Dr. Ruth Vilayil MD FRCSC
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of OBGYN, UBC
Adjunct Professor, Department of Surgery, UBC
Dates of Visit: April 27 – 29, 2026
Biography
Dr. Vilayil is a specialist GYN surgeon and obstetrician, medical educator, and global surgery aficionado. She graduated from the University of Alberta and spent part of her training internationally in New York, USA, India, and east Africa.
Her recent projects include Medical Improv as a tool for building Non Technical Skills for surgical residents, a Quality Improvement Pilot Project in enhancing engagement in online graduate education, survey on psychological safety in the OR in North America, and developing virtual surgical education modules for a global resource-constrained audience. She loves the outdoors, running, and sipping chai with her husband and two sons.
Purpose of Visit
Ruth is working to narrow and optimize her next medical education research project. Her current questions focus on how best to prepare surgical residents for the emotional impact of adverse events in surgery (second victim syndrome) and how to support effective mid‑course correction when an adverse event occurs in the operating room. She is also exploring topics related to AI‑assisted intraoperative decision‑making in surgery. She looks forward to networking with CHES scholars and gaining insights from others with overlapping interests.