On January 01, as Montrealers celebrated the start of a new year, the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) created history when Liane Feldman became the first female surgeon-in-chief and medical director of the surgical mission for the medical centre.

“Dr. Feldman is a very talented and dedicated healthcare professional, educator, and researcher,” MUHC President Dr. Pierre Gfellar said in a statement. “She also happens to be the first woman ever appointed to this important position at the MUHC.”

For the last nine years, Dr. Feldma has directed the MUHC’s division of general surgery. As of January 01, she will be responsible for the organization of the MUHC clinical workload in the operating rooms, ambulatory clinics and emergency departments.

Dr. Feldman was raised in Montreal, studied at McGill, and has received several awards, including the Kathryn Rolph Award for the advancement of women in the department of surgery.

In her own words:

During an interview with CBC Montreal, Let’s Go, Dr. Feldman discusses the list of changes or improvements she would want to make:

• “I certainly have my priorities for the first few months and then plans for what I will work on over my mandate.”
• “It’s really about putting our patients first and how to make their experiences as good as they can be. That includes working on our waitlists, working on how we prepare patients for surgery, how we educate patients, the way that they can get in touch with us and communicate when they need to.”
• “Another important priority is to maintain our academic mission, not just in an ivory tower type of way, but to make sure, with all the amazing work done in the department of surgery by our surgeons and our scientists, that we bring it to the bedside to improve and bring innovative care to our patients.”

Listen to the Let’s Go interview with Dr. Liane Feldman here: