John H.V. Gilbert

Dr. John Gilbert has been a seminal leader in the education of health professionals in British Columbia, Canada and internationally. In the early part of his career he pioneered linguistics and psychology as the basis of practice for speech-language pathologists and audiologists. In the latter part of his career it was his vision and leadership that led to the concept of interprofessional education being developed as a central tenet of team-based collaborative patient-centred practice and care. These concepts are now part of university, college, and institute health sciences training in many places across Canada.

He was elected a Fellow, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, in 2008. He was named a Senior Scholar of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Human Resource Planning Dalhousie University in 2009.

He was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in April 2012, and in October 2013 received the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to International Allied Health Development Award from the International Chief Health Professions Officers Organization.

Gilbert was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada (Canada’s highest civilian honour), in July 2011 for his leadership in the development of interprofessional education as a central tenet in team-based collaborative patient-centered practice and care, nationally and globally. At the Convocation of Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia in May 2016 Gilbert will receive the honorary Degree, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa in recognition of his work.