Department of Family Medicine staff celebrated for outstanding service

Members of the Department of Family Medicine have been recognized with the prestigious President’s Awards for Outstanding Service for an individual and a team. On May 31, Nancy Devlin received an individual award and the David Braley Health Sciences Centre (DBHSC) Vaccine Clinic & Operations Team (Jill Berridge, Jennifer Frid, Katherine Hale) received a team award for their exceptional contributions, service to the community and enhancing the reputation of McMaster University.  

The President’s Award is an annual recognition to those who go beyond what is normally expected for their position. The rigorous nomination process includes letters of support from senior leadership and colleagues highlighting these contributions. 

Nancy Devlin, managing director of education enterprise for the Department of Family Medicine, leads several key priorities, such as supporting research, recruiting residents and connecting a geographically distributed learning network. “Nancy embodies excellence, dedication, innovation, creativity, person-centredness, adaptability, compassion and a continuous quest for learning and improvement,” says Tracey Carr, executive director, McMaster Department of Family Medicine. 

Some of Nancy’s most notable contributions include designing a new budget framework, supporting eLearning pathways, forging new collaborative processes with research and patient-care domains and leading the Family Medicine National Educational Administrator group. During the pandemic, Nancy led the transformation to virtual recruitment for medical learners. The results included nearly 700 well-coordinated, four-station interviews involving 48 interviewers.  

“Nancy Devlin has built a cohesive team in education, making each one of us feel valued and supporting our ongoing development. She also engages with our team on all levels to support individuals, work portfolios, more efficient workflows and use of new platforms or resources,” says Laura Cousineau, manager, Education Operations for the department. 

Congratulate Nancy through the Kudoboard! 

Jill Berridge, Jennifer Frid, Katherine Hale and others in the DBHSC Vaccine Clinic & Operations Team contributed to the historic vaccination efforts seen throughout the world. Jill, Jennifer and Katherine recruited a team, managed a vaccination hub with other pop-up clinics and partnered with Hamilton Public Health. The team also advanced the university’s learning goals, built trust with the community and ensured vaccines reached underrepresented and marginalized individuals. 

“Jill, Jennifer and Katherine are three McMaster pandemic heroes who have put in hundreds of hours over and above their usual workload to ensure that every person in Hamilton that wanted a COVID vaccine would have an opportunity to get one,” says Doug Oliver, associate professor and medical director for McMaster Family Practice.

Photo from left to right: Doug Oliver, Jill Berridge, Jennifer Frid and Katherine Hale

Celebrate with the DBHSC Vaccine Clinic & Operations Team on Kudoboard! 

Check out the other recipients of the 2021 President’s Award.