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Dr. Samuel Silver, an associate professor of Nephrology at Queen’s, is facing multiple complaints from students concerning alleged anti-Palestinian behaviour and professional conduct.
President of the Aesculapian Society—the society which represents all medical students in the School of Medicine—Tyler Williamson, MD ’27, filed a complaint to the Department of Medicine on behalf of the second-year medical class following an incident involving Dr. Silver and a student on Dec. 3. The complaint alleges Dr. Silver took a photo of a student in class wearing a sweatshirt featuring a watermelon design—a symbol often associated with Palestinian solidarity.
According to another student in the class, Dr. Silver remained behind after his lecture, reportedly looking for his AirPods, when he was seen using his phone to zoom in and take a photo of a student who was seated near the front of the room.
“He was doing the pinching motion, like zooming in. It looked very strange. So, I looked behind me to see if there was anything going on and that’s when I saw one of my classmates who was wearing a watermelon sweatshirt. It was very easy to put two and two together,” Alex*, a second-year medical student in the class, said in an interview with The Journal.
Before the incident, students, including Alex, had been boycotting Dr. Silver’s lectures due to posts on his now deleted X , which many felt contained highly politicized content. Alex described the posts as promoting views that were perceived as anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic.
Queen’s Faculty of Health Sciences’, where the School of Medicine is located, social media policies require personal social media use include a disclaimer clarifying that views are personal and not representative of the University. The policy states online actions impacting the faculty’s reputation or learning environment can lead to disciplinary action, including termination.
On Dec. 4, the day following the alleged incident, students received an e-mail from Associate Dean Dr. Eugenia Piliotis acknowledging the concerns raised about Dr. Silver’s behaviour during the lecture.
“I am writing to acknowledge that both myself and Dr. Fitzpatrick in learner wellness have received multiple concerns regarding the behaviour of one of our faculty during a second-year class yesterday at the Kingston Campus,” Dr. Piliotis wrote. “I want to reassure all students that we are taking the concerns seriously and are actively investigating the incident.”
This isn’t the first time Dr. Silver’s behaviour has drawn criticism. Earlier in the term, concerns arose regarding his conduct during a grand rounds delivered by Dr. Ben Thomson on humanitarian aid in conflict zones on Oct. 29. Dr. Thomson is a nephrologist and former associate professor in Queen’s Department of Medicine, as well as a colleague of Dr. Silver.
The rounds, facilitated by the Department of Family Medicine as part of their grand rounds, was intended to provide students with insight into how aid is delivered in conflict zones. According to Dr. Thomson, of the Queen’s community attempted to have the lecture cancelled.
“It was somewhat odd because I’d given the lecture before in a couple other university settings, but it was probably about a week before I was notified by the Department of Family Medicine that there were a lot of concerns about the talk that was coming up, and that a number of people had complained and tried to get the rounds cancelled,” Dr. Thomson said in an interview with The Journal.
It was then, for the first time in his professional career, Dr. Thomson was advised to read the Chicago Principles, a set of guidelines promoting freedom of expression and open debate within academic settings, as well as the University’s Policy on Free Expression and the Harassment and Discrimination Prevention and Response Policy.
“I’ve never been given that before by anybody. I consider myself a consummate professional with these things and to be given that was a little bit off putting, to be honest,” Dr. Thomson said.
The rounds, originally scheduled to take place in Haynes Hall, was moved to a different venue due to security concerns.
In an e-mail forwarded to Dr. Thomson, Department Head of Family Medicine Dr. Alenia Kysela, explained Queen’s Event Assessment Team was conducting a risk assessment due to the dual use of Haynes Hall as both a clinical and educational space. “This may result in a request for a different venue,” Dr. Kysela wrote on Oct. 25.
“When I arrived to give rounds, I learned the day before the location had changed due to security concerns, which I thought to be a little bit again, peculiar, because I’ve given [a talk on] this topic many times before,” Dr. Thomson said.
Despite the change in venue, Dr. Silver attended the lecture sitting in the front row, wearing a “Bring Them Home Now” hat and military dog tags. Throughout the session, Dr. Silver was reportedly recording parts of the lecture on his phone.
During the Q&A portion, Dr. Silver posed questions that many, including Dr. Thomson, found unrelated to the lecture’s focus on humanitarian aid in conflict zones. One of his questions included whether Israeli women had been sexually assaulted during the events of Oct. 7.
Dr. Thomson described the questions as inappropriate and disruptive, being posed as “gotcha” questions to elicit and record a response.
“Providing humanitarian aid in a humanitarian crisis shouldn’t be a controversial topic. Providing for the needy should be what we’re doing as physicians, right? All of us should be doing that,” Dr. Thomson said.
Dr. Thomson recalls students and faculty in the department staying after the rounds to express their thanks, with several apologizing for Dr. Silver’s behaviour. This was the last Dr. Thomson heard from the Department of Family Medicine.
“I just kind of moved on. I didn’t think about it. Part of me wishes I did. Part of me wishes I did push the Department of Family Medicine and ask, how did you allow that attempted intimidation to happen?”
When The Journal asked about the nature of the investigation into Dr. Silver’s behaviour and the complaint filed against him, as well as his employment status within the School of Medicine, the University declined to provide specific details.
“For privacy reasons, the University does not publicly comment on individual personnel matters. The University provides a range of tailored services, programs, and resources to the Queen’s community. We encourage anyone in need of to seek these out,” the University said in a statement.
The Aesculapian Society, who filed the formal complaint on behalf of the second-year medical class, reaffirmed its commitment to advocating for students.
“The Aesculapian Society has taken this very seriously. In addition to working with the MD program and formal complaint process, we have spoken at length with the student impacted by this and what their needs are,” Williamson said in a statement to The Journal.
Despite repeated efforts, Dr. Silver didn’t respond to The Journal’s requests for comment.
As the investigation remains ongoing, students like Alex continue to reflect on the incident and its implications for ability and professionalism at Queen’s, especially in the field of medicine where ethical conduct and respect are paramount.
“I think for a professor to be triggered and behave that way, I think it’s really inappropriate,” Alex said. “Even if it’s something you fundamentally disagree with. I don’t think that’s the way you go about it. I think we should hold professors to a higher standard, and I think he really fell short in that moment.”
*Name changed for safety concerns.
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Haroon Yousuf
I professors intimidating medical students during class go violate every professional standard that I’m aware of.