Mohamed Alarakhia named 2024 John C. Sibley Award winner

Mohamed Alarakhia, an assistant clinical professor with McMaster University’s Department of Family Medicine at the Waterloo Regional Campus, has been recognized with the 2024 John C. Sibley Award.

The prestigious award is given annually to a part-time faculty member with McMaster’s Faculty of Health Sciences, who demonstrates an exceptional commitment to innovative teaching, interdisciplinary education and/or research to improve patient care.

“This award is about recognizing the critical role of part-time faculty in supporting our future clinicians, many of whom will practice in the communities in which they train. Part-time faculty take on teaching roles in an environment which can be more challenging to teach. There are less resources, less space, less dedicated time, and more demands from the local health system. However, clinicians are passionate about providing support to learners and go above and beyond to do this,” says Alarakhia. “It is wonderful that the role of part-time faculty is being recognized and especially that it includes those from distributed sites.”

Alarakhia has been with the faculty since 2012, supporting digital health curriculum development and teaching in the undergraduate and postgraduate programs. He also holds the role of Faculty Digital Health and Innovation lead at McMaster University’s Waterloo Regional Campus Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

Alarakhia has developed a digital health bootcamp for medical students as a means of equipping them with the knowledge to leverage technology to deliver enhanced patient care. He has also presented curricula on professionalism in virtual encounters and the use of technology including artificial intelligence in supporting more effective care.

“As an educator, Dr. Alarakhia leads by example, showing students and residents how they can innovate in health care and how to reach across disciplines to solve the complex problems facing clinicians and patients,” says Cathy Risdon, professor and chair with McMaster’s Department of Family Medicine.

Alarakhia is described by his colleagues as a role model who is focused and hardworking in all his activities.

“Dr. Alarakhia epitomises the qualities of outstanding educational leadership, including the cultivation of human potential, building on strengths, collaboration, innovation, integrity, and cooperation—themes that he has demonstrated throughout his career,” says Margo Mountjoy, assistant dean of McMaster’s Waterloo Regional Campus and a clinical professor with the Department of Family Medicine.

The John C. Sibley Award, first established in 1986, is named for the former associate dean who was one of the founders of the Faculty of Health Sciences. Sibley was known for his interdisciplinary approach to community health, both locally and internationally.