David Wiljer PhD


Scientist - The Wilson Centre
Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and IHMPE, University of Toronto
Executive Director, Education Technology Innovation, Digital, University Health Network
Academic Director, Continuing Professional Development, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
President, Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (2022 ­– 2024)
Fellow, American Association for Cancer Education

I am a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. I am also the Academic Director of CPD in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.  Throughout my research career. I have focused on the intersection of technology and education, with a focus on digital innovation. My research has tackled emerging issues related to digital compassion, partnering with patients in health professions education, the advancement and leadership of continuing health professional education and the evolution of professional identity, and data-driven approaches to education and knowledge transfer in diverse health care settings. Over the last few years, my research program through my Digital Compassion Research Lab has been exploring the notion of digital compassion, an emerging field of study that investigates the intersection of building digital ecosystems for healthcare improvement, the delivery of compassionate care and the formation and evolution of health professional identity as it relates to digital health. Digital compassion utilizes a functional definition of compassion to explore the ways in which education and knowledge mobilization can mediate or regulate/dysregulate digital compassion and compassionate care. In addition, our lab has been exploring educational approaches to accelerating the appropriate use of data and AI applications for practice improvement.