Paula Rowland

Scientist, Wilson Centre Post MD Program
Associate Director, Research Centre for Interprofessional Education
Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Paula Rowland, PhD, began her career as an occupational therapist, working with children and adults in multiple healthcare settings across Canada. Following an interest in how the places where professionals work shape how they work, what they can know, and what they can learn, Paula pursued graduate studies in health systems and organizations. Having completed her PhD in 2013, Dr. Rowland focuses on broad mandates to reform the practice of health professionals within clinical workplaces. Her existing research has explored two substantive change efforts: patient engagement programs and patient safety and quality improvement programs. In each of these domains, Dr. Rowland explores questions about knowledge, power, and identity. Through these studies of change efforts, her program of research (a) extends and disrupts theorizations of professions and healthcare work, (b) builds from these conceptually rich understandings to examine interactions between professions, healthcare work, and healthcare reform, (c) contributes to education science through explorations of these changing dynamics and their implications for professional knowledge and learning. Conceptually and theoretically, her work makes connections between sociology of the professions, sociology of work, and health professions education. Dr. Rowland is a Scientist with the Wilson Centre and MD Education and at The Institute for Education Research (TIER) at University Health Network. She holds appointments at the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy (status only) and the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (cross-appointment), and is a strategic advisor for the Centre for Advancing Collaborative Healthcare and Education (CACHE).