Evaluative Clinical Sciences

Education:

• BA, 1998, anthropology, Western University, Canada
• MA, 1999, anthropology, University of Toronto, Canada
• PhD, 2004, anthropology, U of T, Canada
• Collaborative program in women and gender studies, 2004, U of T, Canada

Appointments and Affiliations:

• Scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Tory Trauma Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Professor (Adjunct), department of anthropology, University of Toronto
• Assistant Professor (Status-Only), Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation, University of Toronto
• Associate Director, Sunnybrook Hub for Applied Research in Education (SHARE), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• Cross-appointed researcher, The Wilson Centre, University Health Network and Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto​

Research Foci:

• Qualitative research and ethnography
• Surgery
• Knowledge translation, implementation research, quality improvement research
• Interprofessional teamwork
• Medical education research

Research Summary:

Dr. Gotlib Conn is a medical anthropologist whose research applies anthropological theory and methods to the study of healthcare culture. Over the last decade, her academic research has focused on understanding the cultural and social contexts for healthcare improvements in the areas of interprofessional collaboration, communication and teamwork. With expertise in ethnography, she has examined healthcare team communication in several clinical domains: general internal medicine, primary care, pediatrics, surgery and critical care. Her most recent focus is the improvement of inter-specialty team communication in surgery and critical care. Through the use of ethnography, she has furthered our understanding of the role that specialty-specific power and knowledge play in negotiating high quality and safe patient care in the ICU. In addition, Dr. Gotlib Conn is working to strengthen advances in the care of severely injured patients by examining how trauma centers use performance data to effect change in care processes and improve patient outcomes. Currently, she is identifying opportunities for improvement in discharge and care transitions processes for trauma patients and examining long term outcomes for older adult trauma survivors.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

1. Gotlib Conn L, Nathens AB, Perrier L, et al. Quality of Reporting on Guideline, Protocol, or Algorithm Implementation in Adult Trauma Centers: A Systematic Review. Ann Surg 2019;Publish Ahead of Print doi: 10.1097/sla.0000000000003313.
2. Gotlib Conn L, Hoeft C, Neal M, et al. Use of performance reports among trauma medical directors and programme managers in the American College of Surgeons' Trauma Quality Improvement Program: a qualitative analysis. BMJ Qual Saf. 2019 Sep;28(9):721-728.
3. Haas B, Gotlib Conn L, Rubenfeld GD, et al. “It’s parallel universes”: an analysis of communication between surgeons and intensivists. Crit Care Med. 2015 Oct;43(10):2147–54.
4. Gotlib Conn L, Haas B, Cuthbertson BH, et al. Communication and culture in the surgical intensive care unit: boundary production and the improvement of patient care. Qual Health Res. Epub 2015 Oct 18. doi: 10.1177/1049732315609901.
5. Gotlib Conn L, McKenzie M, Pearsall E, et al Successful implementation of an enhanced recovery after surgery programme for elective colorectal surgery: a process evaluation of champions' experiences. Implement Sci. 2015 Jul 17;10:99.

 Related News and Stories:

• Announcing the 2020 Sunnybrook Excellence in Education Awards
• Sunnybrook researchers receive more than $5M from CIHR's Project Grant Program
• Sunnybrook researchers awarded grants in second round of community-supported COVID-19 funding competition
• A fine balance (SRI Magazine, 2017)
• The anthropologist: Lesley Gotlib Conn (Sunnybrook Magazine, Fall 2016)
• Trading places: First-year undergraduate student gains research experience through summer placement in Sunnybrook’s trauma unit (Aug. 11, 2016)