Carol Pearl Herbert (''nee'' Chertkow; born 1946) is a Canadian family physician and researcher. She is a member of the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...

, Order of Canada, and

Canadian Academy of Health Sciences The Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) is one of three national academies that comprise the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), the highest honour granted to scholars in Canada. The two other CCA academies are the Royal Society of Canada ...

Early life and education

Herbert was born in 1946, in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia, Canada to parents Rachel and David A. Chertkow. Her mother was a concert pianist with the

Seattle Symphony Orchestra The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchestra ...

until she got married and moved to

Drumheller Drumheller is a town on the Red Deer River in the badlands of Central Alberta, east-central Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Calgary and south of Stettler, Alberta, Stettler. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often ref ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. Growing up in Vancouver, Herbert graduated from

Magee Secondary School Magee Secondary School is a public secondary school on West 49th Avenue, Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most p ...

in 1962 and was crowned AZA sweetheart at their May weekend. Herbert graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in biochemistry and first-year Medicine from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in 1966, at the age of 19. Although she was encouraged by her sister and a professor to pursue a PhD, Herbert chose to earn her

medical degree A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into special ...

so she could combine science with the humanities. After completing her internship and additional training in pediatrics, she worked as a full-service community family physician and clinical instructor at the REACH community health centre in Vancouver from 1971 until 1982.

Career

Herbert joined the full-time faculty in the UBC Department of Family Practice in 1982 and co-founded the Sexual Assault Service for Vancouver. She was eventually appointed the founding Head of the department from 1988 to 1998. Herbert left the position in 1999 to become the Dean of the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

's (UWO) Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. While serving in this role, she was the recipient of the 2007 YMCA of London Women of Excellence Award in Health, Science and Technology and the North American Primary Care Research Group's Lifetime Achievement Award. As a result of her research, Herbert was named to the provincial panel on fertility treatment and adoption 12-member panel which was expected to recommend ways to help make both fertility treatment and adoption more accessible and affordable. The following year, Herbert was again recognized with an election to the Institute of Medicine (now the

). She eventually stepped down as the dean of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry in 2010 and was replaced by Michael J. Strong. Upon stepping down, Herbert was praised for her contributions to the field of medicine and to UWO. She won the 2010 W. Victor Johnston Medal for lifetime contribution to the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Ian McWhinney Award for Family Medicine Education. A few years later, in 2015, Herbert was elected president of the

for two years, until 2017. As president, Herbert was also recognized as part of the

College of Family Physicians of Canada The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC; French: ''Collège des médecins de famille du Canada'', ''CMFC'') is a professional association and the legal certifying body for the practice of family medicine in Canada. This national organiz ...

's Top 20 Pioneers of Family Medicine Research in Canada. She was specifically recognized for "being among the first female family physician-researchers to promote family medicine research as Dean of a Canadian medical school." During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Herbert was named to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

for her "contributions to the fields of clinical and academic medicine, as a family physician, medical educator, researcher and administrator."

Personal life

Herbert married Larry Herbert in 1968. She later remarried to Fred Swartz.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, Carol Pearl Living people People from Vancouver Physicians from British Columbia University of British Columbia alumni Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Members of the National Academy of Medicine Members of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences 1946 births