We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Richard Menzies as Assistant Director, Indigenous Health Professions Program (IHPP) at the Faculty of Medicine, McGill University.
Dr. Menzies received his MDCM in 1978 from McGill, after which he completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. Following three years as a Consultant Physician in Maseru, Lesotho, Dr. Menzies returned to Montreal to complete a residency in Respiratory Medicine at McGill. In 1987 he became an Attending Physician at the Montreal Chest Institute. Dr. Menzies completed an MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 1989. That same year he joined the Faculty of Medicine at McGill as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, becoming a full Professor in 2005. From 2004 to 2013 he was Director of the Respiratory Division at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). He is also Associate Director of the McGill International TB Centre. He has been a consultant in Respiratory diseases, and tuberculosis, in Mistissini in the 1980’s, Iqaluit in the 1990’s and Nunavik since 2000.
Dr. Menzies’s principal research interest is tuberculosis, on which he has published extensively. Recent projects include a review of multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis and editing a new edition of Canadian Tuberculosis Standards, the de facto text book for TB in Canada. Dr. Menzies currently has funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for a large project entitled “Tackling the two greatest obstacles to Tuberculosis elimination: Treatment of latent infection and drug resistant disease.”
As tuberculosis disproportionally affects Indigenous Canadians, Dr. Menzies has long had an interest in Indigenous health issues.
Dr. Menzies is an active participant in the Eagle Spirit Camp, which brings Indigenous youth to McGill each spring for hands-on insight into health care careers. Dr Menzies is assisting the IHPP Director, Dr. Kent Saylor, to develop a summer program to enhance science skills of Indigenous youth with the aim of improving their chances of pursuing a career in health sciences.
In his role as Assistant Director, IHPP, Dr. Menzies will assist Dr. Saylor in efforts to increase the number of Indigenous students in all health-related professional programs offered at McGill University, based on Indigenous needs and priorities. He will help with fundraising, program evaluation, outreach with Indigenous communities, outreach to related health departments, programs and faculties at McGill, and initiatives and activities to support Indigenous students. Dr. Menzies will also recruit mature students into health fields and implement and maintain electronic tutoring and support for all interested students.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Menzies into this role and wishing him every success.
Vice-Principal (Health Affairs)
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Vice-Dean, Academic Affairs
January 17, 2018