Dr. Lynn Ashdown was near the end of her residency in family medicine at the University of Ottawa when she was seriously injured, suffering a cardiac arrest and subsequent fall that left her with skull and cervical fractures, a moderate traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury.
While navigating her complex medical needs, Dr. Ashdown harnesses her perspective as both a health care provider and recipient to drive systemic change. She recently completed her master’s in medical education, focusing her dissertation on the value of patient partnership and patient expertise inclusion in medical education, and has collaborated with the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), the Coalition for Physician Learning and Practice Improvement, and the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada as a patient partner-lead advisor. Additionally, she has dedicated her career to driving change for both patients and health care professionals living with disabilities.
She is also committed to transforming medical education to be more inclusive of people with disabilities, and recently co-chaired a curriculum renewal project for the University of Ottawa’s undergraduate medical education, where she also teaches the disability curriculum. More broadly, she is helping to create a pan-Canadian curriculum about disability for all undergraduate medical schools as part of a project funded by the Canadian Federation of Medical Students and Team Primary Care.
Dr. Ashdown proudly sits on the board of the Canadian Association of Physicians with Disabilities and co-authored Canada’s first position statement on the importance of disability inclusion in medical education. Dr. Ashdown is also one of the founding members of the Equity in Health Systems Lab, where she leads research and education work to support patients and health care professionals with disabilities.
“She is a phenomenal mentor, truly changing the lives of her mentees who often have disabilities themselves. Through her lived experience, patient engagement work, her research, her presentations, and her leadership roles, Dr. Ashdown is an educator, leader, and advocate for people with disabilities.” — Dr. Julie Hanes, University of British Columbia resident
Dr. Lynn Ashdown is the recipient of the Dr. Ashok Muzumdar Memorial Award for Physicians with Disabilities, which recognizes a CMA member with a disability who is a passionate advocate for patients, medical learners and/or physicians with disabilities.