UBC Health Awards: Jory Mitchell receives Kerston Community Educator Award

On March 27th, Jory Mitchell was presented with the R. Paul Kerston Community Educator Award for patient and community educators who have made a difference to student learning at UBC. He was honoured at the annual UBC Health Awards reception for his outstanding contributions to health professional education at UBC.

Jory has been a community educator with UBC Health for 8 years and was nominated for his work with the UBC Interprofessional Health Mentors program, Patient & Community Voices workshops, Living Library, and Integrated Curriculum. He had this to say,

“We bring something different. It’s not about all the workings of the body and fixing all of that for me. The heart matters. We as caregivers, we deal with the other heart. …If you are a professional in the health care system, meet people where their hearts are.”

The Kerston Community Educator Award is named after long-time community educator, R. Paul Kerston who attended the ceremony to present the award to Jory with Co-Directors, Angela Towle and Bill Godolphin. Paul spoke about the significance of the award and the important contributions of patient educators. 

“Community educators, like Jory, are helping to further the future of health education. It’s the backstory, that’s how I like to think of the lives we lead that go beyond the clinical manifestations of whatever chronic condition we may be living with,” said Paul.

Congratulations Jory!

Stay tuned for the next call for nominations coming in Fall 2023!

Visit the 15:30 minute mark of the video to hear the full speeches from this year’s Kerston award presentation.