Winnipeg physician receives Osvita Foundation Award (02/22/98)

Winnipeg physician receives Osvita Foundation Award

by Dr. B. Zaricznyj

WINNIPEG - Dr. Jaroslaw Barwinsky, a well-known physician in Canada, the United States and Ukraine, is the head of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at the University of Manitoba, and is the 17th recipient of Osvita Foundation Award. The award was presented here on June 11, 1997. The Osvita Foundation, Inc. was established in 1982 to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the community and to generate financial support for the English-Ukrainian Bilingual Program, a project jointly funded by the Canadian government and private organizations.

Dr. Barwinsky was born in the village of Tustoholovy, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine, in 1936. He completed the Ukrainian gymnasium in Ternopil and spent two years studying medicine at the University of Munich. In 1948 he came to Canada and shortly thereafter enrolled in the University of Manitoba, graduating from the faculty of medicine in 1955.

Dr. Barwinsky received training in surgery, specializing in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery in Winnipeg and the Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, where he also served as chief resident in thoracic surgery. In 1961 he became the first Ukrainian physician in Canada and North America to be board certified in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery.

Dr. Barwinsky enjoyed a long association with the University of Manitoba, starting as a lecturer and later becoming a full professor and eventually head of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at the University of Manitoba as well as program director for cardiac surgery for the Province of Manitoba.

During his successful career, he authored and co-authored many books, publications, and papers addressing primarily his areas of specialty, but also such areas as medical consequences of Chornobyl. He has presented papers at numerous conferences throughout North America and Europe, and most recently in Ukraine. Currently he is honorary professor of surgery of the Ukrainian State Medical University in Kyiv.

Dr. Barwinsky is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American College of Cardiology, and is an associate fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, London, England. He is also a member of the prestigious American Association for Thoracic Surgery, American Heart Association and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, and a founding member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He has served on the boards of many professional organizations and was president of the Canadian Society of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons.

Dr. Barwinsky has been active as a member of the board of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, past vice-president of the Taras Shevchenko Foundation, board member of St. Sophia Religious Organization, president of Canada-Ukraine Foundation, and past president of Catholic Physicians Guild.

He has received many awards and honors, including the Research Foundation Annual Dinner Award from the St. Boniface Research Foundation, the Health Sciences Center Distinguished Service Award, the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America Distinguished Service Award, the Medical Research Council of Canada Term Research Grant, and the Taras Shevchenko Medal for Contribution to Development of Ukrainian Culture in Canada.

In July 1997, Dr. Barwinsky took a one-year sabbatical and was accepted as a visiting professor and a fellow in the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago. Dr. Siegal, director of the center, wrote to Dr. Barwinsky. "You were selected from a large group of exceptionally qualified candidates to train for a leadership role in the field of clinical medical ethics." The University of Chicago is one of the 10 top research schools.

Besides teaching and research, Dr. Barwinsky also conducts ethics consultations. This is a new field that is being developed. Dr. Barwinsky will take mandatory retirement from cardiovascular surgery this year, but at the same time will develop a center for medical ethics at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

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