Dr. James Silvius

James Silvius obtained his Bachelors Degree in Physiology and Psychology from Oxford University in 1979 before returning to Canada where he obtained his MD from the University of Alberta Medical School in 1984. He went on to complete his residencies, first in Internal Medicine at the University of Alberta and then in Geriatric Medicine at Dalhousie University in 1990. He moved to Calgary in 1991 as Medical Director for the Geriatrics program based at the Calgary General Hospital and Peter Lougheed Centre before moving to the Rockyview General Hospital in 2000. He was the first Regional Medical Leader for Seniors Health, a role he defined and then filled until 2007. A Clinical Associate Professor, he has an active interest in dementia care, models of care, pharmaceutical care, and care delivery including Telehealth. He is a founding member of DementiaNET and remains an active contributor to a number of projects within the Net. He has been an active member of formulary committees across the care continuum and is the current Chair of the Provincial Expert Committee for Drug Evaluation and Therapeutics. His work in Telehealth both within Geriatrics and across the Department of Medicine led to him receiving the Department of Medicine’s Innovation Award in 2006. This was followed in 2008 by The Department of Medicine’s Terry Groves Award for Clinical Excellence at the Rockyview Hospital. After a year as the Executive Medical Director, Southwest Community Portfolio, Calgary Health Region, he is now the Vice President and Associate Chief Medical Officer, Patient Care Innovation and Health Technology, Alberta Health Services.

Recent Publications

  1. Elizabeth Andersen, James Silvius, Susan Slaughter, William Dalziel, & Neil Drummond. Lay and Professional Expectations of Cholinesterase Inhibitor Treatment in the Early Stage of Alzheimer’s Disease. Dementia 2008; 7(4):545-558.
  2. International Cohort Study of Care for Dementia. Enlarging the community of care for people with dementia: The potential of international collaborative research. Dementia 2007; 6(2):171-174.
  3. Pimlott, NJG, Siegel, K, Persaud, M, Slaughter, S, Cohen, C Hollingworth, G, Cummings, S, Drummond, N, Dalziel, W, Silvius, J, Pringle, D, Eliasziw, M. Management of dementia by family physicians in academic settings. Can Fam Phy 2006; 52:1108.
  4. Janzen, AJ, Silvius, JL, Jacobs, S, Slaughter, S, Dalziel, W, and Drummond, N. What is a Health Expectation? Developing a pragmatic conceptual model from psychological theory. Health Expectations 2006; 9(1): 37-48.