New Head of Division of Palliative Care Aims to Build a Community

Dr. Kirsten Wentlandt has been named the new W. Gifford-Jones Professor in Pain Control and Palliative Care, and the Head of the Division of Palliative Care at the University of Toronto Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM). As the W. Gifford-Jones Professor, she will lead a community of learners, teachers, innovators, researchers, and practitioners to improve the quality of palliative and end-of-life care for patients and their families through education, research, quality improvement, and knowledge translation.

As the new Head, Dr. Wentlandt hopes to continue the excellent work in palliative care that is already being done by DFCM faculty, residents and students and build upon the quality and research endeavours in the department. 

“My vision for the Division of Palliative Care is to become a centre of excellence in the field of palliative care,” says Dr. Wentlandt. “By providing compassionate clinical care, demonstrating leadership in teaching health professionals and trainees, conducting collaborative research, and influencing health care delivery, I believe we can become leaders in palliative care at the local, national, and international level.”

Dr. Wentlandt is an Associate Professor at DFCM and a family physician practicing as part of UHN’s palliative care team. She was also recently the Research Lead for the Division of Palliative Care at DFCM and a Regional Palliative Care Lead at the Toronto Central LHIN and Cancer Care Ontario.

Her goals as head of the division are to find ways to connect and encourage collaboration between members of the division, develop structures to better support members and trainees and create more partnerships both within and outside the university.

“I’m very excited to take on this role and hear ideas from both new and longer-term members on how we can move our division forward,” says Dr. Wentlandt. “Fortunately, I’m building on the already exceptional leadership of Dr. Jeff Myers, who was instrumental in developing the palliative care division and whom has helped me immensely during this transition.”

Dr. Wentlandt’s term began on July 1^st, 2019.