Honorary Degree Recipient 2014

Arnold (Arnie) Aberman
Doctor of Science
Biography

Dr. Arnie Aberman shaped the course of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) and has had a national and international impact on the field of medical education.

Born in Montreal, Arnie received his medical degree from McGill University in 1967. He completed residencies in internal medicine in Canada followed by further training in pulmonary diseases and critical care medicine in New York and California.

Dr. Max Harry (Hal) Weil, who was a founder of critical care medicine and a University of Southern California Distinguished Professor of Medicine, recalled Arnie as “perhaps the most outstanding young doctor I’ve ever had the privilege to train.”

Arnie quickly fulfilled his early promise. His achievements include playing a major role in establishing critical care medicine as an independent discipline in Canada and restructuring The Toronto Hospital’s Department of Medicine.

He joined the University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine in 1973 and became director of the Mount Sinai Hospital Intensive Care Unit. Then, in 1977 at the young age of 33, Arnie was chosen as Mount Sinai’s physician-in-chief.

From 1989 to 1992, he was physician-in-chief of The Toronto Hospital as well as the University of Toronto’s chairman of medicine and Sir John and Lady Eaton Professor of Medicine. He served as dean of medicine from 1992 to 1999.

In 2002, Arnie was appointed consulting dean of the fledging Northern Ontario School of Medicine, the country’s first new medical school in more than 30 years.

Arnie directed his boundless energy and agile mind to drafting NOSM’s business and implementation plan and envisioning NOSM’s unique governance model. It is the only Canadian school of medicine to serve two universities – Lakehead University and Laurentian University.

Arnie is also a prolific researcher and writer with over 60 publications investigating the management of shock and other problems facing critically ill patients. A popular medical lecturer, he’s been a visiting professor at many medical schools and held leadership positions in numerous academic organizations and hospitals.

 In 2011, Dr. Arnie Aberman was named a Member of the Order of Canada and in 2013 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Laurentian University.