In Memoriam: Dr. Sean Grondin, Cumming School of Medicine
The Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) is mourning the passing of Dr. Sean Grondin, MD. A skilled and beloved thoracic surgeon and professor in the Department of Surgery, Dr. Grondin was 56 years old.
Born in Edmonton, Alta., he arrived in Calgary in 2002, spending 20 years based at the Foothills Medical Centre as a dedicated clinician and instructor.
Dr. Grondin was a passionate and accomplished medical leader in his field, serving as the academic and clinical head of the Department of Surgery from 2016 to 2020. He was appointed as a Regent for the American College of Surgeons (ACS) in 2020. He was also inducted into the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators and the American Surgical Association.
At the time of his passing, Dr. Grondin was serving as the secretary/treasurer and Canadian director for the James IV Association of Surgeons, and a board member of the Thoracic Surgery Foundation. He was first vice-president of the Western Thoracic Surgery Association, immediate past president of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and a past president of the Canadian Association of Thoracic Surgeons (2016-2018).
His medical training occurred at the University of Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S. After finishing a general surgery residency in 1996, he completed a thoracic surgery residency at the University of Toronto, a thoracic oncology fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a master’s degree in clinical effectiveness at the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2000, he finished a second fellowship in minimally invasive thoracic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Grondin was a devoted husband and adoring father, beloved by his friends and colleagues across UCalgary, Alberta Health Services and the many other organizations where he worked.