Dr François SESTIER graduated from medical school in Nancy, France, 1967, where he obtained certification in cardiology, pneumology, occupational medicine and aeronautical medicine. In Canada, since 1973, he obtained a Quebec certification in cardiology (CSPQ), and a fellowship in cardiology of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (FRCPC); he also obtained a PhD in Experimental Medicine (McGill, 1977). He is staff cardiologist at CHUM, medical director of Quebec Blue Cross since 1985 and medical director and vice-president of OptimumRe from 2002 to 2018. He obtained his American Board of Insurance Medicine (1995), and his American Board of Independent Medical Examiner (2011).
Dr Sestier is a past president of CLIMOA, the Canadian Life and health Medical Officer Association (1996-1997), past-president of CSME, the Canadian Society of Medical Evaluators, Professor of Medicine at University of Montreal, past president (2010-2012) of AIDC, the world association of medical experts, and from 1999 until 2018 conceived and directed the bilingual program of Insurance and Medico Legal Expertise at University of Montreal.
As a cardiologist, Dr Sestier worked in the cath lab from 1975 until 1998, and headed a heart failure clinic from 1989 until 2004. He has been involved in more than a hundred clinical research protocols, dealing mainly with secondary prevention of Coronary Artery Disease and new developments in congestive heart failure management. Dr Sestier still has an active consulting practice at his private offic.
As a teacher, Dr. Sestier founded and from 1999 until April 2018, has been head of the only University program in Insurance Medicine and Medico-legal Expertise in North America, recording over 250 lectures, and developing in both French and English, microprograms, post graduate diplomas and MSC and PhD curriculums. Over 400 medico-legal experts or Insurance Medical Officers graduated from these programs. Dr Sestier delivered in 30 years more than 2,000 formal lectures, and published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles.
As a medico-legal expert cardiologist or arbitrator, Dr Sestier has more than thirty years of experience in disability claims and medical liability issues, both for plaintiff and defense sides, testifying in front of civil or administrative courts in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and California. As an insurance medicine expert Dr Sestier has been consulted for many litigation issues, such as insurability, underwriting, disability, travel insurance, and critical illness definition. Dr Sestier developed also an expertise in Life Expectancy calculation, reviewing in 15 years more than 8,000 scientific publications reporting mortality for more than 400 medical conditions
Expertise 101
Dr Sestier recently published in 2020 a French multi-author textbook (“Expertise 101”), summarizing the basic medico-legal knowledge that all medical experts in Quebec should master to write quality expert medical reports in the province of Quebec. This is the first and only textbook on how to give an expert opinion in the province of Quebec.