Arnold Aberman

Arnold Aberman
Born	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Occupation(s)	Physician, medical researcher, academic leader
Years active	1960s–present
Known for	Critical care medicine, healthcare leadership

Arnold Aberman is a Canadian physician esteemed for his groundbreaking work in critical care medicine and healthcare leadership.

Early life and education

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Aberman obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University in 1965. He pursued his medical studies at McGill as well, focusing on internal medicine and pulmonary diseases.

Career

Aberman undertook residency training at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. His education continued at the Cardiovascular Research Institute of UCSF, followed by a research fellowship at the Shock Research Unit of the University of Southern California.

In 1973, he returned to Canada to lead the Intensive Care Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Between 1977 and 1987, he held the position of Physician-in-Chief at Mount Sinai and was appointed Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto in 1980.

His appointment as Physician-in-Chief of the Toronto Hospital came in 1987, where he managed the clinical, academic, administrative, and financial integration of Toronto General and Toronto Western Hospitals. His tenure was marked by efforts to reorganize Toronto’s teaching hospital system.

From 1992 until 1999, Aberman served as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Beginning in 2002, he contributed significantly to the founding of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

Having authored more than 60 publications in critical care medicine, Aberman was honored with the Order of Canada in 2011 in recognition of his three decades of medical advancement.

By 2024, he had received four honorary doctorates, including one from the University of Toronto. Notably, in September 2024, he made history by returning his honorary degree from U of T as a protest against the university’s response to antisemitism linked to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus—a first occurrence since the institution’s establishment in 1850.