Message from Associate Dean

Whatever your reason for reading this message, welcome to the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary. For almost 30 years, I have practiced, taught, and researched in nursing in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada.  

When I arrived at the University of Calgary in 2008, I knew I could stop wandering; I had found my academic home. Whether you are an undergraduate or a more "seasoned" academic, each of you occupies a valuable place as a member of our community of scholars and clinicians. As we teach and learn together, we are enacting a vision for excellence, each of us bringing valuable knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm for what we do.

There has never been a more exciting time to learn to become a nurse or an advanced practice nurse, and there has never been a more exciting and energizing time to teach in our profession.  

Nurses are central to the clinical and social agendas of health-care delivery. We are carers, healers, technicians, clinicians, knowledge creators and brokers, theorists, and activists. There is no one singular description that can capture what nursing is, nor is there one singular identity or practice that defines nursing. With such diversity comes the need for educational programs that are health industry relevant, responsive to population need, visionary, daring, and that promote intellectual and practice growth.  

I've worked in many places in my career and nowhere has the appetite for educational excellence been stronger than here at the University of Calgary.

Dr. Andrew Estefan, PhD, RPN
Associate Dean, Curriculum Development & Program Evaluation