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Dr. Andrew Warren is the 2026 recipient of the Duncan Graham Award for Outstanding Contribution to Medical Education, which recognizes Royal College Fellows who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of medical education through teaching, educational leadership, research or program development. 

Training a physician does not begin and end with mastering clinical knowledge. Residency programs must also ensure that new doctors develop judgment, communication skills, professionalism and the ability to learn from feedback throughout their careers. 

For more than two decades, Andrew Warren, MD, FRCPC, MSc,  has helped shape how those skills are taught and assessed across Canada’s postgraduate medical education system. 

A professor of Pediatrics at Dalhousie University and pediatric cardiologist at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Dr. Warren has built a career at the intersection of clinical practice, education leadership and policy development. His work has influenced how residency programs are designed, accredited and evaluated, helping ensure that physicians across the country receive high-quality training grounded in evidence and continuous improvement. 

Leading postgraduate medical education

Much of Dr. Warren’s impact comes from his decade of leadership as associate dean of postgraduate medical education at Dalhousie University from 2012 to 2022. 

In that role, he oversaw the development and accreditation of residency programs across multiple specialties. His work included chairing Dalhousie’s Postgraduate Medical Education Internal Review Committee and guiding major program reviews designed to strengthen educational quality and accountability.  

These efforts placed Dr. Warren at the centre of a broader transformation occurring in Canadian medical education. As competency-based training models gained momentum, residency programs needed practical guidance on how to assess residents and support learners who were struggling. 

Dr. Warren became a key contributor to that work. Through workshops and national conferences, he helped educators adopt structured approaches to coaching and performance improvement, and he helped pilot the use of the evidence‑based R2C2 feedback model (authored by Joan Sargeant, PhD,—one of Dr. Warren’s early teachers and mentors) in Canadian residency education. These initiatives provided program directors and faculty members with practical tools for helping residents translate feedback into real professional growth.  

Shaping national education policy

Dr. Warren’s influence extends far beyond a single institution. Nationally, he has played a significant role in shaping policies that guide postgraduate medical education across Canada. 

As co-chair of a Royal College policy working group supporting the implementation of competency-based medical education, he helped develop guidance on critical issues such as assessment, remediation, transfers and graduated responsibility. These policies provided a framework that programs across the country could use as they transitioned to new models of training.  

Dr. Warren has also contributed to the governance of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS), serving as chair of the board of directors and of its Violations Review Committee. Through this work, he has helped oversee processes that affect how thousands of medical graduates are matched to residency training positions each year.  

Together, these roles place Dr. Warren at the heart of national conversations about how physicians are selected, trained and supported throughout residency. 

Advancing standards at home and abroad

Another dimension of Dr. Warren’s leadership involves accreditation and program evaluation — areas that play a crucial role in maintaining the quality of medical training. 

Over the years he has chaired or participated in numerous accreditation reviews across Canada and internationally, working with institutions to strengthen residency programs and align them with evolving educational standards.  

Through this work, Dr. Warren has helped translate Canadian expertise in medical education governance and accreditation to a global stage while bringing international perspectives back into Canadian training systems. 

Building a culture of feedback and improvement

Across his roles as clinician, educator, policy contributor and accreditation leader, Dr. Warren’s work reflects a consistent theme: improving the systems that shape how physicians learn. 

His research and scholarship in medical education explore issues such as feedback, residency transitions and curriculum design, contributing evidence that informs both policy and practice.  

Taken together, these contributions have helped strengthen the structures that support residency training in Canada. By advancing competency-based education, improving feedback systems and guiding accreditation processes, Dr. Warren continues to shape how future generations of physicians are prepared for clinical practice. 

Read more about the Royal College’s 2026 award recipients and Honorary Fellows.