E170 - Dr. Thomas Forbes speaks at William Ersil Research Day

Cold Steel: Canadian Journal of Surgery Podcast

This episode is a recording of the Queen’s Department of Surgery William Ersil Research Day. This year our invited speaker was Dr. Thomas Forbes, chief of surgery at University Health Network in Toronto and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vascular Surgery.
In this “How I Built This” style episode in front of a live audience, we explored Dr. Forbes background, his training, the future of residency/fellowship training, his approach to leadership and how he goes “all in” for both work and his family life.
Thanks again to the Department of Surgery at Queen’s for allowing us to record this and to all those in attendance for being such a wonderful audience.

Bio: Dr. Forbes is Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Division of Vascular Surgery at the University of Toronto, a position he has held since 2014. He obtained his medical degree in 1990 from the University of Toronto and completed his general surgery and vascular surgery training at the University of Western Ontario. He is the co-Program Director of the Advanced Aortic Surgery Fellowship at the University of Toronto, a collaborative fellowship between vascular and cardiac surgery in open and endovascular therapies for thoracoabdominal aortic pathologies. Previously he was Chair/Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at the University of Western Ontario (2005-2014) and the inaugural Graduate Program Chair of the Masters of Science in Surgery program. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, editorials and book chapters and given over 100 invited lectures or guest professorships. He is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Vascular Surgery and the Canadian Journal of Surgery and a member of several editorial boards. He is the Past-President of the Canadian Society for Vascular Surgery, Section Editor of Rutherford’s Textbook of Vascular Surgery and the Chair of the Vascular Care Working Group of the Cardiac Care Network in Ontario. He is also a former Program Director and vice-Chair of the Vascular Surgery Specialty Committee of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Links:

1. https://surgery.queensu.ca/research/william-ersil-resident-research-day
2. Providing high-quality open aortic surgical care in the endovascular era. https://www-sciencedirect-com.proxy.queensu.ca/science/article/pii/S074152142200427X?via%3Dihub
3. Advanced Aortic fellowship: https://surgery.utoronto.ca/sites/default/files/inline-files/2025%20Fellowship%20in%20Advanced%20Aortic%20Surgery.pdf
4. https://www.audiblebleeding.com/forbes/