Dr. Harvey Chochinov honoured by peers

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This article was published 01/08/2012 (5033 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba physician Dr. Harvey Chochinov is this year’s winner of one of Canada’s top medical honours, for his work in palliative care to make terminally ill patients feel more comfortable.

Chochinov, the director of Manitoba’s Palliative Care Research Unit, was the recipient of the 2012 Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Frederic Newton Gisborne Starr Award, for significant contributions to the field of palliative care, the association announced this morning.

It is the highest recognition the CMA can bestow upon one of its members. The association represents Canada’s physicians.

The award honours doctors in the fields of science, the fine arts or literature, and doctors who have served humanity with courage and endured great hardship to promote health or the saving of life, advanced the life of their community or improved medical service in Canada.

Dr. Chochinov will become the 46th recipient at an upcoming annual meeting of the CMA in Yellowknife, NWT.

An internationally recognized clinician and scholar in the study of dignity in the terminally ill, Dr. Chochinov‘s most recent work – Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days – was described by The Journal of the American Medical Association as “inspiring” and “innovative.” Dignity therapy gives patients a chance to record the meaningful aspects of their lives and leave something behind that can benefit their loved ones in the future, the announcement said.

Dr. Chochinov is the Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care, and a past recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal as well as the Order of Manitoba. He has also authored over 150 publications and co-edits the Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine, published by Oxford University Press, and the journal Palliative and Support Care, published by Cambridge University Press.