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Team Profiles

This past October, the Cape Breton Medical Campus announced the appointments to the roles of Senior Associate Dean and Assistant Dean, Pre-Clerkship. In this edition, we are pleased to highlight the leaders who have taken on these roles and are propelling the program toward success.

Dr. Jennifer Hall, Senior Associate Dean

With an extensive career in family medicine, research and medical education, Dr. Hall brings incredible leadership experience to the CBMC team.

Serving as the Associate Dean at the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB)
campus for nine years, Dr. Hall has successfully implemented numerous initiatives promoting the specialty of family medicine and ensuring exceptional education in and for rural communities.

Dr. Hall served as the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) President from 2015-16 and is currently the Chair of the Residency CFPC Accreditation Committee, which is responsible for setting the specific standards for family medicine residency programs accredited by the CFPC.

Notably, Dr. Hall was recognized for her contributions to medical education and received the 2024 Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine Academic Leadership Award.
As Senior Associate Dean at CBMC, Dr. Hall is working to advance the campus’ mission while ensuring operational readiness before the arrival of the first cohort of learners in August 2025. Once teaching begins, she will continue her collaborative work with the leadership at CBMC and the Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine to oversee the execution of the undergraduate medical education program.

Dr. Hall’s vision of ‘training in rural Nova Scotia now, to care for rural Nova Scotians in the future,’ is fueled by developing clinical learning environments across rural Nova Scotia, welcoming the first class at CBMC and cultivating rural primary care research. She is inspired by the physicians with a long history of medical education teaching in Cape Breton as well as those who are eager to take on new teaching roles. Dr. Hall also recognizes that the significant collaboration between CBU and Dalhousie has led to the excitement within communities and eagerness to participate in any way they can.

To prospective medical school students, Dr. Hall says, “embrace the learning journey ahead and always remember that the patient and family are the centre of care.

Dr. Arlene Kelly-Wiggins, Assistant Dean, Pre-Clerkship

After serving as a high school teacher for 16 years, Dr. Kelly-Wiggins embarked on a medical career in 2011. She earned her MD from the Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine in 2015 and was subsequently matched to the Cape Breton site for the Dalhousie Family Medicine program. Dr. Kelly-Wiggins completed the Care of Elderly program at Dalhousie before entering practice in Sydney in 2018. She has since led the revitalization and growth of the geriatrics program at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital to help serve the health needs of seniors in the Cape Breton region. Dr. Kelly-Wiggins practices as a Care of the Elderly Physician and Physician Lead at the Geriatric Clinic in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

As Assistant Dean, Pre-Clerkship, Dr. Kelly-Wiggin’s role includes the joint responsibility of integrating, coordinating, implementing and evaluating the pre-clerkship curriculum at the Cape Breton Medical Campus – working closely with her counterparts at Dalhousie’s Halifax and Saint John campuses. Along with her background as an educator, Dr. Kelly-Wiggins has been a strong advocate for medical education and increasing opportunities for Cape Breton students to train on the Island.

Following the CBMC’s inaugural year, Dr. Kelly-Wiggins looks forward to seeing the students’ enthusiasm and respect for family and remote medicine, as well as the excitement toward entering their second year. Her confidence in the upcoming program continues to grow as she works with the small, but expanding CBMC team that she says has accomplished so much due to its cohesiveness and collegiality.

“It’s going to be hard work,” says Dr. Kelly-Wiggins to prospective medical students. “It requires dedication and perseverance, but the outcome is worth the effort.”

Often recalling advice that was given to her by Dr. Andrew Lynk, Dr. Kelly-Wiggins emphasizes the belief that medicine is only as good as the follow-up. Keeping the patient at the center of their care plan is critical to achieving successful outcomes.

Chief Terry Paul Leadership Award

To honour his legacy, the evening’s proceeds of $250,000 were collected toward the establishment of an endowment at Cape Breton University. A first of its kind for the University, the Chief Terry Paul Leadership Award will be established in 2025 and will provide financial support to Mi’kmaq students enrolled at the Cape Breton Medical Campus.

Elected in 1984 and re-elected every two years since, Chief Paul is credited with tripling his community’s land base, increasing Membertou’s employment rate to 80 per cent and building economic and social opportunity for the entire Cape Breton region.

Chief Paul has been appointed to the Order of Canada, is an inductee of both the Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Business Halls of Fame and has received the Frank McKenna Leadership Award and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business Lifetime Achievement Award. He holds honorary doctorates from Dalhousie University, Cape Breton University and Mount Allison University.