Alberta University medical dean resigns after students detect plagiarism in his speech

The dean of the University of Alberta’s medical school, Philip Baker, has resigned as dean—but will remain a professor—after students complained that he plagiarised a speech given to graduates last week, taking it from an address given to Stanford graduates by the US surgeon and journalist Atul Gawande. Dr Gawande’s speech drew wide attention last year, and several students in Dr Baker’s audience were reminded of it by the dean’s use of the term “velluvial matrix.” This imaginary term had been used by Dr Gawande to illustrate the growth of medical jargon, and it was also the title under …