Deborah Dudgeon, MD
Expert Advisor, Person-Centred Perspective | Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
Toronto, ON, CANADA
Dr. Deborah Dudgeon is a national leader in palliative care with expertise in clinical, education and research.
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Biography
Deborah Dudgeon is an Expert Advisor at the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. She joined the Partnership in September 2013 as Sr Scientific Leader, Person-Centred Perspective with a focus on improving palliative and end-of-life care, survivorship and primary care transitions. Dr Dudgeon is a Professor Emerta in Department of Medicine, Queen's University. She was Head of Palliative Medicine at Queen's from 1997-2018 and the University of Manitoba from 1992-1997.
Dr Dudgeon is a Founder and past Cahir of the Subspecialty Palliative Medicine Committee of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She is a past president of the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians and served as chair and co-chair of the Symptom Control Committee of NCIC Clinical Trials Group. Dr Dudgeon was the inaugural Provincial Program Head of Palliative Care for Cancer Care Ontario from 2004-2010. She helped develop and lead the implementation of the Provincial Palliative Care Integration Project which embedded patient-reported outcome measures throughout Ontario's cancer system.
Dr Dudgeon studied medicine at McMaster University; internal medicine at the University of Ottawa; medical oncology at the University of Rochester and was a R. Samuel McLaughlin Foundation fellow at the University of Rochester. She has received a number of awards for her work in palliative care from organizations such as the Ontario Palliative Care Association, the Ontario Medical Association Palliative Care Section and the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians. In 2005 she received the Premier's Award in Health Sciences.
Areas of Expertise (4)
Palliative Care
Patient Reported Outcomes
Health Services Research
Symptom management
Accomplishments (5)
Award of Excellence (professional)
2011 Ontario Medical Association Palliative Care Section
Eduardo Bruera Award in Palliative Medicine (professional)
2009 Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians
Innovations in Health Care Awards (professional)
2008 Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Premier’s Award, Health Sciences (professional)
2005 Nominated by George Brown College
Dorothy Ley Award of Excellence in Palliative Care (professional)
2004 Ontario Palliative Care Association
Education (4)
McMaster University Medical School: MD, Medical School 1985
University of Ottawa: Internal Medicine
1985-1988
University of Rochester: R Samuel McLaughlin Foundation Fellowship
1990-1991
University of Rochester: Medical Oncology
1988-1990
Affiliations (2)
- Working group for the development of a subspecialty in Palliative Medicine in Canada: Co-chair
- Journal of Pain and Symptom Management: Editorial Board Member
Links (4)
Media Appearances (1)
'Vulnerable Elders Survey' Predicts Breast Ca Outcomes
MedPage Today online
2016-07-03
The Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES-13) is an easily used tool that was able to predict functional decline and death within 12 months of breast cancer treatment among older women with newly diagnosed, nonmetastatic, early-stage breast cancer, according to a study online in Cancer.
Articles (4)
Dyspnea and exercise intolerance in breast cancer survivors: The role of inspiratory muscle weakness
European Respiratory Journal
2015 Women who have been successfully treated for breast cancer have been shown to have significantly greater dyspnea and activity restriction than healthy individuals but contributory mechanisms are unknown. We therefore compared dyspnea assessments, respiratory and peripheral muscle strength, pulmonary function tests and cardiopulmonary responses to incremental treadmill exercise in 29 women treated for breast cancer and 29 age-matched healthy controls.
Opioid Prescription After Pain Assessment: A Population-Based Cohort of Elderly Patients With Cancer
Journal of Clinical Oncology
2012 The purpose of this study was to measure opioid prescription (OP) rates in elderly cancer outpatients around the time of assessment for pain and to evaluate factors associated with receiving OPs for those with severe pain.
Trajectory of Performance Status and Symptom Scores for Patients With Cancer During the Last Six Months of Life
Journal of Clinical Oncology
2011 Ontario's cancer system is unique because it has implemented two standardized assessment tools population-wide to improve care: the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) measures severity of nine symptoms (scale 0 to 10; 10 indicates the worst) and the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) measures performance status (scale 0 to 100; 0 indicates death). This article describes the trajectory of ESAS and PPS scores 6 months before death.
Symptom burden and performance status in a population-based cohort of ambulatory cancer patients
Cancer
2010 For ambulatory cancer patients, Ontario has standardized symptom and performance status assessment population-wide, using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and Palliative Performance Scale (PPS). In a broad cross-section of cancer outpatients, the authors describe the ESAS and PPS scores and their relation to patient characteristics.
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