Deborah Dudgeon, MD, FRCPC

W. Ford Connell Professor of Palliative, Care Medicine

Dr. Dudgeon is the Director of the Palliative Care Medicine Program at Queen’s University. The Program provides clinical care in the community, and consultation and primary care in Kingston General Hospital and St Mary’s of the Lake and outpatient clinics in the Cancer Center of Southeastern Ontario. Queen’s University provides education to undergraduate medical students, postgraduate students and continuing medical education for practicing physicians and nurses. Dr. Dudgeon’s research interests include the etiology and management of patients with dyspnea and health services research.

Other Appointments

International Associate Faculty and Mentor, International Palliative Care Leadership Development Initiative, The Institute for Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice, San Diego, California, USA, 2012 to present
Professor of Medicine and Oncology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Director of Palliative Care Medicine Program, Queen’s University
Co-chair, Advisory Committee of the Palliative Medicine Conjoint Training Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the College of Family Physicians of Canada
Co-chair, working group for the development of a subspecialty in Palliative Medicine in Canada
Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Past President, Canadian Society of Palliative Care Medicine
Past member, Advisory Committee of Research, National Cancer Institute of Canada
Past co-chair, Symptom Control Committee, National Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group

Key Accomplishments

Inaugural Head of Palliative Care for Cancer Care Ontario; helped to further integrate palliative care into the 14 regional cancer centers
While at Cancer Care Ontario, helped to implement a system for screening the intensity of symptoms for patients with cancer and the development of guides to practice the management of symptoms
Conducted studies to determine the etiology of dyspnea in patients with cancer.

Education / Honors

Award of Excellence, Ontario Medical Association Palliative Care Section, 2011
The Eduardo Bruera Award in Palliative Medicine, Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians, 2009
Innovations in Health Care Awards. Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, 2008
Premier’s Award, Health Sciences (nominated by George Brown College), 2005
Ontario Palliative Care Association Dorothy Ley Award of Excellence in Palliative Care, 2004
The R. Samuel McLaughlin Foundation Fellowship in Medicine, University of Rochester, 1990-1991
Instructor and Fellow of Oncology in Medicine, University of Rochester, 1988-1990
Residency in Internal Medicine, Ottawa General and Ottawa Civic Hospitals, University of Ottawa, 1988
Comprehensive Internship: Internal Medicine, Ottawa General Hospital, University of Ottawa, 1986
Medical Degree, McMaster University Medical School, 1985

Key Publications
Journal articles

Dudgeon D., Knott TC., Eichholz M., Lochhaas Gerlach J., Chapman C., Viola R., Van Dijk J., Preston S., Batchelor D., Bartfay E. Palliative Care Integration Project (PCIP) Quality Improvement Strategy Evaluation. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management. 2008; 35(6): 573-582.
Dudgeon D., Knott T.C., Chapman C., Coulson K., Jeffery E., Preston S., Eichholz M., Van Dijk J.P., Smith A. Development, Implementation and Process Evaluation of a Regional Palliative Care Quality Improvement Project. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management. 2009; 38(4): 483-495.
Dudgeon D., Vaitonis V., Seow H., King S., Angus H., Sawka C. Ontario, Canada: Using Networks to Integrate Palliative Care Province-Wide. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management. 2007; 33(5): 640-644.
Barbera L., Taylor C., Dudgeon D. Why do cancer patients visit the emergency department near the end of life? CMAJ 2010; 182(6): 563-568.
Barbera L., Seow H., Howell D., Sutradhar R., Earle C., Liu Y., Stitt A., Husain A., Sussman J., Dudgeon D. Symptom burden and performance status in a population-based cohort of ambulatory cancer patients. Cancer. 2010; 116(24):5767-76.
Dudgeon D.J., Lertzman M. Dyspnea in the advanced cancer patient. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management. 1998; 16:4 pp 212-219.
Chochinov H.V., Tataryn D., Clinch J.J., Dudgeon D. Will to Live in the Terminally Ill. The Lancet 1999; 354(9181): 816-819.
Dudgeon D.J., Kristjanson L.J., Sloan J.A., Lertzman M., Clement,K. Dyspnea in Cancer Patients: Prevalence and Associated Factors. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management. 2001; 21(2): 95-102.
Dudgeon D.J., Lertzman M., Askew J.R. Physiological Changes and Clinical Correlations of Dyspnea in Cancer Outpatients. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management. 2001; 21(5): 373-379.

Books

Co-Editor: MacDonald, N., Boisvert, M., Dudgeon, D., Hagen N, Doyle, D. (eds): Palliative Medicine: A Case-Based Manual. Oxford University Press. 1998.
Co-Editor: Sara Booth & Deborah Dudgeon (Eds.) Dyspnea in Advanced Disease – A Guide to Clinical Management. Oxford University Press. 2006.