Dr. Sarah Burm, PhD

Brief bio

Dr. Sarah Burm is an Associate Professor and Education Research Scientist in the Office of Continuing Professional Development and Medical Education at Dalhousie University. She holds a PhD in Educational Studies from Western University. A qualitative researcher, Dr. Burm’s leads a research program that explores the everyday lived experiences of those working in helping professions. Her work explores how these professionals navigate the unseen emotional and relational complexities of their roles amid workplace cultures that can make carving out time to be and feel wholly human near impossible some days.

Her work to date has primarily centered on medical learners and physicians, examining who they are—and who they are becoming—as care providers, and how this evolving professional identity intersects with, and at times conflicts with, other important aspects of their identity, such as being an advocate, an ally, a life-long learner, a leader, and a parent.

More recently, Dr. Burm’s research has turned toward the study of wellbeing and social connection within the workplace. Her current work examines the often unacknowledged tensions of expressing grief in medicine, while considering the cultural and structural factors that render such experiences invisible. She is also leading an interdisciplinary study with colleagues in medicine, nursing, and education that explores the role of workplace friendship in supporting professional wellbeing. Her work has been funded by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and Nova Scotia Health.

In addition to her research, Dr. Burm is the Research in Medicine (RIM) Unit Head and Chair of Dalhousie University’s Health Sciences Research Ethics Board. In 2022, she was awarded the Early Career Medical Education Champion Award in recognition of her leadership and dedication to advancing the growth and recognition of early career medical educators. She welcomes medical learners, graduate students, and clinicians interested in pursuing medical education research to contact her for a one-on-one consultation.

Select Recent Publications:

Burm, S., Bierer, T., Luong, V. ⁺, Dhara, A., Hazelton, L., Miller, S., & MacLeod, A. (2025). Working through loss: A critical discourse analysis of physicians’ grief. Qualitative Health Research. Available online: doi:10.1177/10497323251383834.

Esomchukwu, O., Bishop, L., Dean, L., LaDonna, K. & Burm, S. (2025). Facing hard truths: Medical education’s reckoning with settler colonialism in an era of reconciliation. Medical Education. Available online: http://doi.org/10.1111/medu.70028.

Peel, S. , Mahalik, A., Glennie, A., & Burm, S. (2025). A surgical habitus: Learner mistreatment in surgery.  Advances in Health Sciences Education. Available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-025-10446-3

Burm, S., MacDonald, S., Melro, C., Kennedy, E., Tran Roop, P., MacLeod, A., Kilbertus, F., Robinson, S., & Phinney, J. (2025). The burden of grief: A scoping review of nurses’ and physicians’ experiences throughout the covid-19 pandemic. Death Studies. 49(2), 101-110.

Burm, S., Dean, L., Alcock, D., LaDonna, K. A., Watling, C. W., & Bishop, L. (2024). A narrative inquiry into non-Indigenous medical educators’ and leaders’ participation in reconciliatory work. Medical Education. 58(10), 1215-1223.

Abraham, Z. , Melro, C. , & Burm, S. (2023). Click, I guess I am done: Applicants’ and assessors’ experiences transitioning to a virtual multiple mini-interview format. Perspectives on Medical Education. 12(1), 594-602.

Burm, S., Deagle, S., Watling, C., Wylie, L., & Alcock, D. (2022). Navigating the burden of proof and responsibility: A narrative inquiry into Indigenous medical learners’ experiences. Medical Education. 57(6), 556-565.

Burleigh, D. & Burm, S. Doing duoethnography: Addressing essential methodological questions. (2022). International Journal of Qualitative Methods. 21. 1-8.

Burm, S., Cristancho, S., Watling, C., & LaDonna, K.A. (2022). Expanding the advocacy lens: Using photo-elicitation to capture patients’ and physicians’ perspectives about health advocacy. Advances in Health Sciences Education. 28(2), 411-426.

Kilbertus, F., King, K., Robinson, S., Cristancho, S., & Burm, S. (2022). Understanding palliative care learning: A narrative inquiry exploring health care professionals’ memorable experiences. SSM – Qualitative Research in Health. 2, 1-9. 

Luong, V., Burm, S., Bogie, B., Cowley, L., Klasen, J. & MacLeod, A., LaDonna, K.A. (2022). A phenomenological study of the impact of COVID-19 on the medical education community. Medical Education. 56(8), 815-822.

Burm, S., Luong, V., LaDonna, K.A., Bogie, B., Cowley, L., Klasen, J. & MacLeod, A. (2022). From struggle to opportunity: Reimagining medical education in a pandemic era. Perspectives on Medical Education. 11, 115-120.

Book Chapters

Burm, S., Doyle, C., & Rideout, A. (forthcoming 2026). Behind the scenes: The hidden work of medical school admissions. In A. MacLeod & L. Varpio (Eds.) The Invisible Work of Medical Education. A Chorus of Unheard Voices. University of Toronto Press.

MacLeod, A. Burm, S. & Mann, K. (2022). Constructivism: Learning theories and approaches to research. In J. Cleland & S.J. Durning (Eds.) Researching Medical Education. (2^nd ed.). (pp. 25-40) John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Awards and Honours:

2022: Excellence in Reviewing Award, Academic Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)

2022: Early Career Medical Educators (ECME) Champion Award, Canadian Association for Medical Education

Teaching:

Research in Medicine, Unit Head

Service & Activities:

Chair, Health Sciences Research Ethics Board
Chair, Research in Medicine Committee
Member, Undergraduate Medical Education Curriculum Committee
Member, Faculty Council