Alumnus receives USask Lifetime Achievement Award

These awards are the highest honour presented by the USask Alumni Association, and recognizes an alumnus/alumna for an outstanding lifetime of personal and professional accomplishments and contributions to the social, cultural, and economic well-being of society in their field(s) of endeavor. This year’s alumni award recipients will be honoured at the annual awards gala on October 21 at Remai Modern.

Dr. Jim Dosman is considered the “Father of Agricultural Medicine” in Canada for his contributions to the health and wellbeing of patients in Saskatchewan and beyond. A highly regarded clinician-scientist, Dosman recognized a need in his home community related to health and safety in the agricultural industry and began investigating the impacts of respiratory diseases in farm environments. With the vision of putting his research into action, he shone a bright light on these pressing issues, raising awareness and developing programs to prevent and treat agricultural-related health conditions.

Dosman grew up on a Saskatchewan farm, attending school in Annaheim, Sask., before enrolling at St. Peter’s College in Muenster, Sask. He later attended USask, where he graduated from the College of Medicine in 1963. For four years he practiced as a family doctor before specializing in respiratory medicine at McGill University in Montreal. One of Dosman’s first respiratory research studies introduced the concept that grain dust can damage lungs, and his early work resulted in the Canadian Grain Dust Medical Surveillance Program, a historic federal program protecting workers highly exposed in grain elevators. 

Read more about Dr. Jim Dosman on the alumni website.