Dr. Viren Naik serves the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) as its Chief Executive Officer, after serving as its Chief Assessment Officer. He is a Professor of Anesthesiology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and has almost 30 years of experience as an internationally recognized and award-winning educator, researcher, and leader. As CEO, Dr. Naik leads the MCC strategy to serve as a trusted keeper of physician credentials, and assessor of a physician’s general competencies to inform safe licensure decisions in Canada.

Following his specialty training in Anesthesiology and Master of Education degree, Dr. Naik was recruited to St. Michael’s Hospital, where he led a research program in simulation and was appointed Medical Director of the Allan Waters’ Family Patient Simulation Centre. In 2009, he was recruited from the University of Toronto to establish the University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre (uOSSC) as the founding Medical Director. He has over 140 peer reviewed publications and grants, and in 2007 and 2013, Dr. Naik received honour awards from the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society for his international contributions to education. In 2014 while completing his Executive MBA, he served as the Vice President, Education for The Ottawa Hospital, one of the busiest academic health sciences centre in Canada. Between 2017 and 2022, Dr. Naik served as the Director of Assessment for the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada, and the R.S. McLaughlin Professor of Medical Education at the University of Ottawa and oversaw the credentialing of specialist training and the assessment, including examinations, for all medical specialties in Canada.