Jan Taylor: 2021 Program Administrator Award for Excellence recipient
Over several challenging years, Jan Taylor has not missed a beat in her role as Program Administrator for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at McMaster University. Whether navigating the recall of Saudi residents to their home country three years ago, shepherding the transition to CBME and Competence by Design or managing the ever-shifting requirements of a pandemic year, Jan has distinguished herself as a strong advocate for residents and an indispensable resource who embodies the heart and soul of the program.
Focused on details and action
At the core of Jan’s work is her diligence in ensuring all components of Internal Medicine’s educational program are current, relevant and innovative. As one example, when the pandemic hit in March 2020, Jan and the residency office staff converted the program’s academic half day to a virtual format within 24 hours. She lobbied their simulation centre to provide access during the pandemic using PPE (initially in short supply), as well as more frequent, shorter sessions to obey principles of physical distancing.
A respected community resource
Jan is known widely for her expertise and is a resource that other program administrators turn to for assistance and advice. She brought clinical insight to technical programmers as the Internal Medicine program was developing and implementing MedSIS. This put Jan squarely in the position to assist faculty, residents and other administrators while the program adapted to a new electronic platform.
Jan is renowned for helping residents organize their research and scholarly activities. She connects residents with the program’s Research Director and mentors residents on how to prepare proposals for clinical projects. She nurtures her own professional development as well by attending educational events such as those offered by ICRE.
A fount of knowledge
Perhaps what distinguishes Jan most is that she is typically the first line of contact stakeholders such as physician educators, researchers and administrators seek out when they engage with the Internal Medicine program. She has a close working relationship with the CTU Directors, Deputy Program Directors, Competence Committee Chairs, Post Graduate administrators, Chair of Medicine, and hospital Chiefs of Medicine (including their assistants). Virtually everyone wants Jan on their committee so they can use her extensive knowledge base to improve their planning activities.
In short, Jan is a professional who the Internal Medicine program has come to rely on. She continues to inspire all those she works with.
