Dr. Catherine Patocka appointed Department Head, Emergency Medicine

The Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) and Alberta Health Services (AHS) are pleased to announce the joint appointment of Dr. Catherine Patocka, MD, as Department Head, Emergency Medicine, CSM, and the Zone Clinical Department Head, Emergency Medicine, Calgary Zone, AHS. 

The appointment is effective Aug. 1, 2024. Dr. Patocka is the first woman to hold this role, replacing Dr. Eddy Lang, MD. We thank Dr. Lang for his 11 years of service.

Dr. Patocka is a Calgary-based specialist emergency physician and associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. As an educational leader and scholar, Dr. Patocka has devoted much of her career to teaching, leadership and educational scholarship. She recently completed a five-year term as the residency program director for emergency medicine at the CSM where she advocated for equity and diversity in trainee selection and training. She has also mentored students across the continuum of health professions education within the CSM community. 

Dr. Patocka’s scholarly work on instructional design strategies for pediatric advanced life support training has informed guidelines for basic and advanced resuscitation training. More broadly, her work with the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) has advanced evidence-informed resuscitation guidelines worldwide. Her more recent research, using realist methods and pattern theory, has focused on unraveling some of the complexities of feedback, a key component of any learning health system.

Dr. Patocka completed an undergraduate science degree in pharmacology at the University of Alberta followed by a Doctor of Medicine and residency in emergency medicine at McGill University. She completed her master’s studies in health professions education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, followed by PhD studies at UCalgary in community health sciences, specializing in medical education, and will graduate in November.

Dr. Patocka has received several awards recognizing her commitment to education, scholarship and service including the John Ruedy Award for Excellence in Graduate Health Professions Education Scholarship from the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, the CSM’s Postgraduate Clinical Education Award for clinical, adjunct and research faculty, and a Special Merit award from the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians for outstanding contributions and dedicated service to emergency medicine in Canada.

Dr. Patocka is committed to equity, operational sustainability, and a culture of learning and feedback in the Department of Emergency Medicine and looks forward to working collaboratively with all departments at the CSM and AHS to achieve this.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Patocka to her new leadership role.

Todd Anderson, MD                                                                  Mark Anselmo, MD                                       
Dean, Cumming School of Medicine                                       Calgary Zone Medical Director
University of Calgary                                                                 Alberta Health Services