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As an IMG,I had Master Degree in Internal Medicine 1988.Accepted as Internal Medicine Resident McMaster University, moved to Family Medicine Resident which is completed 2008.I completed the CCFP exam then worked as a Family Physician in Burlington 2009.I joined Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital as a full time HOSPITALIST since 2010 until current date. I have been appointed as Associate Clinical Professor(Adjunct)2015.

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Dr. Gina Agarwal is a Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact and an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Aging. She is a practicing Family Physician, Primary Care Epidemiologist, and the McMaster Family Medicine Levitt Scholar. She is a member of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging and the McMaster Institute for Health Equity. Her research achievements have been recognized with the CIHR-IHSPR Article of the Year Award (2019), the prestigious Mid-Career Researcher Award from the North American Primary Care Research Group (2018), and an Award of Excellence from the College of Family Physicians of Canada (2016). As the Director of the Vulnerable Individuals in Primary Care (VIP) Research Lab, she focuses on improving primary health care access for vulnerable populations, ensuring people in need receive appropriate care at the right time and in the right place. As the Principal Investigator of the McMaster Community Paramedicine Research Team, she has driven health system change including the uptake of the innovative Community Paramedicine at Clinic (CP@clinic) program by 51% of Ontario Paramedic Services and its national (e.g. BCEHS) and international (e.g. UK, Australia) scale-up. She has worked extensively in social housing to improve the health of this vulnerable population and identify healthcare usage patterns. Her quantitative and qualitative research, including complex pragmatic studies, uses rigorous methods to produce novel insight into the unmet health needs of traditionally difficult-to-reach populations and determines cost-effective and targeted healthcare solutions nationally and globally. She regularly supervises undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students.

Special Interests: Unmet health needs of vulnerable populations (e.g. social housing residents), Quantitative and qualitative research methods (e.g. community-based RCTs including complex pragmatic studies and cost-effectiveness of community programming), Community Paramedicine, Social Housing, Diabetes, Cost-effective and targeted healthcare solutions, Community programming for the management of chronic health conditions, Low-cost primary care innovations in low and middle-income countries.

VIP Research Lab Website (https://vipresearchlab.ca/)

CP@clinic Website (https://cpatclinic.ca/)

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Cheryl Allaby has worked as a hospitalist (Clinical Assistant) in the Department of Geriatric Medicine since completing her Family Medicine Residency at McMaster University in 1995.

Prior to medicine she was a physiotherapist employed at St. Peter’s Hospital in the Geriatric Day Hospital primarily. Cheryl’s passion for working with older adults began in her teen years. She is inspired by the life journeys of seniors and the richness of stories from the past and present.

She became involved in undergraduate medical education in the early 2000’s, supervising clinical clerks in Geriatric Medicine rotations and tutoring in the MD program. In 2010 she accepted a full-time academic position with the Department of Family Medicine and became an Associate Professor in 2015. She now does clinical supervision of clinical clerks, residents, fellows and continues to enjoy tutoring in the MD program.

She is the Site Coordinator for the Juravinski Geriatric Teaching Unit and a member of the Geriatric Residency Program Committee.

Cheryl is committed to making learning fun and has developed interactive case-based tutorials for teaching geriatric topics, including falls, delirium and Polypharmacy.

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Ellen Amster is the Jason A. Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine at McMaster University and Associate Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Religious Studies. She received her B.A. from the University of Chicago and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research engages medicine in France, North America, and the Islamic world, focusing especially on global health, religion and nonwestern healing, women’s histories, and empire. From her award-winning book, Medicine and the Saints: Science, Islam, and the Colonial Encounter in Morocco, 1877-1956 (University of Texas) she developed an interdisciplinary global health field course for undergraduate students and is the Principal Investigator of the Morocco-Canadian Network in Maternal and Infant Health. Ongoing projects include the transnational legacies of race and colonialism in medicine, the history of public health, women and gender in medicine, midwifery, and medical education. Her research has been funded by IIE Fulbright-Hayes, the Chateaubriand Program of the French government, the Social Science Research Council, AIMS, SSHRC, and CIHR. Dr. Amster provides a regular speaker series open to the campus in the history of medicine. Her teaching includes the history of public health, research electives and professional competencies for MD students in the Michael DeGroote School of Medicine, and Islamic and gender studies in the Department of Religious Studies. For everyone to enjoy, she developed the AMS-funded Hannah History of Medicine and Medical Humanities Research Portal, with hundreds of libraries, archives, museums, digital collections, and grants, to browse for research and fun: http://medhumanities.mcmaster.ca.

Special Interests: Maternal and infant health, Islamic bioethics, race and colonialism in medicine, history of medicine, medical education, gender, public health.

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Dr. Anne Aubé is a bilingual Family Physician at The Beamsville Medical Centre. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Psychology at The University of Western Ontario and then went on to complete her Medical Doctorate and Family Medicine Residency through the Francophone stream at The University of Ottawa. Since 2009 she has been practicing Family Medicine in the community and has had hospital privileges at The West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Grimsby where she participates in Inpatient Care, Obstetrics and Surgical Assisting. As well as her clinical role at this hospital, she has been the site lead of Family Medicine since March of 2020. She was recognized for her dedicated service and outstanding contributions to patient care when she received the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital Colleague Award in 2021. In her free time, Dr. Aubé loves to spend time with her husband and two children going camping and enjoying the outdoors. She enjoys yoga, reading, gardening and cooking and wishes every day had 48 hours in it to do more of those things she loves!

Special Interests: Inpatient Medicine, Women’s Health and Obstetrics, Palliative Care

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Alison Baker is a family physician in Brantford, Ontario and teaches medical students and residents through the Grand Erie Six Nations Clinical Education Campus. She is the Assessment Director for the Department of Family of Medicine Residency Program and an Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster. She previously held the position of Faculty Development Site Coordinator for Grand Erie Six Nations. She completed the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Area of Focused Competence Clinician Educator Program in 2022. She is the recipient of the DFM 2017 Excellence in Pre-Clerkship teaching award. Her research activities include using simulation to teach essential conversations in palliative care and examining motivations for pursuing enhanced skill credentials in family medicine. She is the lead physician for the Brant Family Health Organization and a member of the Brantford Brant Primary Care Council, helping to build the Brantford Brant Ontario Health Team.

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Dr. Bal is an Assistant Clinical Professor with the Department of Family Medicine, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and Preclerkship Coordinator for the Waterloo Regional Campus. Dr. Bal is currently completing her Master of Clinical Science (FM) at Western University, and is a recent graduate of the ALiEM Faculty Incubator Program for digital scholarship. Dr. Bal is very involved with health system transformation and leadership, holding roles with Ontario Health as the Primary Care Clinical Lead for Cambridge, a member of the Steering and Joint Board Committees of the Cambridge-North Dumfries Ontario Health Team and sits on the Ontario Primary Care Council. She is engaged with medical politics and is co-chair of OMA Women and was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Ontario Medical Association. Equity-based work is of particular interest to Dr. Bal, and in addition to gender equity she is involved in regional initiatives including membership on the Refugee Taskforce for the Region of Waterloo’s Immigration Partnership Council and the Steering Committee for the Waterloo-Wellington Older Adult Strategy. She enjoys hiking and spending time with her tweens!

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Amanda Bell is a graduate of McMaster’s medical school and has been practising as a small-town family physician in Niagara since 2000 with special interest in adolescent medicine and women’s health. She is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. She has served as Regional Assistant Dean of the Niagara Regional Campus at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine since 2017. She has completed a Master’s in Health Science Education Program at McMaster where her area of research was student mistreatment. Amanda is also interested in research and collaboration in areas of professionalism, mentorship, leadership development and student experience. Amanda has received the John C. Sibley Award for excellence in education from the Faculty of Health Sciences as well as a Certificate of Merit from the Canadian Association for Medical Education. She is fueled by tea, chocolate, reading, Netflix and laughter.

Special Interests: student mistreatment professionalism women’s health adolescent medicine sexual health

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Dr. Monica Bertolo Graduated with Distinction from the University of Toronto with an Honours Specialist Degree in Human Biology and later from the University of Western Ontario Medical School in 2002. In 2012 she was awarded the Diploma in Practical Dermatology with Distinction from the Australian Institute of Dermatology. Concurrently she completed a clinical traineeship in dermatology and then further completed a psoriasis traineeship in 2015.
Her passion involves Dermoscopy and its utility in the diagnosis and management of skin cancers. She has completed numerous dermoscopy courses including the Intermediate course in Dermoscopy at the Sloan Kettering Memorial University Cancer Hospital in New York City (2015 and 2016) and is an active member of the International Dermoscopy Society.
Dr. Monica Bertolo has a Focused Practice Designation in Dermatology recognized by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and the Ontario Medical Association. She is a member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the Canadian and Ontario Medical Associations, the International Dermoscopy Society and is a past adjunct Clinical Professor at Queen’s University. She is currently am adjunct clinical professor at McMaster University and is actively involved in the education of medical students and local physicians. Recently, Dr. Bertolo has received the fellowship designation with the College of Family Physicians of Canada for her outstanding contribution to her community, colleagues, and the discipline of family medicine.

Special Interests: Dermatology, dermoscopy, skin cancer, education.

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Morgan Black is a Family Physician and has been an Assistant Professor with the Department of Family Medicine since 2017. In addition to her work as a Family Physician at McMaster Family Practice, Dr. Black has a significant interest in the domains of Women’s Health and Low Risk Obstetrics. She currently works as a staff physician with the Maternity Centre of Hamilton, providing full prenatal care to vulnerable populations and performing full intrapartum care at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. She also has a strong interest in medical education at both a postgraduate and undergraduate level.

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Alyssa Boyd has been a palliative care consultant in the South Georgian Bay area since 2008. She is currently the medical director of Hospice Georgian triangle and the lead physician for the North Simcoe Muskoka palliative care physicians group. She is an associate clinical professor from McMaster University and teaches regularly in her role as the Palliative Care mentor for the Rural Ontario Medical Program. Most recently she founded a charity called The Living Wish Foundation that grants end of life wishes to adults who are living with a life threatening illness.

Special Interests: Narrative Medicine

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Dr. Boyd’s passion for caring for older adults led him to provide primary care in a family practice for 6 years before pivoting to full time post-acute and long-term care. He supports the education of medical students, family physician residents, care of the elderly and geriatrics fellows. His research interests focus on long-term care. His academic service includes serving on the care of the elderly working group, the long-term care clinician’s interest group, the Greater Hamilton Health Network’s Long-term Care Advisory table, and the Provincial Geriatric Leadership Ontario’s Clinical Leadership council. When not providing bedside care, he serves as the medical director of St. Joseph’s Villa and Alexander Place as well as the chief of staff at St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph. He is a past president of the Ontario Long-term Care Physicians and the past chair of the Ontario Medical Association’s section on long-term care / care of the elderly.

Special Interests: Long-term care.

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Dr. Bracken has been with the Department of Family Medicine since 2006 after working as a community based comprehensive care family physician for many years. Her desire to promote the career and calling of Family Medicine drives her focus on undergraduate medical education as an opportunity to impact learning and professional identity formation. Dr. Bracken has held several leadership roles in the department notably Maternity Center Director, Enhanced Skills Director, and Undergraduate Director including Clerkship. In this latter role, she revised the FM clerkship tutorials into an eLearning pathway using adult learning theory and incorporating technology enhanced learning. She is now moving into new leadership roles both in the department and in the undergraduate medical program.
Apart from these scholarly interests and leadership roles, Dr. Bracken enjoys the promotion of Women’s Health care along with the concept of wellness and resilience both nationally and internationally and continues to work toward true reconciliation and the dismantling of the many systems of oppression and racism in both the learning and provision of health care both in Canada and internationally.

Special Interests: Optimal clinical learning environments, promotion of knowledge translation using learning psychology and technology assisted innovation, resilience and wellbeing over the course of medical education.

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Special Interests: Emergency Medicine. Hospital Medicine. Memory Clinic.

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Dr. Martin Chasen, completed his undergraduate training at the University of Pretoria in 1983, later obtaining a specialist degree in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology and Master of Philosophy (Palliative Medicine) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is currently the Medical Director of Palliative Care, at William Osler Health System in Brampton. He holds professorships at the Universities of Toronto, McMaster, Ottawa and McGill . Also Universities of Cape Town and Bond in Australia He is the recipient of the 2020 Eduardo Bruera and Elisabeth Latimer Awards in Palliative Medicine. His team has recently received $1.4M in funding from the Health Canada – for the RELIEF (Remote Self-Reporting of Symptoms by Patients with Palliative Care Needs) study. He was the Canadian PI for the international MENAC (Multimodal Intervention for Cachexia in Advanced Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy (MENAC) study He has in excess of 110 peer reviewed publications, abstracts and book chapters. He is the principle investigator of CIHR. MENAC, trial He has lectured internationally and nationally – and appeared on media including as invited Speaker “Palliative Care”, House of Commons, Parliament of Canada. Dr Chasen is Medical co-lead for the Palliative Care Network Under his leadership there is now a comprehensive palliative program in Central West with an inpatient acute unit, a consult service, an outpatient clinic and robust home care service as well as a virtual palliative care service Dr. Chasen is a LEAP Facilitator. He was recently as executive member of the Canadian Clinical Trials group.

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OHN CHONG MD, BASc, MSc, DOHS, FRCPC, FACPM, MDPAC(C), ARCT The harmonization of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Performing Arts Medicine (PAM) has created a powerful transformation for the healing of musculoskeletal pain, mental health and addictions, and stress-related disorders in a vulnerable population where current evidence-based medicine has fallen short. Although it has been a long journey to learn and practice the essential skills to provide effective healthcare to the performing arts community, the impact of CAM interventions has touched, moved, and inspired an energetic and creative generation of performing artists and healthcare professionals. The Musicians’ Clinics of Canada since 1986 has been the focus of clinical practice, education, and research in Complementary and Integrative Health igniting exciting possibilities in the orchestration of new clinical paradigms. By collaborating with many colleagues in the Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) since its inception in 1983, methodical stepwise progress has been made in the design, implementation, and evaluation of CAM assessment and treatment approaches. This has required visionary leadership and personal integrity to move PAMA from traditional medical values to an inclusive multidisciplinary organization from diverse healing perspectives. Integration of experience in the performing arts, electrical engineering and public health and preventive medicine with the new frontiers of integrative medicine has been a catalyst for further progress. Building a foundation of practice-based evidence of applied psychophysiology drawing from eastern philosophies of acupuncture to the spectrum of psychotherapy will contribute to the scientific basis of evidence-based performing arts medicine.

Special Interests: Performing Arts Medicine, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Cannabis Health Integrative Medicine Practice-Based Evidence Research, Performance Exposure Therapy, Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

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Rhonda Collins has been a faculty member of the Department of Family Medicine since 2012. She has a passion for improving the lives of older adults. She has achieved a certificate of added competence in care of the elderly. She has worked as a consultant for a geriatric mental health outreach team and a rehabilitation hospital with a focus on early diagnosis of dementia. She has served on the board of directors for the Alzheimer’s Society Niagara Region and is the current Vice President of Ontario Long Term Care Clinicians, a voluntary non-profit organization whose vision is that all Ontarians in Long Term Care will receive excellent care. Rhonda enjoys time with friends and family, traveling, scuba diving, gourmet food and excellent Ontario wines.

Special Interests: care of the elderly, dementia, behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, osteoporosis, fracture prevention, quality of life.

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David has been a faculty member since 2005. He has an interest in hospital medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics and geriatrics. He also has a keen interest in how climate change is affecting health. He is a board member of the Guelph FHT and won the Preceptor of the Year award for the KW and area family medicine program in 2018. David enjoys time with his family, cycling, skiing, camping, live music and road trips.

Special Interests: Hospital Medicine, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Geriatrics, Climate Change

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Dr. Anthony Davies describes himself as a “generalist Family Physician” with practice areas in Academic Family Medicine, Family Practice Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Integrative Medicine, Rural and Remote Medicine, Global Health, Pain management, Psychiatry and Addictions, and Care of the Elderly. As an academic general practitioner, Anthony has pursued interests in eLearning, simulation education and faculty development. Anthony trained and worked in Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago as well as Rome, Georgia, USA, in the mid 1990s to early 2000s. Anthony joined the McMaster Department of Family Medicine, Waterloo Regional Campus in 2018 as an Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct) and have taught and supervised undergraduate and postgraduate learners in the clinical setting and in the classroom.  Presently, Anthony works in a busy solo family practice and share call with other physicians in the Grand River Family Health Organization. His research experience started in Africa as a medical student contributing to public health, potable water and sanitation in Lagos metropolis. Since 2017, Anthony has done unpublished work in Pain medicine, rehabilitation science and addictions. He is affiliated with CAMH/University of Toronto as a faculty fellow since 2019 to further his work in the field of mental health, chronic pain and addictions.

Anthony Davies Medicine Professional Corporation:

Dr. Anthony Davies Family practice serves uninsured, under-served families in Central and Southern Ontario, Canada. We are open to the public. All insurance and private pay accepted. Support, comfort, teaching and motivational interviewing are offered to all clients.

Hours: M-F, 9:00 am-5:00 pm.

Please call the appointment phone number (519) 742-2046 during office hours to schedule an appointment.

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Amie Davis is a comprehensive community-based Family Physician in Burlington, participating in office practice, adult inpatient medicine, and obstetrical care, while also acting as the Site Director for the Halton Site within the Department of Family Medicine. She also works as a physician in the Maternity Centre of Hamilton, and has an interest in Child Advocacy having worked previously with the Hamilton Children’s Aid society.

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Dr Dillon is a graduate of the Family Medicine program at McMaster University – Niagara Regional Campus(NRC). As chief resident she began her teaching career with McMaster-NRC. After a number of years working in small towns and larger cities in Niagara as a locum Family Physician she returned to school achieving her Postgraduate Diploma in Practical Dermatology. She practices in Port Colborne and while continuing to contribute to Covid-19 efforts through Covid Assessment Clinics and vaccination efforts in Niagara and Hamilton Regions. When she isn’t working, you can find her hiking the Bruce Trail or preparing gourmet meals for family and friends. Her hobbies include adopting senior dogs with special needs, watercolour painting and skiing.

Special Interests: Dermatology, Palliative Care, Aesthetic Medicine

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Dr. Heather Dixon is a full time Family Physician and founding member of The Centre for Family Medicine Family (CFFM) Health Team in Kitchener, Ontario. She is the Director of the CFFM International Travel and Immunization Clinic and an Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University. She has been teaching and practicing Travel Medicine since 2006. She completed her Certificate in Travel Health® in 2007.

Special Interests: Travel Medicine & Immunizations.

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Penny English is a graduate from McMaster Medical School where she completed her Undergraduate medical education and Family Medicine Residency. She is currently the Regional Educator Leader for Family Medicine at the Waterloo Regional Campus. She also has a Family Practice in Waterloo.

Special Interests: Student Health, Women’s Health.

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Special Interests: hospital medicine, medical education, quality improvement.

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Dr. Nancy Fowler is the Executive Director, Academic Family Medicine at the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). This CFPC division oversees the development and implementation of the standards of training and certification for family physicians in Canada, as well as working to advance family medicine education and research with universities and other partner organizations. She is a family physician and Associate Professor with 30 years of clinical and academic experience based in Hamilton Ontario affiliated with the McMaster University Department of Family Medicine. She served as the family medicine postgraduate program director for ten years, with a practice based at McMaster Family Practice and before that at the North Hamilton Community Health Centre where she made her start as a full time faculty member. She has a long history of leadership in the medical education and refugee health and believes strongly in family medicine as a force for good in the world.

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Dr. Erin Gallagher is a graduate of McMaster University’s Family Medicine residency program (2015), PGY3 Enhanced Skills Training in Palliative Care program (2016) and Master of Public Health program (2018). In 2017 she completed her Clinical Scholar training through McMaster Family Practice, followed by starting her own general practice in 2017 at Stonechurch Family Health Centre where she trained as a resident.

Through her undergraduate training, Dr. Gallagher discovered her love for medical education and leadership development of medical trainees, the latter being an area of research interest and publication. She became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine in 2017 and is a clinical supervisor and lecturer at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the areas of general Family Medicine and Palliative Care.

Dr. Gallagher’s most recent pursuit was the completion of her Master of Public Health, recognizing the importance of community engagement and development in promoting effective palliative approaches to care.

Clinically, Dr. Gallagher divides her time between providing comprehensive family medicine care to her patients and working as a palliative care consultant for McMaster’s Hamilton teaching sites and Hamilton Health Sciences hospitals. She is the Ontario Representative on the College of Family Physicians of Canada’s Palliative Care Committee.

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Special Interests: Penicillin drug allergy and testing, Hepatitis C screening and treatment, hospitalist medicine, long term care.

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Special Interest: Medical education, hospitalist medicine, emergency medicine in developing countries, global health, narrative medicine and philosophy.

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Dr. Lawrence Grierson is Associate Professor of the Department of Family Medicine, Assistant Dean, Health Sciences Education Program and Scientist with the McMaster FHS Program for Education Research, Innovation & Theory (MERIT).

Dr. Grierson leads the McMaster Department of Family Medicine Medical Education Research Group, which examines issues relevant to family medicine education from a variety of theoretical perspectives and works to develop sustainable programs of research to address the questions associated with these issues. Dr. Grierson is also the Assistant Dean for McMaster University’s Health Sciences Education Graduate Program.

Lawrence also leads active independent research concerned with understanding the relationship between education practices and the principles of family medicine, simulation-based learning and the acquisition of clinical technical skills, and the ethical inter-institutional collation of training metrics for medical education research. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Medical Educators and the CFPC Section of Researchers.

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Dale Guenter completed medical school at University of Calgary, internship at Dalhousie, and Master of Public Health at Harvard. He joined the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster in 1999, at North Hamilton Community Health Centre, following several years as a family physician in the Canadian Arctic and in Calgary’s inner city. He developed a lasting collaboration with Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Philippines starting 1997, assisting with problem-based learning curriculum and a new Master of Public Health program. Dr. Guenter co-founded the Shelter Health Network in Hamilton as one part of a health care solution for people whose lives do not fit the mould of traditional medical models, and was the founding primary care lead for the Hamilton Health Links initiative. He joined McMaster Family Practice in 2006, and served as medical co-director from 2008-2016. He is a founding faculty member for the Master of Public Health program at McMaster, which started in 2014.

Dr. Guenter’s primary interest is in exploring and delivering novel approaches to health care that that will result in a more effective experience of healing. His research, teaching and clinical work are focused on people affected by HIV, mental health and addiction, chronic pain, frailty and end of life concerns. His work takes place through community partnerships, collaborations between public health and primary care, improved communication skills, and reflection-in-practice.

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Erich Hanel divided his training between Ireland, the United States and Canada. His training included full time internal medicine, family medicine and emergency medicine. His current role with the Division of Emergency Medicine involves the education of medical students, residents, paramedics and fellows in emergency medicine, ultrasound and simulation. When not working, he would always prefer to be outside with or without his family. Throughout his time with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and McMaster he is proud to have won numerous teaching and educational awards.

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Dr. Janice Harvey is primary care physician with a Certificate of Added Competence (CAC) in sport and exercise medicine from the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) where she a Physician Advisor in Continuing Professional Development. Dr. Harvey is also the Director of the Standardized Patient Program (SPP) at the Centre for Simulation Based Learning (CSBL) at McMaster University. Dr. Harvey was the Chair of the Ontario College of Family Physicians’ CME/CPD Committee for 6 years and was the President of the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine in 2011. Dr. Harvey has abundant national and international sport experience where she is currently the Medical Lead of the World Curling Federation and is the Canadian Delegate to the World University Sport Federation (FISU) 1997 to present.

Special Interests: Medical Education, Sport and Exercise Medicine.

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Born in Dublin, David Healy qualified in medicine from the National University of Ireland, before undertaking research on biomarkers in depression and training in psychiatry, later becoming the secretary of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. He moved to Cambridge England and then Cardiff Wales before moving to McMaster. His research interests lie in the history of medicine, where he has written the leading histories of the antidepressant, antipsychotic and mood-stabilizing groups of drugs, pharmacovigilance where he has played a part in raising the profile of suicide and sexual dysfunction inducing effects of a number of drug groups, and developments in healthcare systems, laid out in Pharmageddon (2012) and the forthcoming The Shipwreck of the Singular. He is a co-founder of RxISK.org, an online adverse event reporting website, and Data Based Medicine, which in conjunction with the Department of Family Medicine is supporting the development of TaperMD.

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Karenna’onwe – Dr. Karen Hill is a Mohawk physician from Six Nations of the Grand RiverTerritory. She is the mother of two sons and step mother to five daughters. Hill completed medical school in 2003 and Family Medicine Residency in 2005 – both from McMaster University. Her vision is to see Traditional Indigenous Knowledge return to the centre of life and healthcare for Indigenous people across Canada. This vision led her to co-create a collaborative practice with Traditional Medicine Practitioners at Six Nations called Juddah’s Place. In 2015 Hill became the first recipient of the Thomas Dignan award for Indigenous Health conferred by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. In the same year she also received The College of Family Physicians Excellence Award for leading the way in Indigenous collaborative care in primary practice. Also, in 2016 she was honored by McMaster Universitywith a Community Impact Award. Recently Hill partnered with Paulette Moore – A Mohawk filmmaker – to create “The Aunties Dandelion” media/research centre and healing space, focused on supporting Indigenous embodiment and expanding the human family. Karen continues to practice consultative holistic medicine at Six Nations and provides locum coverage and hospitalist care in Moose Factory. She has completed 4 years apprenticeship in Traditional Indigenous Medicine and continues learning Mohawk language. She continues both as life long commitments.

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Certina Ho is a graduate of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto. She obtained her graduate degrees in Library and Information Science and in Education from the University of Toronto.

Certina is currently appointed as Clinical Assistant Professor at the Department of Family Medicine, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, providing teaching support to the InQuiry curriculum and quality improvement projects of family medicine residents at the Kitchener-Waterloo Teaching Site.

At the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Certina is the course coordinator of a Year 3 elective course for Doctor of Pharmacy students on Patient/Medication Safety. She is also one of the Faculty Advisors for the Industrial Pharmacy Residency Program. She joined the Department of Psychiatry as the Director, Educational Program Evaluation and Scholarship, in January 2020. Certina has been an adjunct faculty member at the School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, since 2008. Certina has been actively engaged in academic research and continuous professional development in teaching and learning, experiential education, medication safety, and pharmacy practice. Her research and scholarly interests are related to educational program evaluation, development of patient/medication safety and quality improvement initiatives, respectively.

At the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada), Certina was the inaugural Director, Community Pharmacy Reporting and Learning, with a primary responsibility on medication safety initiatives related to community pharmacy practice, medication incident reporting and analysis. Currently, Certina remains affiliated with ISMP Canada as a Medication Safety Advisor.

Special Interests: Educational program evaluation, education scholarship, patient/medication safety, quality improvement

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Michelle Howard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. Her research focuses on understanding the role of primary care for people with serious and life-limiting illness, by examining the influences of practice models, patterns and policies using health administrative and clinical data. She has also studied how patients and health care professionals in primary care talk about serious illness and preparing for future decision-making and has evaluated several tools for advance care planning in family practice.

Michelle has an MSc in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto and a PhD in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University. She primarily uses quantitative approaches including observational studies with population-based data (e.g. www.ices.on.ca www.cpcssn.ca), survey research and development of measures.

Michelle is an instructor for the Program Evaluation course in the McMaster Health Science Education (HSED) program and supervises graduate students with relevant research interests in McMaster’s Health Research Methodology Program.

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Gabrielle Inglis joined the Department of Family Medicine as an Assistant Professor in 2019. In addition to her clinical practice at McMaster Family Practice, she works as a Consultant Physician with the Inpatient Addiction Medicine Service at Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph’s Hospital. Prior to joining the department, she completed a Masters in Medical Education at Harvard University, and is actively involved in post-graduate and undergraduate medical education.

Special Interests: Care for People who use Drugs, Primary care generalism, Medical Education, Narrative Medicine

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Dr. Ahmed Jakda is a palliative and vulnerably housed physician, practicing in Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He completed his training in Family Medicine and Fellowship in Palliative Care at The Ohio State University, and is dual board-certified. He also completed his MBA at the Ivey School of Business. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor with McMaster University and his research interests include system policy, data analytics, and change management. He co-chaired the Health Quality Ontario’s Palliative Quality Standards, and acted as Clinical Lead for the palliative IDEAS cohort at the University of Toronto. He also held roles as Medical Director of Palliative Care, Group Physician Head, and as Provincial Palliative Physician Lead for the province of Ontario.

Special Interests: Palliative Care, Vulnerable Populations, Homelessness, Opioid Addiction, System and Policy Change.

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Dr. Stephanie Kafie, BHSc(H), MD, CCFP (COE) is a family physician with a particular passion for the bookends of life – the alpha and the omega (the beginning and the end). Dr. Kafie completed medical school, residency in Family Medicine, and fellowship in Care of the Elderly at McMaster University. She also holds an Honours Bachelor of Health Sciences in Health Promotion from Western University. Dr. Kafie furthered her education by completing additional training through Marquette University’s Institute in Natural Family Planning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, qualifying her to teach the Marquette Method of Natural Family Planning. She is passionate about providing quality and evidence-based care to patients at all stages of life and provides everything from pre-conception care to palliative care. Dr. Kafie works in a variety of settings; she is an attending physician at retirement homes, a long-term care home, and a rehabilitation hospital. While on maternity leave in 2020, Dr. Kafie became the Founder and CEO of a virtual medical clinic called, “Totally Yours Family Medicine.” This clinic is focused on women’s health concerns, children’s health, and on teaching couples Natural Family Planning. Dr. Kafie spends most of her time with her husband and trilingual children. She is often running, biking, or dancing her way through the beautiful chaos of life with small children. She brings the perspective of a “Doctor Mom” to her work – with the medical training to guide families and the life experience to provide compassionate care.

Special Interests: Care of the Elderly, Geriatrics, Palliative Care, Natural Family Planning/Fertility Awareness Methods.

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Sarah Kinzie is an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. She is currently the Postgraduate Program Director for Family Medicine, a position she has held since 2015.

Dr. Kinzie joined the Department of Family Medicine in January 2000 after completing her undergraduate and postgraduate medical training here at McMaster University. She practices at Stonechurch Family Health Centre where she provides comprehensive care for a diverse patient population, in an interprofessional team-based model of care. Dr. Kinzie provided full-care obstetrics and neonatal care during her first 12 years in practice, and remains passionate about women’s health. Other areas of clinical interest include palliative care as well as home-based care for her frail elderly patients.

Dr. Kinzie’s primary academic focus lies in postgraduate medical education. As the former Hamilton Site Director (2009-2015), she led a number of curriculum innovations, including development of a unique, family medicine-led Maternal Child rotation for Hamilton residents, focused on interprofessional teaching of a comprehensive family medicine skill set in a family-centred model of care. Dr. Kinzie was also responsible for the creation of “Block 7”, an innovative, common, integrated Family Medicine-Academic block for all family medicine residents.

From 2005-2015, Dr. Kinzie served as National Director of the Residency Practice-Based Learning Program, (a program administered by the McMaster-affiliated, non-profit Foundation for Medical Practice Education). That involvement supported numerous research and faculty development initiatives that explore how physicians learn and change, with a focus on supporting the transition from residency to practice.

In her current role as Postgraduate Program Director, Dr. Kinzie oversees the training of over 200 family medicine residents distributed across 12 sites. In addition to curriculum development, her primary academic interests include relationship-centred care and teaching, effective learning and remediation strategies, and professional identity development.

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Fiona Kouyoumdjian is a Family Physician, Public Health and Preventive Medicine Physician and Epidemiologist. She received her BA with Honors from Brown University, her MD from Dalhousie University, her MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She completed residency training at the University of Toronto and a CIHR Fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital.

Fiona leads a program of research focused on the health status and health care of people who experience imprisonment. Specific research foci are decreasing imprisonment, improving health care and health promotion for people in prison, and supporting successful re-integration to the community for people on release from prison.

Fiona is also an Adjunct Scientist at ICES and an Affiliate Scientist at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital.

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Rob Koziarski has been a family physician at McMaster Family Practice since 2017. His clinical interests include caring for patients with HIV, as well as trans and gender diverse patients. He is involved in both postgraduate and undergraduate medical education, and enjoys running in his spare time.

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Joe was the founding site director of the KW McMaster family medicine residency program for 13 years and a former department assessment director and MacCARE regional education director. He is the chair of Centre for Family Medicine FHT, chair of the KW4 Ontario Health Team, chair of the e-Health Centre of Excellence and primary care lead for the KW region. Honours and awards include regional family physician of the year twice, lead physician of the Ontario family practice of the year, multiple AFHTO Bright Light awards, CFPC Award of Excellence, Canadian Family Physician Best Original Research award, Outstanding Research Grant award, Rotary Club Centennial Award for Professional Excellence and named of Waterloo Region’s iconic change makers. He plays tennis and golf avidly and loves to travel. He’s married to Linda, has 3 wonderful children and 2 amazing grandchildren.

Special Interests: Research interests include primary care for individuals with physical disabilities, family physician stress & burnout and education in family medicine. Special interests include development of Ontario Health Teams.

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Dr. Linda Lee is a Care of the Elderly family physician, Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University, Director of the Centre for Family Medicine and KW Regional Memory Clinics, and Schlegel Chair in Primary Care for Elders. She has developed the MINT Memory Clinic model and Training Program which has assisted 120 other primary care settings in Ontario, BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan to establish new MINT Memory Clinics. Dr. Lee’s research interests focus on improving health care for older adults living with dementia and other complex chronic conditions. She enjoys time with family, growing tomatoes, and raising parrots.

Special Interests: community-based dementia care, frailty in primary care.

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Michael Lee-Poy is a family physician at the KW & Area Family Medicine teaching site. His passions are in medical education, curriculum and QI. He has an interested in advocacy and LGBT health, and engages in gender affirming training for learners.

Special Interests: Teaching & Education, Curriculum, QI, Indigneous Heath, LGBT Health.

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Robin Lennox has been a Family Physician and Assistant Professor with the Department of Family Medicine since 2017. She has a clinical focus in the care of people who use drugs, which includes working with the Rapid Access Addiction Medicine Clinic and the Program for Substance Use in Pregnancy at the Maternity Centre of Hamilton. She is co-Head of Service for the Inpatient Addiction Medicine Service at Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. In addition, Dr. Lennox works with the Shelter Health Network providing primary care for people deprived of housing. She has a diverse research portfolio aimed at improving models of care delivery and the health outcomes of people who use drugs with infectious complications, and improving the experiences of people who use drugs when interacting with the health system.

Special Interests: Care of People Who Use Drugs, Addiction Medicine, HIV primary care, gender diverse care, care of people deprived of housing.

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Dr. Rahid Mahdi is a part-time Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct) at the department of Family Medicine at McMaster and he has worked Emergency field for 13 years.

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Dee Mangin is the Associate Chair, Research, in the Department of Family Medicine, and works clinically at McMaster Family Practice. She came to Canada from New Zealand to Canada in 2013, where she had been the Director of the Primary Care Research Group at the University of Otago, Christchurch.

She is the Director of MUSIC, the McMaster University Sentinel and Information Collaboration practice-based research network, and the Medical Director and cofounder of RxISK.org a website for consumer information and reporting of drug adverse reactions.

Her broad interests are: the value of generalist primary care; rational prescribing; innovative models of primary care delivery; effective incorporation of evidence into patient-centered practice; and the influences of science, policy and commerce on the nature of care.

She has wide clinical research experience in primary care, including observational and interventional quantitative research methods and community RCTs of innovative models of care.

She was awarded the is a Fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, and in 2011 she received their Distinguished Service Medal. In 2018 the CFPC awarded her the Donald I Rice award for contributions to leadership, vision and teaching in the discipline of family medicine.

Visit the TAPER website
Team Approach to Polypharmacy Evaluation and Reduction

A troubling pharmaceutical cocktail
The Walrus Talks — Mobility
October 5, 2017

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Dr. Denise Marshall (she/her) is a McMaster Family Medicine-based Palliative Care Physician. After completing both undergraduate, graduate and palliative care training at McMaster, Dr. Marshall joined the faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster in 1990, becoming full Professor in 2016. She has held a number of academic leadership roles including Undergraduate Director for Family Medicine, and Assistant Dean, Faculty Development for the Faculty of Health Sciences. In 2003, Dr. Marshall helped launch the Division of Palliative Care, and was its founding Director. She examined Palliative Care as a public health issue during her sabbatical in 2013 and since then has focused much of her academic work on Public Health Palliative Care. She has provided leadership regionally, provincially and nationally on health systems issues and planning related to palliative and end of life care. She is medical director/founder of the Niagara West Palliative Care Team and McNally House Hospice located in Grimsby where she has lived with her family since 1983. Dr. Marshalls interests include hiking, “German Shepherding”, singing, Lake Huron, and spending precious Grammie time with her grandbabies.

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Dr. Jonel Miklea is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. He received his training on three different continents. Jonel graduated from the Faculty of Medicine Carol Davila in Bucharest, Romania and completed his Family Medicine residency at McMaster University. He joined McMaster Family Practice as a practicing family physician, and the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University in 2001. He completed his Masters in Medical Education at Flinders University in Australia. During his time with the department, Jonel has been a committed mentor to medical students, family medicine residents, and International Medical Graduates. From 2004 until 2011, he was the Program Director of the Family Medicine Undergraduate Program and he has been a leader in the development of an integrated clerkship program at McMaster University. In 2003, Dr. Miklea was awarded the Gerry Cohen Teaching Award for his excellence as a clinical teacher and his commitment to residency education. In 2008, he was co-recipient of the College of Family Physicians of Canada Outstanding Family Medicine Research Article. Over the years he held different roles in the department from Education Site coordinator to Faculty development local lead. Dr. Miklea pioneered the Adolescent health clinic at the Youth and Wellness center for family medicine residents to sample social accountability during their training. He also has facilitated national workshops on coaching peers and learners. Jonel sits on the executive at the Clinical Faculty Association at Hamilton Health Sciences and also actively practices inpatient hospitalist medicine.

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Family physician with the Centre for Family Medicine (CFFM) Kitchener-Waterloo. Director of the CFFM Mobility Clinic, an interprofessional primary care clinic with a focus to improve primary care for individuals with spinal cord injury and other physical disabilities. The clinic is dedicated to clinical research in primary care, working closely with the Praxis Spinal Cord Injury Institute. Associate Clinical Professor with the McMaster University Department of Family Medicine and Clinical Specialist for Mobility and Falls with the University of Waterloo-Schlegel Research Institute for Aging (UW-RIA).

Special Interests: Director Mobility Clinic. Interest in primary care research involving spinal cord injury and physical disabilities.

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Margo received her medical education and her family medicine training at McMaster University, Canada and her sports medicine specialty degree in Ottawa, Canada. Margo received her PhD from the VU University in Amsterdam. Margo was the medical and scientific lead at the Health & Performance Centre at the University of Guelph where she focused her practice on promoting elite athlete care and physical activity promotion in the general population. In addition, Margo has acted as the national team physician for Synchro Canada for 20 years as well as for the National Endurance Training Centre Athletes (middle- and long-distance track athletes) and the National Triathlon & Wrestling team training centres. Margo is a Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Family Medicine in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Canada where she is now the Regional Assistant Dean of the Waterloo Regional Campus. Margo is the Chair of the ASOIF Medical Consultative Group and a member of the IOC Medical Commission Games Group. She currently consults for 3 International Federations: FIFA, International Golf, and World Rugby. Margo’s areas of research focus on elite athlete health and well-being.

Special Interests: Sport and exercise medicine.

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Dr. Alim Nagji (@alimnagji) is a Family and Emergency Medicine physician and an Assistant Clinical Professor and the Director for Emergency Medicine Clerkship at McMaster University. He is the Director of Simulation Learning, Mac-Care Sim Lead and the inaugural Director of the ED Clinical Teaching Unit at Joseph Brant Hospital. He completed the Royal College Clinician Educator Diploma with a focus in simulation and teaching and the Harvard Sim Essentials Course and is studying for an Executive Healthcare Leadership Diploma from Cornell. He has an interest in theatre and humanism, medical education and simulation.

Special Interests: Simulation, Teaching.

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Mat practices and teaches comprehensive rural/ small town family medicine. He has privileges at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, where he sees inpatients, cares for newborns, and has shifts in the ER. His practice is with the Smithville Family Health Team. He loves guitar jam sing-alongs, and skiing and skating on the creek behind his house.

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Dr. Dominik Nowak is a family doctor and faculty member in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University, as well as the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Outside of his clinical work, Dr. Nowak is a recognized leader in primary care and health systems strategy. As Chair of the TELUS Medical Advisory Council, he is a trusted advisor to leading Canadian organizations in supporting health policy that is based in science and compassion. Through COVID-19 vaccine rollout, he chaired the working group on COVID-19 vaccine strategy at the Primary Care Collaborative, partnering closely with government, public health, hospital, and other health sector leaders to support an effective and equitable COVID-19 vaccine plan for Ontario. Whether at his family practice, in advocacy for healthy policy, or as a health leader, Dr. Nowak’s professional mission is to promote health in the communities he serves.

Special Interests: Health systems strategy, Continuity of care, Social prescribing.

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Dr. Oliver is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University.

He joined the Department in 2004 and took on a full-time faculty position in 2007.

Dr. Oliver’s passion for elder care lead him to take on the position as Care of the Elderly Curriculum Coordinator from 2006 – 2015. This role allowed him to develop many innovative programs for the Department, including a Long Term Care clinical rotation for residents and a successful annual CME event entitled “Care of the Elderly: Perspectives for Primary Care”. His clinical commitment to this patient population continues with weekly nursing home rounds and house-calls to frail elderly patients.

He is also co-PI on Health Tapestry, a multi-year, multi-site primary care based intervention aimed at promoting optimal aging in community dwelling older adults. Dr. Oliver’s interest in improving access for patients in primary care resulted in study and co-development of an Advanced Access booking model in the McMaster Family Health Team. This model allows patients better access to their primary care team by having the majority of booking spots available for same day appointments.

Dr. Oliver is the Principle Investigator on a research project designed to better understand how and why patients make the choices they do, when calling in to book an appointment with their family doctor. On the academic front, Dr. Oliver is assisting the Department with several educational leadership roles including Co-Education Coordinator at McMaster Family Practice (2011-16), Hamilton Site Director and CBRT Education Coordinator (2012-2013) and Behavioural Sciences Co-Coordinator (2013-).

Dr. Oliver has held several academic leadership roles in the last few years, including Education Coordinator at MFP (2011-16), MHBS Curriculum Coordinator (2013-2019) and is currently the Medical Director at McMaster Family Practice (2016-present)”

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Dr. Stella Pasion practices as part of the Guelph Family Health Team and has worked in a variety settings including community health centers, student health services, and public health clinics. She is active in undergraduate medical education as a clinical preceptor, Medical Foundations tutor and Professional competency facilitator. Her clinical interests include the social determinants of health and chronic illness management. Outside of clinic, she is an active community volunteer and patient advocate as well as an avid runner, music lover, and soccer fan.

Special Interests: Public health, Mindfulness in practice.

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Dr. Tejal Patel has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University since July 2010. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019. Her adminstrative roles have included Hamilton Site Coordinator for Behaviour Science (2012-2015) and co-head of service obstetrics for the Department of Family Medicine at St. Joseph’s Hospital (2013-2016). Dr. Patel is currently the physician director of the Maternity Centre of Hamilton and the maternal child rotation coordinator at the Hamilton site.

Dr. Patel divides her clinical time between the Maternity Centre of Hamilton, a multidisciplinary centre caring for prenatal and intrapartum patients, and McMaster Family Practice.

Dr. Patel is actively involved in the education of primary care obstetrics at both the undergraduate and post graduate medical school levels. Her research focuses on gaining a better understanding of the complex biopsychosocial backgrounds of young mothers and the influence that has on maternal and neonatal health as well as mental illness in the ante and postpartum periods.

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José Pereira is Professor and Director of the Division of Palliative Care in the Department of Family Medicine. He is of Portuguese background and complete his medical training in South Africa in 1987. He came to Canada in 1992 where he worked in a rural community in Manitoba for a few years. In 1995 he completed a clinical research fellowship in palliative care at the University of Alberta, followed by a family medicine residency at the University of Alberta. In University of Alberta and in 2000 co-founded Pallium Canada, a not-for-profit pan-Canada organization that advances primary-level palliative care across all settings of care through its interprofessional LEAP courseware.

Over the years he has worked in different settings, from home and community care to acute palliative care units, hospitals and hospices. He has racked up some “firsts”, including the first palliative care website (www.palliative.org)(1995), the first palliative care unit in Calgary (2001) and the first formal regional palliative care program in Ontario (2009). More recently he served as Director of Research of the College of Family Physicians of Canada from 2016 where he advanced primary care research and quality improvement.

José completed a Masters Degree in Medical Education at the University of Calgary in 2007. He retains his role as Scientific Officer of Pallium Canada, and leads the new Joshua Shadd McMaster-Pallium Research Hub. He has published extensively, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications, chapters and books, including the Pallium Palliative Pocketbook.

José’s contributions to developing palliative care in Canada have been recognized by the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

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Dr. David Price – Professor and Past-Chair (2006-2021), Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. During his tenure as chair, the Department grew exponentially, graduating over 100 family medicine residents annually in what is generally acknowledged to be one of the top academic programs in the country. As part of the residency expansion; teaching units and/or Family Health Teams (FHT) were created in a number of communities in south central Ontario. Department owned and managed teaching sites include Burlington, Stonechurch and MFP. He was the founding director of the Maternity Centre of Hamilton; a multidisciplinary centre that cares for prenatal and intrapartum patients. Dr. Price was also instrumental in helping to create the academic FHT at McMaster University, an interprofessional team, currently serving over 40,000 patients in the Hamilton area. He was a key player in the development of the $85 M, David Braley Health Sciences Centre, a six-story, 185,000 sq. ft. home for Family Medicine and Hamilton Public Health in the downtown core. The research enterprise of the department has also grown in size and reputation, managing over $10M in research grants annually. He also led the creation of a second endowed chair in family medicine ($2 million), the Niagara professorship ($1 million) and the establishment of the David Braley Primary Care Research Collaborative with an additional $4 million endowment.

Through his leadership roles at the University and Hospital (Chief of Family Medicine at Hamilton Health Sciences from 2004-2018), and his involvement with local, regional, and provincial government bodies where he acts as a consultant and advisor, he has developed expertise in primary care reform and health care policy development. He has provided his expertise to provincial governments in Canada, as well as internationally. He has enjoyed learning about other primary care systems around the world during his many visits as an invited speaker to numerous countries.

As the Chair of the Provincial (Ontario) Expert Advisory Panel on Primary Care (2013-2014) he was instrumental in helping produce “Patient Care Groups: A new model of population based primary health care for Ontario” (“Price Report”). He is currently the chair of the Minister of Health’s Primary Care Advisory Table, and has been on Ontario’s Covid-19 Health Coordination Table since April 2020. At the University, he is chair of the Faculty of Health Sciences Finance Committee, and as Secretary of Regional Medical Associates, the incoming president (fall 2022). In July 2021, he became the co-lead of the Health Leadership Academy (a partnership between the DeGroote School of Medicine and DeGroote School of Business).

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Dr. Amanda Ramdyal is Family Physician and joined the Department of Family Medicine in 2016 as a locum, and then became an Assistant Professor in 2017. She has a strong clinical interest in women’s health and sexual health. Dr. Ramdyal is a staff physician at Stonechurch Family Health Centre, as well as with Hamilton Public Health Sexual Health Clinic. She has a special research interest in prevention, screening and management of sexually transmitted infections.

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Dr Redwood-Campbell is a faculty member and Full Professor in the Department of Family Medicine since 1996. She has a keen interest and expertise in Global Health. She completed her MD and residency at McMaster and her Diploma in Hygiene and Public Health in London UK at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. This was followed by a Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has worked doing international disaster humanitarian work for many years, mostly with the Canadian and International Red Cross. She has worked in many countries like Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Haiti, Mozambique, Nepal and more. Her more recent research focused on lessons learned by healthcare teams doing international humanitarian work and how this is directly applicable to the Canadian context. Dr. Redwood-Campbell has a clinical practice at McMaster University and enjoys the Canadian outdoors. Further information can be found at https://fammedmcmaster.ca/bios/lynda-redwood-campbell/

Special Interests: Global Health, humanitarian response, complex humanitarian emergencies, immigrant and refugee health.

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Dr. Cathy Risdon is Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster aiming to help reinvigorate a sustainable, inclusive learning and practice environment for current and future family medicine learners and providers. For Risdon, breaking down barriers and honouring different viewpoints is key to building a successful department capable of training top-quality family doctors and attracting skilled staff and faculty.

She was the first holder of the David Braley-Nancy Gordon Endowed Chair in Family Medicine, mandated to develop innovations in education, clinical service and research relating to the doctor-patient and interdisciplinary team relationships. She co-created the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine’s Professional Competency Curriculum, a two-year course to teach professionalism, communication skills, advocacy, ethics and reflective practice. Following the ten-year term of her Endowed Chair, she became Associate Chair, Academic within the Department of Family Medicine, as well as the co-lead for the McMaster Family Health Team.

Dr. Risdon has completed a Doctorate of Management in Organizational Change at the University of Hertfordshire where her research explored themes of excellence and improvisation within curriculum design and implementation. She has conducted training and consultations across North America for primary care and community-based agencies wishing to improve their capacity for effective team and interprofessional collaborations. Her expertise in facilitation was used to design and deliver on the successful Hamilton Health Team submission. She is an expert in health system integration and primary care and is one of three Canadians who has been inducted as a Fellow of the Academy of Communications in Healthcare in recognition of her contributions to curricular design and facilitation.

A McMaster graduate (class of ’92), Dr. Risdon’s clinical practice has included a varied inner-city population with a focus on vulnerable populations.

After more than 30 years in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster, Dr. Risdon is still amazed at her good fortune in working with such terrific people. “We have extraordinary people engaged in our mission of service, teaching, and discovery. It’s my privilege to do all that I can to help them thrive.”

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Rob is interested in understanding and untangling the dynamically changing intersection of safety, resilience and complexity in healthcare. Still in clinical practice after 48 years! Best preparation for medical studies and especially work as an ED physician was five years as a zookeeper.

Special Interests: patient safety; systemic nonlinear analysis of adverse events in healthcare (SPHERE workshop); organizational resilience in healthcare; application of complex adaptive systems principles to healthcare initiatives; application of restorative justice approaches in healthcare after harm; conflict engagement and mediation in healthcare.

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Comprehensive Family Physician, with an interest in medical education and training of future Family Physicians.

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Dr. Inge Schabort is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and the International Medical Graduate (IMG) Coordinator and Academic Half Day Coordinator at the Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University. She practices as a full-time family physician at Stonechurch Family Health Centre and she tutors Evidence-Based Medicine, Quality Improvement and Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences in the residency program. She recently completed a Masters degree in Health Professions Education (MHPE) at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands (2020) and MSc in Evidence Based Health Care from Oxford University in the UK (2022). 

After medical school, she worked as a physician in Sub-Saharan Africa for 10 years and completed postgraduate training in obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, epidemiology, immunology, endocrinology, biochemistry and pathology before she was recruited to Canada. In Canada, she had to compete for an IMG position in Ontario and then repeat her clerkship as well as complete a family medicine residency in the Ontario IMG program. 

She has authored papers on several topics in medical education and primary care and research, and an invited book chapter on International Medical Graduates. She has received several awards including the 2012 Award of Excellence from the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Glenn Sawyer Service Award from the Ontario Medical Association in 2015 as well as the PARO Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award in 2021. 

Dr. Schabort is an author of the national FMEC IMG Environmental Scan document and she also was a physician-stakeholder consultant for the Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and recognition of foreign qualifications for the entry to Residency pathway. She sat on the Thomson Working Group of the Council of Ontario Universities. She completed a review of the medical student and resident selection literature and has published research on IMG selection predictors for success. 

Dr. Schabort was on the Ontario Steering Committee for the development of the Curriculum for the Ontario International Medical Graduate Pre-Residency program and currently is on the Curricular Advisory Committee for the Pre-residency IMG program in Ontario. She was also on the provincial steering committee for the development of the curriculum for Practice Ready Assessment. She sat on the Steering Committee for the Ontario Inter-professional Spinal Assessment Education Clinics (ISAEC) and was the Hamilton Primary Care Lead for the implementation of the ISAEC pilot.  

Her clinical and academic interests include medical education, selection, assessment, leadership, mentorship, IMG education and advocacy, disease screening, prevention and health promotion, diabetes care, pain management using clinical decision support systems in primary care, global health, inter-professional care and education, vulnerable population health, women’s health, chronic disease management, evidence-based medicine and primary care research. 

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Dr. Keya Shah is a Family and Care of the Elderly physician who joined the Department of Family Medicine in 2020 as a locum physician. She has been engaged in the postgraduate education program and became the Domain Lead for Care of the Elderly in 2021. She is now an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department and a staff physician working at Stonechurch Family Health Centre as part of the McMaster Family Health Team. Dr. Shah is a proud graduate of McMaster University’s family medicine residency program and now acts as a clinical preceptor to current residents. She utilizes her unique perspective to offer mentorship and support clinical experiences in Care of the Elderly at each of the teaching sites. Her clinical interests include polypharmacy, cognitive impairment and providing home visits to frail older adults and palliative patients. As one of the lead physicians for the Memory Clinic at Stonechurch Family Health Centre, Dr. Shah enjoys working through complex presentations alongside an interdisciplinary team. Outside of work, Dr. Shah enjoys outdoor activities such as camping and kayaking, as well as enjoying good food and board games with her family and friends.

Special Interests: cognitive impairment, home visits, polypharmacy, medical education, palliative care.

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Dr. Shah is a Family Physician and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University since 2019. He completed his medical school at Western University and Family Medicine residency at McMaster University. He is currently working at McMaster Family Practice, McMaster Student Wellness Center and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton. His interests are in the areas of newborn care, child and adolescent care, primary care mental health, women’s health and medical education.

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Dr. Elizabeth Shaw is Professor of Family Medicine, current Associate Chair of Education, and past Postgraduate Program Director (2003-2009).

She does general family medicine with a homeless and inner-city population through the Shelter Health Network at the YWCA Hamilton and has an interest in reproductive health care and women’s health. Dr. Shaw also has a certificate of added competence in addiction medicine and provides care for patients with substance use disorder in both a continuity clinic and a rapid access clinic. She also provides prenatal care to women struggling with substances through the Maternity Centre of Hamilton as part of the Program for Substance Use in Pregnancy ( PROSPR)

Dr. Shaw is also the Director of Module Development for the Foundation for Medical Practice Education and assists with the editing and production of 14 educational modules annually for residents and practicing family physicians to use in small group learning sessions.

Dr. Shaw is the 2020 recipient of the College of Family Physicians of Canada Ian McWhinney Medical Education Award and a 2019 recipient of the Canadian Association of Medical Education Certificate of Merit.

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Henry Siu completed his undergraduate medical training at the University of Toronto in 2008, and his residency training at McMaster University in 2010. He joined the department full time in 2013 and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2020.

His clinical interests include care of the elderly, especially those living in long-term care. He currently practices at Stonechurch Family Health Centre, and as an attending physician at a local long-term care home.

His current research endeavours involve research in long-term care including auditing advance care planning rates and assessing clinicians barriers to long-term care, implementing a new periodic health examination form, and implementing a tool to support informed consent and alignment of practices in LTC to the Ontario Health Care Consent Act. He has recently received funding from the Canadian Frailty Network and Health Canada to pursue his research interests and have published articles in various journals about his work in long-term care.

Special Interests: Care of the Elderly, Long-term care

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Dr. Sokar-Todd is a family physician in Burlington and a graduate of the McMaster School of Medicine. She completed her family medicine residency at McMaster. In addition to being a family physician, Dr. Sokar-Todd began her healthcare career in 1990 as an academic pharmacist (research and teaching at the Universities of Alexandria, Egypt, London, and Toronto). She completed a Master’s thesis in Drug formulation and Stability. She holds a PhD from the University of London, the United Kingdom in Practice and Policy. Her first postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto looked at pharmacists’ contribution to primary health care in Canada, and her second postdoctoral fellowship at McMaster produced guidance to policy makers and stakeholders towards obesity opportunities, research gaps and care in Canada. Currently through her family practice, she thrives for early detection and management of health problems. While MOH report for screening for cancer by Ontario Family Physician shows a rate of 50-60 percent. Dr. Sokar-Todd maintained over the last few years a 96-98% screening rate for colon, breast and cervical cancer.
Her family practice in Burlington focus on:

• Early identification and control of health problems (cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic disease)
• Optimization of health and preventative care
• Family Health
• Antenatal Care
• Pediatric Care

Special Interest: Previous Postdoctoral Fellowship in obesity and cardiovascular disease (McMaster) and Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pharmacy Practice.

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Dr. Sorensen has been with McMaster Family Medicine since 2015. She initially started her career in Belleville in 2009, working in the Queens University horizontal program in family medicine. She has a background as an emergency physician, primary care physician, and hospitalist. Currently she is active as a Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences tutor, family physician, and gender affirming physician. Dr. Sorensen assists patients with medical transitioning with the Shelter Health Network, and in her shared practice. In her personal time she enjoys riding horses, competing in dressage, and spending time with her family.

Special Interests: Gender Affirming Care, Comprehensive Family Medicine, Mental Health, Dressage Rider

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General family medicine, minor procedures, teaching residents.

Special Interests: general family medicine, minor procedures.

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Dr. Truong has been a faculty member of the Department of Family Medicine since 2020. She has a keen interest in simulation training, teaching and medical education. She enjoys travelling, playing tennis, trying new foods, and solving puzzles.

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Raj has worked in Hamilton since 1994. He has served as a CCFP(EM) Program Director, Hospital Deputy Chief and Chief and is the current Division Director. He enjoys hiking, skiing and scuba diving. In the summer, he enjoys golfing (poorly).

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Meredith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. She uses qualitative approaches to examine social and ethical issues related to health professional practice, education and health policy. In particular, Meredith studies how patients and primary care providers navigate socially and ethically complex care together. Socially or ethically complex care occurs in various places in primary care and Meredith has focused much of her research on complexity related to reproduction, birth, and the end of life. This work has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, College of Family Physicians of Canada, and the Greenwall Foundation.

Meredith has a PhD in Health Professional Education from Western University, and has completed postdoctoral studies in Health Policy at McMaster University. She has provided social and ethics evidence and consulting to provincial, national, and international health policy decision-makers.

Meredith supervises graduate students with relevant research interests in the following McMaster graduate programs: Health Policy (PhD), Health Research Methodology (MSc, PhD), Health Science Education (MHSEd).

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Dr. Heather Waters is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University  and has been with the Department since 2000.

Dr. Waters is the Hamilton Site Director for the Postgraduate Education Program, where she is responsible for the educational experience of Hamilton-based residents across all rotations. As a member of the impressive McMaster Family Health Team, Dr. Waters is actively involved in inter-professional education and practice at Stonechurch Family Health Centre with nurse practitioners, social workers, dieticians, occupational therapists, pharmacists, physician assistants, and psychiatrists.

Dr. Waters practices obstetrics at The Maternity Centre of Hamilton, an inter-professional team providing full obstetrical care to women and their families, with special expertise in the care of vulnerable populations. She is a Family Medicine Core Team Leader for the MORE-OB program at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, working collaboratively with colleagues in obstetrics, paediatrics, midwifery and nursing.

Dr. Waters has a keen interest in medical education, and enjoys teaching and curriculum development at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She is a longstanding facilitator in the Practice-based Small Group Learning Program (PBSG) for both peer and resident groups. She tutors family medicine residents in the Mental Health Behavioural Sciences Program, collaborating with social work and psychiatry. She has been a Co-Planner for the Communication Skills Curriculum in Professional Competencies, a component of McMaster’s Undergraduate Medical Program.

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Justin Weresch is a Family Physician and joined the Department of Family Medicine as a Locum Physician in 2016, and as an Assistant Professor in 2017. Dr. Weresch is a Family Physician at McMaster Family Practice. His clinical interests include Mental Health and Wellness, Musculoskeletal, and Sports Medicine. He has a strong interest in Post Graduate Medical Education (Resident Education) and is involved in the Residency Program as a primary clinical preceptor, the Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences (MHBS) Curriculum Co-ordinator, MHBS Tutor, and has an academic interest in Physician Resilience and Wellness.

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Dr. Weymes has been a preceptor to the KW and area family medicine residents since 2016 in a prenatal clinic. She works with a small group of family doctors who provide low-risk obstetrical care to patients delivering at Grand River Hospital. She also has an interest in women’s health and performs IUD insertions and endometrial biopsies in her office. She spends her spare time with her two young children who have taught her even more about pregnancy and motherhood.

Special Interests: Low-risk obstetrics, women’s health.

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Faculty member of the Department of Family Medicine since 2012. In Canada since 2012 but previously in Family Medicine in the UK since 1989 and graduated from Dundee University and Medical school, Scotland in 1984. Residency in family medicine included working in hospital subspecialties of Paediatrics(1 year) Obstetrics and Gynaecology (6 months) Internal medicine (1 year) Surgery and Urology (6 months) Psychiatry (6 months) Emergency Department (6 months) and Family Practice trainee for 1 year. Other interests include being a Forensic medical examiner for 7 years and an Immediate Medical Responder for Equestrian sports and Amateur Boxing.

Special Interests: Child Care, Sports Medicine, Psychiatry, simple minor operations, and various Family Medicine type procedures.

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Dr. Joyce Zazulak is a Full Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University and practises medicine at the Maternity Centre of Hamilton.

Dr. Zazulak’s academic areas of interest include teaching about the communication skills and patient centered care, Narrative Medicine and Health Humanities. She is the Faculty Development Director for Department of Family Medicine, as well as the Faculty Lead for Academic Support and Resident Remediation. Dr. Zazulak has a particular interest in the use of art and visual literacy in the training of healthcare professionals and, in collaboration with the McMaster Museum of Art, has developed a visual literacy program for family medicine residents called “The Art of Seeing.” Dr. Zazulak is also one the co-creators of the Indigenous Teaching Through Art Program.