Two university experts in health-care ethics win national awards

Juliet Guichon, PhD, and Dr. Eric Wasylenko were both honoured by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) this week for their contributions to improving the health and welfare of Canadians.

Guichon, an assistant professor of law and ethics at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, will receive the 2014 CMA Medal of Honour in recognition of her commitment to citizen engagement.

Guichon is a frequent contributor to public debate on health and ethics issues. She was invited by the Standing Committees on Health of both the House of Commons and the Senate to testify on public hearings on Canada’s Assisted Human Reproduction Act. 

She founded two child health advocacy groups that convinced 12 Canadian school boards to reverse their decisions to ban in-school administration of the HPV vaccine. 

“I was surprised and humbled to receive this award, especially because such remarkable people as Roméo Dallaire, Peter Lougheed and Rick Hansen are previous recipients,” Guichon says. “It is a great privilege to help professionals, elected officials and institutions identify children’s best interests and work together to achieve them,” says Guichon, who is a member of the university’s Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute and Institute for Public Health.

Dr. Wasylenko, a clinical lecturer and alumnus from the University of Calgary’s medical school, will receive the 2014 Dr. William Marsden Award in Medical Ethics. This award recognizes CMA members who have demonstrated exemplary leadership, commitment and dedication to the cause of advancing and promoting excellence in the field of medical ethics in Canada.

Wasylenko is a pioneering palliative care physician in residential hospice and home-based palliative care. He led the creation of one of Canada’s first rural, community-owned, free-standing, residential hospice homes.

He is a volunteer adviser to other groups who are hoping to establish community and hospice services.

Wasylenko is a practising clinical ethicist with specific interest in applied ethics of end-of-life care and decision-making, disaster management, public health, and resource allocation/priority setting. He is currently spearheading the development of a national interest group to address ethics issues in health care for incarcerated populations. He has played an important role in pandemic crisis planning efforts and currently chairs the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Public Health Ethics Consultative Group.

“I feel honoured to have been nominated and to receive the CMA’s Dr. William Marsden Award in Medical Ethics," says Dr. Wasylenko.

“Every day I witness the amazing efforts of my clinical and administrative colleagues working with patients and their families to provide the best care possible. Increasingly, clinical and organizational decision-making incorporates challenging ethical issues, without obvious ways forward. I am appreciative of the opportunities to do my small part in helping people to successfully navigate these often murky waters.”

Both awards will be presented Aug. 20 at a ceremony held at the Westin Ottawa, during the CMA’s 147th annual meeting.