William Ersil Resident Research Day | Department of Surgery | School of Medicine

The William Ersil Resident Research Day is an annual event designed specifically to enable Residents from the Department of Surgery to present ongoing clinical and basic science research performed during the year under the supervision of Attending Staff.

Dr. William Ersil graduated from Queen's Medical School in 1979 and joined the Department of Surgery as a core surgical resident leading into his Orthopedic Residency Program. In March of 1982, Dr. Ersil was diagnosed with a liposarcoma. He elected to continue with his residency, and persisted with his studies, in the hope of becoming an Orthopedic Surgeon. In his final year of residency, however, the cancer returned and Dr. Ersil died before he could achieve his goal. Until the very last, Dr. Ersil continued to study orthopedics, pouring over books and journals, on the chance that he might live to write his fellowship exams.

This day, named in his memory, has been an annual event ever since. The day has become the most important single day in the Department of Surgery, when all Surgical Residents and Attending Staff gather to listen to the scientific presentations. It also provides a forum for surgeons from both within and outside the Queen's community to renew or establish professional and personal liaisons.

Held in conjunction with the Office of Continuing Medical Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen's University, this educational event is approved as an accredited group learning activity as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (maximum of 6 CPD credits).
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Dr. Andrew Bruce is an alumnus of Queen’s University and as an entrepreneur he is a strong proponent of surgeons and their innovations. He approached the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Department of Surgery with a goal to translate innovation in Surgery by helping bring scholarly surgical expertise to Queen’s. This is now possible thanks to his generous endowed donation that was matched by the Department of Surgery. We are very fortunate to have Dr. Bruce back at Queen’s as a member of the Faculty of Health Sciences Dean's Advancement Cabinet and we are honored that Dr. Bruce and his late wife Margaret have made it their wish to make a major investment in Queen’s. With the establishment of the Dr. Andrew and Margaret Bruce Endowment for Visiting Scholars in Surgical Innovation, the Department of Surgery is able to host an annual lectureship for both the medical community as well as the general public.

The Department of Surgery at Queen’s University held its 43rd Annual William Ersil Resident Research Day with Guest Scholar Dr. Thomas Forbes on Monday November 18, 2024 at the Great Hall, Fort Henry.

Click Here to Read Dr. Thomas Forbes' Bio

Click Here to view the Research Day Agenda

Click Here to listen to Dr. Forbes' Morning Talk

Click Here to listen to the Cold Steel Podcast - Hosted by Dr. Ameer Farooq featuring Dr. Forbes

Congratulations to the following winners!

Best General Surgery Paper Winner: Vanessa Wiseman

Best Orthopedic Surgery Paper Winner: Thomas Stambulic

Best Poster: Sarah Klapman

Dr. Thomas Forbes