Liz Darling named assistant dean of midwifery

A McMaster-trained midwife has been appointed the assistant dean of the Midwifery Education Program of the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Liz Darling is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology. She is also an adjunct scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, and holds an associate appointment in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact.

Her five-year term starts on July 1, 2018.

“I feel very honoured to take on the role of assistant dean,” said Darling. “We are at an exciting period in the growth and development of the profession of midwifery in Ontario, and I look forward to the opportunities that this presents for us at McMaster with respect to midwifery education and research.”

Darling is a McMaster alumna, with a BArtsSc (Honours), a BHSc in Midwifery and an MSc in Health Research Methodology. She also has a PhD in Population Health from the University of Ottawa. During her doctoral studies, she held a national Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship.

Darling became a full-time faculty member at McMaster in 2017 after serving at Laurentian University for more than a decade as a lecturer, then assistant professor in the Laurentian Midwifery Education Program. McMaster, along with Laurentian and Ryerson universities, jointly provide the Ontario Midwifery Education Program.

Darling has been an active representative of the midwifery profession at the provincial and national level, including serving as a member of the Expert Advisory Committee for the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System. She is past chair of the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee at the Association of Ontario Midwives, and is currently a member of the Research Standing Committee of the International Confederation of Midwives.

She succeeds Eileen Hutton, who retires as a professor emerita at the end of June.

“Dr. Darling’s impressive list of accomplishments as a midwife, instructor, researcher and committee member makes her a good candidate for this role,” said Alan Neville, associate dean of health professional education of the Faculty of Health Sciences. “I look forward to seeing her carry on the tradition of excellence in the Midwifery Education Program established by Karyn Kaufman and continued by Eileen Hutton.”