Mark Kocsis

de Souza Nurse Associate

BScN, RN - Advanced Practice Clinical Educator, Oncology, Palliative Care, & Medicine - Unity Health Toronto, St. Joseph’s Health Centre

Mark is currently an Advanced Practice Clinical Educator at Unity Health Toronto, St. Joseph’s Health Centre. His portfolio includes the inpatient medicine, oncology, and palliative care unit and the outpatient oncology-haematology clinic. Mark also holds casual Registered Nurse positions in hospice-palliative care at Dorothy Ley Hospice and Toronto Grace Health Centre. Mark is the first de Souza Nurse Associate designate at all three sites, receiving the designation in July of 2019. In May of 2018, Mark made history and became the first de Souza Intern designate in the province of Ontario. As a nursing student in his final year of undergraduate studies, Mark recognized the increasing number of cancer patients in the healthcare system, many of whom also require palliative care, and began taking specialized oncology and palliative care courses through the de Souza Institute to enhance his preparation in the field. Since receiving the de Souza Nurse Associate designation, Mark has continued to take courses with the de Souza Institute to further enhance his knowledge and continued competence in the areas of oncology and hospice-palliative care.

Mark graduated from the Ryerson, Centennial, George Brown Collaborative Nursing Program in June 2017 with his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Mark is currently pursuing a Master’s of Science in Community Health degree at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto with a concentration in Health Practitioner Teacher Education. He is also enrolled in the Advanced Nursing Leadership & Management Certificate program at Ryerson University. Mark continues to strive towards nursing excellency- he is preparing to write the national palliative care specialty exam to obtain the CHPCN(C) certification through the Canadian Nurses’ Association and also has intentions on becoming a full de Souza Nurse designate in the future.