Nathan Roth brings dispute resolution expertise to the healthcare industry and beyond

Enrolling as the lone physician in his cohort on Osgoode’s Professional LLM in Dispute Resolution program was never going to faze Nathan Roth.

“It was invigorating to be amongst individuals with such diverse educational backgrounds and life experiences,” says Roth, a seasoned obstetrician and gynecologist with more than 30 years of medical practice and health sector administration behind him.

“I think it’s the way I’m wired: I like the challenge of being around people who don’t think the same way that I do,” he adds.

Roth’s habit of surrounding himself with colleagues who bring a variety of perspectives to their work together is a theme that runs through his career, ever since his graduation from McGill University’s medicine program.

In addition to an active medical practice at hospitals in New York and Toronto, where he assists women with health care issues related to obstetrics, gynecology and infertility, Roth has consistently sought out leadership roles in both his own workplaces and the wider profession.

For example, he has served as the medical director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology department at Scarborough’s Birchmount Hospital and was president of its medical staff association during the merger that eventually created the current Scarborough Health Network.

More recently, he was a section chair at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the physician lead of quality assurance at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, as well as acting as a region lead for Cancer Care Ontario.

Roth, who describes himself as a “lifelong learner,” had a history with York University before considering the Dispute Resolution LLM, having earlier completed the Physician Leadership Development Program offered by the Schulich School of Business. He has also achieved certification at institutions across the country in a number of subjects, ranging from quality improvement, patient safety to completing his Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma principles.

“I’ve had the chance to learn in many different places and the thing that I have realized over the years is that each educational opportunity actually complements the others,” Roth says.

When he enrolled in Osgoode’s Professional LLM in Dispute Resolution, Roth saw the program as the perfect way to round out his education and build on his existing body of work tackling complex relationship management issues in his various administrative roles and daily interactions.

“When we’re talking about system change and improvement, I’ve always taken the view that it’s important for individuals to have the education, experience and knowledge that is really comprehensive,” Roth says. “It’s only then that we can make better decisions in a more timely fashion.”

A big attraction for Roth lay in the practical focus of the program, which makes use of a unique combination of academic, applied and theoretical perspectives to help candidates gain a deeper understanding of both traditional and emerging approaches to conflict resolution, while focussing on professionalism, ethics, problem-solving and negotiation skills.  

By the time of his 2022 graduation, he says his high expectations had been exceeded.

“It was a fantastic experience,” Roth says. “The instructors were outstanding, not only in the depth of their knowledge, but also in their practical application of the subject matter.”

Getting to know his instructors and classmates – including judges, lawyers, mediators and arbitrators in private practice, as well as senior non-legal professionals working in a variety of fields – was another highlight for Roth, who thrived on the interactive discussions that were a feature of classes during his dispute resolution LLM.

“As LLM candidates, the value we brought was in the different experiences we’ve gone through in the healthcare sector, the legal sector and the public sector,” he says. “I found that there was a lot of overlap in the conflict and dispute resolution domain that is really relevant in healthcare.”

Since earning his LLM, Roth has put his new skills into action in his growing mediation, dispute resolution and coaching practice, helping individuals, workplaces and leadership across the country to resolve conflict efficiently and effectively.

“The goal is to create win-win situations by helping people understand where their common ground is and how they can move forward together in a thoughtful, value-driven and transformative way,” he says.

While many of his clients are established players in the healthcare sector, Roth says the dispute resolution LLM has given him the confidence to expand the reach of his consulting practice beyond the medical realm, with a focus on start-up companies. That includes Sprout Family, a digital family-building benefits program established with the aim of helping employers support employees on their fertility, surrogacy and adoption journeys, where Roth serves as an advisor.

“I’m drawn to young founders who embrace the idea of creating new value for society,” he says. “I want to continue evolving and looking for new opportunities to simplify processes and improve lives.”