Lara Berliner

Staff Physician, Division of Paediatric Emergency Medicine

Principal Investigator, Child Health Evaluative Sciences

Rotation Supervisor, Clerkship Paediatric Undergraduate Medical Education, Department of Paediatrics

Dr. Lara Berliner is an attending physician in the emergency department at the Hospital for Sick Children and an Assistant Professor in Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. Her academic work combines qualitative methodologies with approaches from the health humanities to improve patient, family and caregiver, and provider experiences in the emergency department. She holds a Master’s in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University.

Research

Dr. Berliner’s research concentrates on improving communication in the emergency department, from initial assessments to discharge instructions and follow up plans. Her academic work and writing also examines patient and healthcare provider experiences in the emergency department through the lens of the humanities with the goal of improving patient care. Additionally, her research involves building and integrating health humanities curriculums into undergraduate and postgraduate medical education programs. 

Education and Experience 

• 2022–2025: Fellow, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
• 2023–2024: MSc, Narrative Medicine, Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics, School of Professional Studies, Columbia University, New York City, New York, USA
• 2019–2022: Resident, General Pediatrics, McGill University (Montreal Children’s Hospital), Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• 2015–2019: Doctor of Medicine (MDCM), Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• 2011–2015: BA&Sc, Honours Cognitive Science and English Literature, Faculties of Arts and Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Achievements 

• 2024: David Johnson Award for Best Fellows Research Presentation, Pediatric Emergency Research Canada Annual Meeting, Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada

1. Berliner L. Complexities of care: how ‘The Pitt’ illustrates the philosophical tensions embedded in our medical systems. Med Humanit. 2026 Feb 20. doi: 10.1136/medhum-2025-013461.

Funding 

• 2023–Present: Examining the Effectiveness and Implementation of a Patient-Managed Discharge Communication Tool: A Mixed Methods Hybrid Type 1 Design Study, Co-investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), $1.4 million CAD
• 2023: Exploring Patient Narratives: A Feasibility Study of Patient Managed Discharge Instructions in the Pediatric Emergency Department, Trainee Research Grant, Principal Investigator, CHEO Research Institute, $2000 CAD