Dr. James Dean Sandham was the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba from 2004 to 2010. Originally from a rural community near Coalhurst, Alberta, James Dean Sandham graduated from the University of Alberta Medical School in 1967. Shortly thereafter, Sandham underwent two-year postgraduate training in family practice at the Montreal General Hospital and then practiced as a family physician in Red Deer, Alberta for four years. Dr. Sandham went on to do further postgraduate training and in 1977, completed his fellowship in internal medicine and pulmonary diseases at the University of Calgary.<br/>
Dr. Sandham’s career was largely in Intensive Care. From 1977 to 1986, Sandham was the Director, Department of Intensive Care, Calgary General Hospital and became Director of Clinical Care, Foothills Hospital in 1986; a position he held for fourteen years. During these appointments, Dr. Sandham also became Director of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Calgary and Regional Clinical Department Head for Critical Care, Calgary Health Region. Dr. Sandham was instrumental in the creation of a Clinical Care academic department at the University of Calgary.<br/>
During his tenure at the University of Calgary and Calgary Regional Health Authority, Sandham developed an integrated quality improvement and information management system for the Department of Critical Care involving electronic patient records which created an abstracted database used for quality improvement and administrative purposes.<br/>
On October 1, 2004, Dr. Sandham assumed the position of Dean, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. During his tenure (2004-2010), the Faculty of Medicine saw the development of the Clinical Learning and Simulation Facility, the largest medicine class in the Faculty’s history, the establishment and development of the first university-level Physician Assistant program in Canada, the creation of the Centre for Aboriginal Health Education and the Northern and Remote Family Medicine Stream Residency Program. Dr. Sandham also initiated the development of the Online Portal for Advanced Learning (OPAL), the faculty's paperless medical education curriculum management system. Dr. James Dean Sandham completed his term as Dean of Medicine in June, 2010.
