December’s Member Spotlight shines on Dr. Ehtesham Baig, a double board-certified anesthesiologist and pain medicine physician (FRCPC in Anesthesia and FRCPC in Pain Medicine) at the University of Toronto. After completing his residency in pain medicine at the university, he completed a one-year fellowship in interventional cancer pain management at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. He returned to Canada and led the development of the first cancer pain program in the anesthesia department of the University of Toronto. Nominator Dr. Nimish Mital noted that, “In light of the fact that health care in Canada is publicly funded, he seamlessly coordinated with stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health, in order to establish this service.”

Dr. Baig describes himself as passionate about education, noting that the best teachers hold their students accountable for their progress. “Through working with trainees at different levels … my goal is to instill a passion for clinical inquisitiveness and motivation to strive for excellence,” he wrote. “Ultimately this allows for the learner to take charge of their own education, and this translates into a meaningful clinical practice and passionate patient care.”

Dr. Mital also saluted Dr. Baig’s teaching noting that “his teaching effectiveness scores in both anesthesiology and pain medicine place him in the top 5%. He is also involved in curriculum development at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with a focus on pain medicine trainee education.”

In addition to his work with ASRA Pain Medicine including serving as the CME liaison for the Ultrasonography in Pain Medicine Special Interest Group, Dr. Baig is the vice-chair of the Chronic Pain Section for the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society. He has a number of peer-reviewed articles and has served as faculty for the Pain Medicine and MSK Ultrasound Cadaver Course. He received his MD at Queen’s University and his MSc in Immunology at the University of Toronto.