William Fletcher

Dr. William Fletcher is a Professor in the Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Surgery, and past Director of the Neurology Residency Program, University of Calgary (U of C) and Alberta Health Services.

Dr. Fletcher obtained his medical degree from the University of Manitoba in 1975, and was a neurology resident at the U of C from 1978 to 1983. He obtained specialist certification, becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1983 and a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 1984.  From 1983 to 1986, he was an Alberta Heritage Foundation Medical Research (AHFMR) Fellow and completed fellowships in Neuro-Ophthalmology and Neuro-Otology at the Universities of Toronto, California (San Francisco) and Johns Hopkins.  Dr. Fletcher was an AHFMR Clinical Investigator from 1986 to 1993 and was the Neurology Residency Program Director at the U of C since its inception in 1996, relinquishing this role in 2009.

Dr. Fletcher also works out of the Neuro-Ophthalmology Clinic at the Rockyview Eye Clinic. He provides diagnosis and treatment to patients from Calgary and the neighboring provinces who suffer vision problems caused by disorders of the brain or nerves.  He also holds a neuro-otology clinic once a month for patients with dizziness.

Dr. Fletcher’s clinical research interests focus on neuro-ophthalmology, comprising disorders of eye movement and afferent visual function.  Current projects include correlating off-vertical homonymous field defects with occipital infarcts, and investigating the effectiveness of tests of functional monocular vision loss.  He is also collaborating on an international study of Susac’s syndrome, as well as local research projects in the area of adaptation and control of spatial orientation in locomotion with Drs. Geoffrey Melvill Jones and Bin Hu.

Dr. Fletcher is Chair of the Neurology Specialty Committee of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and sits on the Board of Examiners in Neurology for the Royal College. Over the years, he has won a number of awards, including the Resident Well-Being Award, Professional Association of Residents of Alberta (2008) and a Certificate of Merit Award from the Canadian Association for Medical Education (2009).

Updated: 2009-11-02