Robert McMurtry is a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and special advisor to the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care. He is actively involved in discussions on creating an accessible medical system for the Canadian public, and has long advocated for more effective public involvement in healthcare policy.

Education

McMurtry graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

in 1965, and is a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (french: Collège royal des médecins et chirurgiens du Canada) is a regulatory college which acts as a national, nonprofit organization established in 1929 by a special Act of Parliament to o ...

Career

During his residency in

orthopedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

, he spent 2 years in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, first in a mission hospital in Sekhukhuniland (

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) and then with the

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was merged into the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2013 by the federal governmen ...

(CIDA) in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. Following his residency, Dr. McMurtry did a fellowship in

hand surgery Hand surgery deals with both surgical and non-surgical treatment of conditions and problems that may take place in the hand or upper extremity (commonly from the tip of the hand to the shoulder)Hand surgery is extremely difficult, ranking last o ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. He started his practice at the former Sunnybrook Hospital (now Sunnybrook and Women's Health Centre) in 1975. It was there that Dr. McMurtry founded and directed Canada's first Trauma Unit and the multi-disciplinary Hand Unit. In 1987, he was appointed Professor and Chair of Surgery at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

and Chief of Surgery at Foothills Hospital in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

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 ...

(Canada). In 1992, he became Dean of Medicine at 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 ...

and subsequently Dean of Medicine and Dentistry, a post he held until 1999. In 1999, he became the first Cameron Visiting Chair at

Health Canada Health Canada (HC; french: Santé Canada, SC)Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary unit ...

- a post carrying the responsibility for providing policy advice to the Deputy Minister and Minister of Health for Canada. In December 2003, he was appointed to the

Health Council of Canada The Health Council of Canada was a national, independent, public reporting agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Announced as part of the 2003 First Ministers' Accord on Health Care Renewal with a mandate to report publicly to Canadians, the H ...

and is Chair of the Wait Times and Accessibility Work Group. Dr. McMurtry is the founding Assistant Deputy Minister of the Population and Public Health Branch of

. He was appointed to the

Roy Romanow Roy John Romanow (born August 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician and the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001. Early life Romanow was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Tekla and Michael Romanow, who were Ukrainian immigrants from Or ...

's Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada in 2002 as a Special Advisor to Commissioner Romanow.

Present

McMurtry is Professor of Surgery at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry,

and Orthopedic Consultant at St. Josephs Health Care in London, Ontario. His work involves clinical practice as well as teaching and research. McMurtry is an expert advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca.

Awards

In June 2003, he received the Presidential Award of Excellence from the Canadian Orthopedic Association. In 2011 he was admitted to the Order of Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMurtry, Robert Canadian orthopedic surgeons Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario University of Toronto alumni Living people Members of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Year of birth missing (living people)