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Tony Kerigan was renowned mentor to med students, trainees
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February 13, 2026
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Photo courtesy Archdiocese of Vancouver
Canadian Physicians for Life (CPL) is fostering greater contemplation and appreciation of the importance of ethical practice through its newly created Tony Kerigan Memorial Prize.
“Dr. Kerigan was loved and appreciated in the medical community, particularly for his mentoring and encouragement to medical students and trainees,” stated CPL executive director Nicole Scheidl in an email to The Catholic Register. “We wanted to spotlight his mentoring role because we think it is really important that pro-life physicians do this for the rising generation of medical students and trainees. We also wanted to encourage students through the prize.”
Kerigan, who passed away in January 2022 at Margaret's Place Hospice, was a founding member of the Hamilton Catholic Physicians' Guild, a community of students, residents, staff physicians and medical professionals bound together by their passion for the intersection between faith and medicine. The guild provided a forum to discuss pressing bioethical issues and offered opportunities for mentorship.
Dr. Stephanie Kafie, the founder and CEO of Totally Yours Family Medicine, a physician-led natural family planning clinic, was invited to join the guild when she began her medical school studies at McMaster University in Hamilton. She expressed appreciation for the lessons she learned from Kerigan.
"Dr. Kerigan and his wife, Carol, always welcomed medical students, residents and fellow physicians into their home,” wrote Kafie. “He was candid, kind and warm. He was a true mentor, taking students under his 'wing' and assisting us with practical, personal and professional challenges. In a world where it can be scary to be pro-life in medicine, Dr. Kerigan showed me what a pro-life physician could do and how one could incorporate his strong faith into practice.”
For over 40 years, Kerigan also served on the staff of Hamilton General Hospital. Throughout his long career, he enriched his knowledge of respirology, caring for the elderly and palliative care. Upon retirement from the hospital, the product of Eccles, England, kept his desire to serve kindled by offering palliative care at Emmanuel House.
The inaugural Tony Kerigan Memorial Prize, scheduled to be awarded at the CPL annual conference in Ottawa on Nov. 8, will be bestowed upon the applicant who presents the most compelling ethical case. Each aspirant is tasked with presenting a clinical scenario that presents potent ethical dilemmas and then offering their judgment about how to navigate this difficult situation in a principled manner.
Medical, nursing and midwifery students, residents, physicians, nurses, midwives, retired physicians, nurses and midwives and pharmacists are all eligible to submit a case.
This case exercise very much honours Kerigan as he “was not shy about discussing challenges that we may face as pro-life physicians, but he was also hopeful of what was to come,” wrote Kafie.
Visit physiciansforlife.ca for more information.
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the February 15, 2026, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "New award honours legacy of pro-life doctor".
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