Bernard Norman Barwin
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Bernard Norman Barwin | |
|---|---|
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Occupations | physician, medical professor |
| Years active | 1965-2019 |
| Known for | He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1997, but resigned the award in 2013 after admitting to professional misconduct. |
Bernard Norman Barwin is a Canadian physician and medical professor. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1997, but resigned the award in 2013 after admitting to professional misconduct.[1]
Barwin was born in South Africa to parents of Russian and Lithuanian background.[2] He is also of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.[3] Barwin and his wife left South Africa after he completed his first degree in 1962, in opposition to the Sharpeville massacre.[2] He completed his medical training in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[2]
Career
Barwin was director of the High Risk Pregnancy Clinic and co-director of the Ottawa General Hospital's fertility clinic. He left in 1984 because he was not a certified gynaecologist in Canada. He would then establish his own clinic, though still licensed as a general physician.[4]
He was the Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Ottawa. He was also one of the founding members of Fertility Self-Help Group (ISSG), which later became the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada. He also founded Canadians for Choice and has been President since 2004. In addition, he was the President of the Canadian Fertility Society, the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada and Planned Parenthood Ottawa.[5]
In 1997, Barwin was appointed to the Order of Canada for having a "profound impact on both the biological and psycho-social aspects of women's reproductive health."[6] In 2009, he was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Carleton University.[7]