U of O receives notice of intent to withdraw accreditation of neurosurgery program

U of O receives notice of intent to withdraw accreditation of neurosurgery program
--Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen, May 4, 2015


U of O Watch has learned: 

This is the second notice of possible loss of accreditation that the U of O residency program in neurosurgery has received in the last 5 years.

In those 5 years, three directors of the program have resigned: John Sinclair, Richard Moulton, and, most recently (after receiving the latest notice), Charles Agbi (see staff list).

Also in those 5 years, the program hired a needed star neurosurgeon, in the person of Dr. Amin Kassam, but failed to retain Dr. Kassam, who stayed very briefly.

This is the program that in 2011 fired an MD allegedly for leading a human rights complaint, according to a leaked email which is on the public court record (see articles tagged "medicine").

(Sinclair / Moulton / Agbi)

PRESS RELEASE::: International MDs sue U of O for conspiracy to injure -- $120 million claim made public

(OTTAWA, January 30, 2012) – Dr. Waleed AlGhaithy (Neurosurgery Residency Program, University of Ottawa), Dr. Khalid Aba-Alkhail (Cardiac Surgery Residency Program) and Dr. Manal Al-Saigh (same) have filed a joint action against the University of Ottawa and several of its officials.

Discrimination, conspiracy to injure, malfeasance in public office, breaches of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, defamation, breach of contract, and negligence are claimed against the University and several of its officials.

Among the individual defendants are Dr. Jacques Bradwejn – Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. James Worthington – Ottawa Hospital’s Vice-President of Medical Affairs and Patient Safety, Dr. Paul Bragg – Associate Dean Postgraduate Medical Education, Dr. Eric Poulin – Chair of the Department of Surgery, Dr. Therry Mesana – Chair of the Cardiac Surgery Division, Dr. Richard Moulton – Chair of the Neurosurgery Division, Dr. Fraser Rubens – Cardiac Surgery Program Director, and Dr. John Sinclair – former Neurosurgery Program Director.

The claim casts a spotlight on the state of medical training of foreign medical residents at both provincial and national levels in Canadian universities and illustrates some of the hurdles faced by foreign doctors at the U of O.

The plaintiffs’ case had garnered media attention in the Spring of 2011 when they held a press conference to announce that they had filed a Human Rights Complaint against the University of Ottawa.

They are represented by lawyers Douglas Christie and Barbara Kulaszka.

For more details please follow the link to the statement of claim: Aba-AlKhail et al. v. University of Ottawa et al. CV-11-440336.

- 30 -

For more information please contact:

Mireille Gervais, LL.L.
Director, Student Appeal Centre
Student Federation of the University of Ottawa
Email: case.cresac@sfuo.ca

Khalid Aba-AlKhail, MD
Cardiac Surgery Program
University of Ottawa

All related posts about this case and the Faculty of Medicine are HERE.

Vicious reprisals in the Faculty of Medicine::: U of O damage-control spin insufficient

Systemic racism in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, has been exposed via leaked emails and at a press conference yesterday and is national news today: Globe and Mail.

The press conference was attended by all the major radio, TV and press media in Ottawa and followed THIS press release.

In 2008 when the Student Appeal Centre (SAC) of the student union first publicly exposed the problem of systemic racism at the University of Ottawa, the university's response was a campaign of denigration and cover up personally managed by president Allan Rock, as seen in access to information documents obtained by the SAC (HERE and HERE and links therein).

At the Wednesday press conference in the rotunda of the central administration building, president Allan Rock - as usual for hot issues of public concern - was nowhere to be found (although he had been invited) but an eight-person university legal and public relations team was buzzing with activity.

Their mission was to develop and deliver the University spin - the optimized tactical message that would minimize the university's responsibility.

Their previous (2008) university reaction (to deny, denigrate, and cover up) was now evidently a failure.

In addition, the University was now exposed to an even greater threat than being shown to be racist: Some of its top officials in the Faculty of Medicine participated in vicious reprisal against at least one talented MD, for filing an internal human rights complaint and as a way to quell possible external complaints. In particular, see THIS leaked email:

Eve [Dr. Eve Tsai],

It is uncertain whether Al-Ghaithy et al. would take this matter further to an external body such as the Human Rights Tribunal. However, I can predict with certainty that fixing Al-Ghaithy would deter the others from doing so. I have had discussions with the Dean and Chief of Surgery and the consensus is that Al-Ghaithy must be removed. Over the last few months I have been working closely with Dr. Worthington and Dr. Bragg, and let me assure you that we are not that far. You have to appreciate here that we are dealing with a strong resident and probably the best we have, at least from an academic perspective. This together with his popularity among the residents made some of the conventional methods unsuccessful.

At the end of the day the University will not sacrifice one of its faculty members for the sake of few disgruntled out-funded residents, and I doubt it very much that the other complainants would prosecute you outside the campus in a process that is naturally protracted and financially draining.

Rick [Dr. Richard Moulton, Association Professor University of Ottawa; Chair, Division of Neurosurgery University of Ottawa; Chief, Division of Neurosurgery The Ottawa Hospital; Program Director, Division of Neurosurgery]

The university's final spin solution was a damage-control compromise: Turn attention away from the grotesque malfeasance of its Faculty of Medicine officials by admitting that the allegations of racist discrimination are "very serious" and by turning attention towards the Human Rights Tribunal process: "The university feels that's the proper forum where we will speak out."

Turn attention away from the illegal reprisals practiced by Moulton and several others (Dean of Medical School, Paul Bragg Associate Dean PGME, Chief of Surgery Eric Paulin, Jim Worthington TOH VP-Medical Affairs) and towards an examination of the allegations of racist discrimination.

Brilliant! But somehow the elephant in the room may confront Allan Rock sooner than he would like. At the moment, Richard Moulton's actions are not even subject to an internal discipline investigation. He would have been in more trouble if he had given high grades to some "out-sourced" medical residents...?

Youtube videos of the press conference and its question period are being uploaded by university senator Joseph Hickey who has taken the matter to university Senate. Here is the presentation by the plaintiffs' spokesperson and co-plaintiff Dr. Khalid Aba-Alkhail: