraduate Education, Kelowna General Hospital (KGH). Dr. Arockiasamy is a pediatrician and Clinical Assistant Professor with the UBC Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Arockiasamy completed his medical degree and residency training at St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore, India and was subsequently admitted as a member of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Additionally, he completed a fellowship in neonatal and perinatal medicine at BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Arockiasamy runs a busy pediatric inpatient and consultation practice in Kelowna and provides care for children throughout the Interior. Prior to joining the KGH staff in 2015, he served the Northern Medical Program as an academic physician and Clinical Education Leader for almost nine years.
Dr. Arockiasamy has continually fostered and supported medical education opportunities throughout his career. He has actively supported the teaching and examination requirements of students and residents and been acknowledged for his service, including the 2013 Clinical Teacher of the Year Award from Northern Medical Program students. Since 2015, he has served as the pediatrics rotation-lead for the SMP’s third-year clerkship program at KGH and helped optimize the learning environment for students training in the hospital. Dr. Arockiasamy will work in collaboration with the Regional Associate Dean, Interior, Clinical Education Program Manager, Discipline Specific Site Leads, KGH, and Year 3 staff to support the goals and objectives of the clerkship program at KGH. He will also work closely with the Co-Site Directors, Royal Inland Hospital, and Site Directors from Island Medical Program, Northern Medical Program and Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program.
The SMP would like to take this opportunity to recognize Dr. Diana Fort as the outgoing Site Director at KGH. Dr. Fort joined the SMP in 2016 as the Co-Site Director with Dr. Cheryl Holmes. In 2017, she took on the full role as Site Director and successfully led the continued evolution of the SMP’s clerkship program at KGH. During her tenure, she made excellent contributions to the learning environment for both SMP faculty and students. I would like to thank Dr. Fort for her dedicated service and wish her the best as she enters the Clinical Educator Fellowship Program with the Faculty of Medicine’s Centre for Health Education Scholarship.