Catherine Diskin

Dr. Catherine Diskin completed her postgraduate training in General Paediatrics with a subspecialty interest in Neurodisability with the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland. She then completed her Academic Paediatric Fellowship at SickKids, focused on caring for children with medical complexity in early 2021.

Dr. Diskin is Educational Lead within the SickKids Complex Care program, and co-Chair of the special interest group in the American Pediatric Association focused on Complex Care and Disability. She focuses on postgraduate medical education related to Complex Care. She is involved in designing and delivering electives for residents and fellows with the SickKids program and the Complex Care Project ECHO. Dr. Diskin is co-leading the international C6 Seminar Series – Collaborative Conversations with Families to Advance the Clinical Care of Children with Medical Complexities and Disabilities.

Dr. Diskin is the co-leading an initiative with the Complex Care section at the Canadian Paediatric Society, focused on medical education as related to the child with medical complexity. She is also the faculty-lead for Balint, Paediatric Residency Program at the University of Toronto. She is a member of the Peer Support Program at SickKids including response to the Serious Safety Events at SickKids.

Dr. Diskin is a member of the SickKids Peer Support and Trauma Support Program, an initiative designed to promote greater psychological health and safety amongst staff. She is also a faculty member of the resident-led wellness committee at the University of Toronto and is faculty lead for Balint in paediatric residency. This work builds on previous experience, including her role as the first National Lead NCHD (resident) in Ireland in 2016, championing doctor engagement with the health service. She was awarded a Masters in Health Services Management from Trinity College Dublin, and her dissertation focused on the early clinical experience of Paediatric trainees.

Research

Dr. Diskin’s research is focused on further exploring the research priorities for children with medical complexity and neurological disability, including better characterising for children with neurological impairment experiencing irritability. She has also explored to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and families including children with medical complexity.

1. Diskin, C., Malik, K., Gill, P. J., Rashid, N., Chan, C. Y., Nelson, K. E., Thomson, J., Berry, J., Agrawal, R., Orkin, J., & Cohen, E. (2021). Research priorities for children with neurological impairment and medical complexity in high-income countries. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. 
2. Nelson, K. E., Chakravarti, V., Diskin, C., Thomson, J., Cohen, E., Mahant, S., Feudtner, C., Widger, K., Pullenayegum, E., Berry, J. G., & Feinstein, J. A. (2021). Validation of Neurologic Impairment Diagnosis Codes as Signifying Documented Functional Impairment in Hospitalized Children. Academic Pediatrics. 
3. Diskin, C., Orkin, J., Agarwal, T., Parmar, A., & Friedman, J. N. (2021). The secondary consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in hospital pediatrics. Hospital Pediatrics, 11(2), 208–212.
4. Diskin, C., Byrne, D., Normand, C., & O’ Neill, M.B. (2021). The early experience of doctors training in pediatrics: patient safety culture and the role and influence of the registrar. Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -).
5. Diskin, C., McVeigh, T. P., & Cox, D. W. (2020). Sleep disordered breathing in children with Down syndrome in the Republic of Ireland. American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part A, 182(12), 2847–2856.