Dr Patrick J Gullane – Accorded Highest Canadian Honour

By Colm Croffy

Dr Patrick J Gullane – Accorded Highest Canadian Honour

By Colm Croffy

One of our community’s most decorated and honoured surgeons was inducted into the Princess Margaret Hall of Fame this spring for his visionary contributions in Head and Neck Oncology that have left an enduring legacy and shaped the future of head and neck cancer care internationally. The award also acknowledged his facilitation of the establishment of six University-Hospital Chairs in Head & Neck Surgery in his adopted Canada.

Dr Patrick Gullane was born to the Main Street parents who ran a bar and grocery which morphed into the famous Log Cabin Venue and then, over time, under the direction of his brother Tomas and wife Caroline, became Gullanes Hotel.

He received his medical degree from NUI-Galway in 1970, after his secondary schooling in Garbally and national in St Grellans. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada and certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.

In 1975, he was selected as the McLaughlin Fellow and then pursued advanced Fellowship training in Head and Neck Oncology in Pittsburgh and New York.

In 1978, Dr Gullane was appointed to the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He was subsequently recruited in 1983 to the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto. He currently holds the Wharton Chair in Head and Neck Surgery at the University Health Network and University of Toronto.

In 1989, he was appointed as Otolaryngologist-in-Chief within the University Health Network, and in 2002 appointed as Professor and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, University of Toronto.

Dr Gullane is a member of numerous surgical societies nationally and internationally and has been invited as a visiting professor to over 65 countries, lecturing on all aspects of Head and Neck Oncology.

He has delivered over 635 invited and keynote presentations nationally and internationally, including:

• The Eugene Myers International Lecture in September 2006
• The 2007 Medtronic Alumni Award from the National University of Ireland (Galway) for contributions to health care and medical science
• The Sir Peter Freyer Memorial Lecture to the Irish Surgical Forum at NUI-Galway in 2009
• The John J. Conley Lecture to the American Head and Neck Society in 2012
• The 87th Abraham Colles Lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in February 2012
• The Hayes Martin Lecture at the 5th World Congress of IFHNOS and Annual Meeting of the Head and Neck Society in New York in July 2014
• The Gunnar Holmgren Lecture to the Swedish Society of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery in April 2018

He was one of the six international faculty leaders who conducted the IFHNOS Head and Neck World Tour Program in 2008.
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Dr Gullane has published 384 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 98 chapters in textbooks. In addition, he has published 10 books on various aspects of Head and Neck Surgery.

He has served as President of the American Head & Neck Society, the North American Skull Base Society, President of the Canadian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, and Vice President of the Triological Society.
In recognition of his distinguished achievements, Professor Gullane was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2006, an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2010, and an Honorary Fellowship in the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland in 2012.
He was elected to Fellowship in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2011 and, in 2010, was appointed as a Member to the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada. He was cited for his inspiration of young surgeons and his contributions to the field of Head and Neck Surgery.
In 2014, in recognition of his outstanding contributions, an endowed Chair was named in his honour at the University Health Network/University of Toronto.
In February 2015, Dr Gullane was appointed as a Member to the Order of Ontario by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario for his achievements in the field of Head and Neck Surgery. In June 2022, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Western University, London, Ontario.
Being in the sector for more than 40 years, he claims he was never sure when he was working or playing. “I plan to keep playing at work and travelling more (if that is possible since I have done so much), but to places that my wife Barbara and I have enjoyed previously, explore them in more detail and try to improve my golf, which my son John encouraged me to take up years ago. In addition, I plan to spend more time with my family, Barbara, daughter Kira, son John, as well as his wonderful wider family, of two brothers and one sister who reside in Ireland and where I so love to visit and plan to do more of it,” he states.
He puts a lot of his achievements and success down to luck and being in the right place at the right time.
“I received the best training possible working with leaders in the specialty. Knowing what I wanted to do. Collaborate with hospital and university administration, educate and recruit the best and brightest, understand the needs of your specialty, convincing others that you are sincere in your goals, demonstrate that you can consistently deliver and evaluate your outcomes and share those results with your colleagues through audit and publications. In addition, demonstrate that what you are doing is affecting change and enhancing improved patient care.
Also continue to be prepared to change how you did something. What one does today is not what you will be doing in five years’ time. Move with the times, remain connected with all aspects of your specialty and continue to be visionary and open-minded. Finally, as a leader you must secure funding through grants, donor support and philanthropy,” he explains.