Department Spotlight: Jennifer Morris
The Department of Medical Imaging’s administrative staff work diligently behind the scenes to make sure residencies and fellowship programs run smoothly for our trainees, including Jennifer Morris, our Nuclear Medicine & Neuroradiology Program Coordinator.
Originally from England, Jennifer spent much of her early career working in hospitals and clinics in impoverished areas of Lancashire, supporting physicians and their heavy caseloads. While keeping busy in clinics, Jennifer also worked to pursue her passions by completing her degree in Education and Political Sociology as well as her Masters in Learning Disabilities.
During this time, she also volunteered with adults with learning and intellectual disabilities, working in small counselling groups as well as teaching them important life skills that would enable them to live and thrive independently.
“I’ve volunteered a lot in my life, working primarily with young children as well as adults who have varying levels of learning disabilities,” Jennifer says. “It’s always been an important factor to me and I have always been so passionate about it. This was my initial career goal after I graduated, with the overall intention of incorporating all my experience and learned skills in an education capacity.”
Another goal of Jennifer’s was to move abroad and pursue a life in another country, and nearly 20 years ago she did just that, moving to Canada to start a new chapter. While she wanted to get into education, Jennifer initially found a similar position working in hospitals before joining the University of Toronto in 2006, where she worked on the fellowship and residency programs in the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine. During this time, Jennifer sat on the International Conference of Residency Education (ICRE) from 2013 – 2015, holding the positions of Chair and Chair Elect.
In 2019, Jennifer joined the Department of Medical Imaging, working on the undergraduate program before shifting her portfolio to manage the department’s postgraduate Neuroradiology and Nuclear Medicine programs. She also anticipates taking on the department’s new Interventional Radiology Program, which is set to begin its residency in 2025. In these programs, Jennifer supports students working through their residencies and fellowships and is a main point of contact for students, faculty, and department staff.
Having worked in healthcare both in hospitals and education, Jennifer has a breadth of experience that has helped propel her career to a place she really enjoys.
“I really like working with the postgrads, because I feel like I’m helping them accomplish their education and career goals,” she says. “My background of working with people with learning disabilities has also helped me connect with students, understand how they’re feeling, appreciate what challenges they might have, and help them work through those.”
Going forward, Jennifer is excited to start working on the Interventional Radiology program, which will begin interviewing students for the program’s sole residency.