Dr. Don Rix, whose donation of $2 million to The University of Western Ontario in 2005 helped create a new clinical skills learning building, died Nov. 6 at the age of 78 following a long illness.
Leaving a philanthropic legacy at countless institutions for a variety of programs and initiatives, he was thrilled to attend the opening of the Dr. Don Rix Clinical Skills Learning Building at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, which helps medical students deal more with trained patients about their health, sensitive subjects and conduct physical exams as part of their medical training.
“I am a strong supporter of Western’s medical program that trains students in both local and regional communities,” Rix said at the 2005 event. “I feel this new facility will help students become better doctors.”
Consisting of 16 rooms designed to replicate the real-life exam rooms that doctors practice in, the building will allow medical students to develop their communication and physical examination skills by practicing on standardized patients (SPs). SPs are volunteers trained to simulate an actual patient, acting out the roles of various medical conditions.
His support was also instrumental in helping to create the Dr. Don Rix Protein Identification Facility at the Siebens-Drake Medical Research Institute in 2001.
Born in Orillia, Ontario in 1931, Rix grew up in London, where he attended London South Collegiate High School, followed by Western, where he obtained his BA in 1953 and his MD in 1957.
Rix received numerous awards and honours for his community service including honorary doctorates from Western, UBC, SFU, UVic, UNBC, BCIT and The Justice Institute. He cherished the Order of British Columbia (2004), the Order of Canada (2008), and the Canadian Medical Association’s F.N.G. Starr Award for distinguished achievement (August 2009).
Predeceased by his wife Eleanor in 2007, Rix is survived by his daughter Laurie and her husband Neil Macrae, his brother Robert (Bob) Rix and wife Judith, Neil’s sister Donna Macrae and her husband Bill Didur and close friends Frances Lasser and Jim Russell.
