Tammy McNab

Area of Study / Keywords

insulin analogues hypoglycemia endocrinology type 1 diabetes clinical trial intensive insulin therapy

About

Personal Statement:

My clinical focus is on diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy and endocrine disorders. I enjoy working with learners at all stages in their training and have held significant leadership roles in undergraduate medical education including coordinating curriculum delivery and administration. I am interested in human rights and social justice in medical education and healthcare delivery. A related interest is my work on institutional and provincial committees around team approaches to introducing innovations in diabetes care, including improving patients’ feedback and involvement in their care.   

Tammy McNab received her medical degree from the University of Calgary. She completed her general internal medicine residency training at the University of Saskatchewan and practiced as a general internist in Saskatoon and then in North Dakota. Appreciating universal health care, she decided to return to Canada and was welcomed back to Saskatoon as an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine with the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. There she was heavily involved in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, including developing new curriculum and coordinating the undergraduate endocrinology systems course in the medical school.   

Her love of endocrinology and diabetes grew as she was able to take on significant clinical roles caring for patients with diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy and various endocrine disorders. She eventually decided to take the unusual step of returning to training and was fortunate to secure a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at the University of Alberta. She joined the Department of Medicine’s Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism in 2006.

Leadership and Collaborations:

Dr. McNab has been heavily involved in both postgraduate and undergraduate medical education throughout her time in Edmonton. She has been a longitudinal preceptor to several post-graduate endocrinology trainees since 2006 and was the undergraduate medical education’s endocrinology block coordinator for nine years. In 2018 Dr. McNab was appointed assistant dean, Academic Affairs for the MD program.  During her time as assistant dean she advocated for broader application of human rights into the application of policies and procedures and improved accessibility to learners with disabilities. Dr. McNab has a strong interest in equity, diversity and inclusivity and endeavors to apply a human rights lens to everything she does. 

On the clinical side, Dr. McNab has been involved in the development of the provincial basal bolus insulin therapy (BBIT) order set and facilitated the implementation, education and transition to BBIT throughout the Edmonton Zone. She was recognized as an emerging clinical leader in the Edmonton Zone for her work in inpatient diabetes; she was appointed as the Zone’s medical lead for inpatient diabetes in 2018 and member of Alberta Health Services’ Diabetes Obesity and Nutrition Strategic Clinical Network. She is also the medical co-lead for the Diabetes in Pregnancy Clinic at the Royal Alexandra Hospital site. She continues to work collaboratively to improve diabetes care within the Edmonton Zone in conjunction with the Edmonton Zone Diabetes Program Quality Council, of which she is a founding member.

Clinical Interests

Dr. McNab is full time attending physician at the University of Alberta Hospital caring for patients with diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy and endocrine disorders. 

Research

Dr. McNab’s research interests include such topics as Indigenous health, thyroid-related health conditions, acromegaly and educational scholarship.

Teaching

Dr. McNab is highly engaged in administrative aspects of the delivery of undergraduate medical education; accessibility and accommodations in undergraduate medical education; clinical supervision of endocrinology residents and continuing medical education for physicians, pharmacists and nurses.