AllerGen Board Chair leads celebration of 40 years of Family Medicine at McGill

Dr. Howard Bergman, Chair of AllerGen’s Board of Directors, recently led celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University.

“When the family medicine program started at McGill University 40 years ago, there was just a handful of medical residents who opted for a field that was often regarded as less valued than training to become a medical specialist,” says Dr. Bergman, Chair of McGill’s Family Medicine Program.

“Family Medicine is now the biggest department within McGill’s Faculty of Medicine; is involved in the training of medical students, 200 medical residents, and almost 50 MSc and PhD students; and manages over $35 million in research grants, and numerous other activities to deliver primary care across Quebec and Canada, as well as internationally.”

On May 5, 2016, over 150 people gathered at the Musée des Beaux Arts in Montreal for a homecoming gala to celebrate 40 years of innovation in care, teaching and research. “The keynote guest was a graduate of our family medicine residency program, who is also an astronaut!” observes Dr. Bergman. A second sold-out event was a policy symposium on primary care featuring speakers from across Canada and England.

Read the McGill University and Montreal Gazette articles, which highlight “the dramatic evolution of family medicine at McGill.”