New scholarship honours Sault's Dr. Hui Lee

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CANADIAN SOCIETY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE

************************* Canadian Society of Internal Medicine announces The Dr. Hui Lee Health Promotion Scholarship Award

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON - (February 8) - Dr. Bert Govig, president of the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine (CSIM), today announced that the CSIM has created The Dr. Hui Lee Scholarship Award.

This award recognizes and honours Canadian physicians who are members of the Internal Medicine Society, whose work resonates with the spirit of the work done by Dr. Hui Lee [shown].

This award will be granted annually to provide the recipient with the opportunity to travel to several places to share and transfer knowledge, to present their work to benefit others in health care.

The award ceremony took place at the Vascular Intervention Program Celebration, held by the Group Health Centre today to mark the first anniversary of VIP, a research project initially started by Dr. Lee, just prior to his death.

Dr. Govig stated: "Hui was an amazing physician and an amazing man. His tragic death is a loss for all of those who knew him."

Dr. Hui Nien Lee died suddenly at a Masters Swimming competition in Etobicoke on March 26, 2004, at the age of 39.

He was a hard-working physician, dedicated researcher, team leader, humanitarian, coach, devoted family man and overall extraordinary individual.

Dr. Lee received his degree in medicine from Queen's University in 1989 and completed his residency in internal medicine at McMaster University in 1992.

He also earned his Masters in Research from McMaster in 1993.

He practiced medicine with the Algoma District Medical Group (ADMG) at the Group Health Centre and was a member of the internal medicine staff at Sault Area Hospital, a clinical assistant professor with the Department of Medicine and Health Sciences at McMaster in Hamilton, as well as a tutor in New York and a Royal College examiner.

Dr. Lee's work in research and program development included more than 20 trials and grant money of over $1.5 million.

He valued the Group Health Centre registry and EMR as great tools to improve the quality of care for patients, and used them to develop a program called Health Promotion Initiatives (HPI), which is a framework to evaluate and improve the quality of care for patients in Sault Ste. Marie.

In 2004, the CSIM post-humously awarded Dr. Lee the Osler Award, which is presented annually to Canadian physicians demonstrating excellence in general internal medicine, who best exemplify medicine in the tradition of Sir William Osler.

In 2002, Dr. Lee was given the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons Council Award for coming closest to their vision of an "ideal physician".

************************* The Hui Lee Health Promotion Scholarship - terms of reference

[The purpose of the scholarship is] to promote excellence in health promotion and to honour the life and remember the tragic death of Dr. Hui Lee - an active and cherished member of the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine (CSIM).

Background

The loss of a young husband, father, and colleague is always tragic.

Dr. Lee's death is even more so, in that his contributions at the local, regional, national and international level were so numerous despite his very young age.

The full realization of his unfulfilled potential is only a matter of speculation.

This award honour the spirit and passion that animated Hui's clinical practice and life, through supporting research, educational, clinical, or community initiatives that resonate with the spirit of his work.

Hui's interests were far-reaching, and included evidence-based medicine, medical education, clinical research, health promotion, and patient care.

He deftly juggled these diverse interests, focusing more intensely on health promotion in the final years of his life.

He was an avid promoter of good nutrition, exercise, and healthy habits in general, and co-founded the health promotion initiative at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Outside of his medical practice, he coached a local Masters swim team, was a role model to thousands in his local community, and an inspiration to colleagues from across North America.

Eligibility

- The award is available to all CSIM members interested in pursuing further education with an aim of developing skills to enhance their effectiveness as a health promoter.

- Candidates' previous work and contributions will be considered as well as the merits of the proposed course of study and the candidate's future plans in health promotion.

- Candidates will be selected based on the likelihood that they will become a meaningful presence in health promotion either locally, regionally or nationally; and their potential to be a leader for health promotion within the CSIM.

The award

The award consists of a plaque and a cash prize to support the educational project.

One half of the cash prize will be given one to three months prior to the beginning of the educational program.

The balance of the cash award and the plaque will be given upon successful completion of the educational program and submission of a summary document outlining the lessons learned and the value of this program in their future work in health promotion.

This is designed to be a substantial award that will serve as an incentive to encourage members to pursue what might be a potentially career-changing educational program.

Initially, one award should be offered per year.

Multiple awards may be offered as the size of the fund grows.

The amount of the award will be set yearly by the health promotion committee depending on the resources accumulated in the fund.

Under exceptional circumstances an award may be split to allow two highly-qualified candidates to benefit.

Nomination

Nomination forms can be downloaded from the CSIM website or obtained through the CSIM secretariat.

Candidates may self-nominate or be nominated by a member of the CSIM.

Two letters of recommendation are required and at least one of them must be a member of the CSIM.

Selection process

All applications will be reviewed by the health promotion committee of the CSIM.

The five leading applications will be submitted with comments to the research and awards committee for final selection.

Deadlines

An appropriate deadline for applications will be selected for the fall of each year after the annual scientific meeting.

Awards will be announced in the spring of each year.

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