Dr. Devinder Cheema, Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology, was recently announced as the Royal College – Prix d’Excellence – Specialist of the Year for Region 4. This award recognizes Fellows of the Royal College who have made significant contributions in providing outstanding care to their patients and the community in which they practice. The nominee must be a role model for excellence in patient care.
“I humbly accept this award from the Royal College, and would like to thank my peers, my colleagues in the department and at McGill University, and the Chair of my department Dr. Leonard Levin for providing a superb environment to give the kind of clinical care and teaching that I enjoy on a daily basis,” says Dr. Cheema on winning the award. A 1990 honours graduate of McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Cheema completed his residency training in Ophthalmology at McGill in 1995. He went on to do a fellowship in Cornea, External Disease and Keratorefractive Surgery in Boston and returned to McGill to join the attending staff full time at the Montreal General Hospital. His practice comprises of tertiary care patients with an emphasis on corneal transplants, ocular infections, trauma, high risk cataract surgery and complications of refractive surgery. Dr. Cheema has a passion for teaching and has previously been recognized with nine departmental, University and National awards for medical student and resident teaching. These include awards for clinical and surgical teaching.
Dr. Cheema has also volunteered to provide eye care in remote Inuit and Cree villages in Northern Quebec for twelve years and has raised several million dollars for the Department of Ophthalmology at McGill University.
Congratulations Dr. Cheema!