Department of Surgery, McGill University
Dr. Dan Poenaru is a pediatric surgeon working in Africa and Canada. Following medical school studies in Toronto, he trained in general surgery at McGill University, then in pediatric surgery at the Université de Montréal. He has earned a Masters in Health Professions Education (University of Illinois in Chicago), and is currently completing a Masters in International Development (William Carrey University, California) and a PhD in Pediatric Surgery (Erasmus University, Rotterdam). He has practiced academic surgery for 10 years in Kingston, Canada, 8 years in Kijabe, Kenya, and 2 years in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
His current roles include clinical director of BethanyKids Africa (faith-based organization providing holistic care to children with surgical disabilities), consultant pediatric surgeon at Montréal Children’s Hospital and several African sites, and educational consultant for 2 African medical colleges. He is adjunct professor of Surgery at Queen’s and McGill University, and holds academic positions at McMaster University and University of British Columbia. He is the recipient of the 2014 Teasdale-Corti Humanitarian Award of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the 2015 ACS/Pfizer Surgical Humanitarianism Award of the American College of Surgeons. His areas of interest are global burden of surgical disease, chronic pediatric surgical disabilities in Africa, faith issues in clinical practice, and global surgical education.