Dr. Gary J. Redekop Associate Professor and Interim Head, UBC Department of Surgery

The mission of the Department of Surgery at the University of British Columbia is to foster an organizational structure, environment, and attitude which provide excellence in patient care, teaching, education, and research. In support of this mission, the members of the Department will maintain exemplary patient care programs through the affiliated teaching hospitals; will be responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate education of the surgical disciplines; and, are committed to the provision and continued growth of basic and clinical research.

We dedicate ourselves to the fundamental rights of our individual patients to dignity and privacy. We believe that the activities of the Department must embody the highest moral and ethical human values. The Department is a 'family' that fosters security and unity, while allowing for individual growth and promoting cooperation with other disciplines within the University, hospitals and community.

We aspire to be scholarly surgeons within a cohesive University Department committed to self-education, teaching others, and expanding knowledge through research in order to progressively improve the quality of patient care.

We propose to enhance our teaching and research by developing new mechanisms for rewarding academic excellence. We will maintain our exceptional variety and depth of clinical material and experience. We will enhance the numerous foci of clinical and research excellence within our hospitals and divisions.

Our primary responsibility is to provide exemplary health care. We serve the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine by our commitment to the surgical teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students, research activities, and continuing medical education within the Department of Surgery. We serve the University Hospitals through our daily activities in patient care, teaching and research. We serve the professional societies with which we are affiliated. We are responsible to our families, our peers, and the community in which we live.