The OCFP is excited to recognize the exceptional skill, expertise and commitment of family physicians, residents and medical students across Ontario through the 2024 Awards program. The recipients exemplify family physicians’ vital role in promoting the health of Ontarians.
Thanks to all who attended the 2024 OCFP Awards Ceremony on October 10, 2024 and congratulations to all recipients!
Reg L. Perkin Ontario Family Physician of the Year
The Family Physician of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding CFPC family physician member from Ontario who exemplifies the best of what being a family doctor is all about, including exceptional care of patients combined with a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of communities and society in general.
The award is named in honour of Dr. Reg L. Perkin, College of Family Physicians of Canada Executive Director from 1985 to 1996. The Reg L. Perkin recipient is chosen from the Regional Family Physician of the Year award recipients.
Dr. Stacy Desilets is a rural generalist family physician in northeastern Ontario. She completed her medical education at the University of Toronto, and her residency training in North Bay. She has lived and worked in Temiskaming Shores with her husband and two sons since 2008.
Throughout her career, her practice has included office-based medicine, hospitalist care, obstetrics, emergency medicine, surgical assists, and work as a coroner. Previously, she also provided primary care at Indigenous Family Health Team Mino M’sh Kiki and the Canadian Mental Health Association.
As an Associate Professor with NOSM University, Dr. Desilets has held many academic roles including Rural Stream Site Director, Family Medicine Program Director, Assessment Director, and Clerkship Site Liaison Clinician. She has represented NOSM University at provincial and national levels with projects such as the CFPC National Committee on Rural Education, and the Outcomes of Training Project. Her current leadership roles include Chief of Staff, Temiskaming Hospital, Chair, South Temiskaming Medical Education Group, and Secretary, Society of Rural Physicians of Canada.
Regional Family Physicians of the Year
The Regional Family Physician of the Year Award recognizes six physicians – one from each region of the province – who provide exemplary care to their patients and are passionately involved in activities that contribute to excellence in family medicine. This year was exceptional as we received multiple nominations for a pair of physicians who worked together in a region.
Drs. Julie Boucher and Chris Meilleur are bilingual rural generalist family physicians who have been caring for their community of Kapuskasing for 23 years.
Recognizing a gap in care in Kapuskasing, Dr. Boucher was instrumental in the establishment of the creation of the Francophone Community Health Centre, which provides care to the area’s large Francophone community. Additionally, Dr. Boucher advocated for the creation of a family health team (FHT) and in 2018, she served as the inaugural chair for the Kapuskasing FHT.
Drs. Boucher and Dr. Meilleur have been involved with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) University since its inception. As assistant professors with NOSM, they have provided direct clinical teaching to over 50 medical students and numerous family medicine residents over the years. Currently, Dr. Meilleur is the site director for the rural east stream of NOSM’s post graduate family medicine program, and was previously the site liaison clinician for Phase 2 students. In 2016, Dr. Boucher assumed the role of site liaison clinician for NOSM’s comprehensive community clerkship students, and both Drs. Boucher and Meilleur continue to guide and teach undergraduate and postgraduate medical learners today.
Dr. Rupa Patel is a family physician at the Kingston Community Health Cente and an assistant professor at the Queen’s University Department of Family Medicine. She is also program director for the Women’s Health Program, career advisor at the Queens University School of Medicine and a board member for CPSO.
Dr. Patel has worked in many settings over the past 30 years, including in remote areas of Northern Ontario as an oncologist, an obstetrician, and as a family physician in an academic teaching practice. Currently, she practices in a community health center setting caring for priority populations in an urban setting.
Dr. Patel is an advocate for generalist family medicine and continues to feel that family medicine is the best specialty. Her guiding motivations are service and social accountability which has helped her maintain a rewarding career. More recently, she has been leading initiatives to ensure access to care for the priority population of pregnant women and infants.
Dr. Aleem Hussain practices family medicine and community palliative care in Markham and Scarborough, serving a uniquely diverse and vibrant community.
A faculty member at the University of Toronto’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, Dr. Hussain is also a staff physician at Scarborough Health Network, and a director for the Muslim Medical Association of Canada.
Dr. Hussain finds great fulfillment in family medicine and is appreciative to his family, colleagues, support staff, students, and patients for allowing him to have such a meaningful career. He is particularly indebted to his mentor, Dr. Basel Bari, who exemplifies the clinical excellence and responsiveness to patient needs that all physicians should aspire to.
Dr. David Daien is a comprehensive care family physician and one of the founding physicians at Summerville Family Health Team.
Following his passion for integrated and patient centered primary care, Dr. Daien has held leadership positions for his local Health Link, the Medical Psychiatry Initiative, Trillium Health Partners, and the Quality Program Committee at University of Toronto’s Department of Family and Community Medicine.
Dr. Daien has extensive experience leading and implementing digital health projects that support high quality care including co-chairing the Clinical Working Group for Connecting Ontario and leading the first integration between the Ontario Laboratory Information System (OLIS) and an electronic medical record (EMR) system. He also developed one of the first hospital to community EMR integrations.
Currently, he is a Board Director for the Mississauga Halton Primary Care Network and Board Chair at OntarioMD. He is a Regional Primary Care Lead at Ontario Health and Digital Lead for Mississauga Health OHT and an Adjunct Professor at University of Toronto where he supports student and resident physicians.
Drs. Brenda Copps and Jean Mullens graduated from McMaster University in the early 1980s and reconnected a few years later to start their shared family practice in Hamilton.
Drs. Copps and Mullens have been steadfast partners for nearly 40 years, sharing input on complex cases and offering complimentary skills to the administrative aspects of running a successful practice. They chose to practice in an urban setting with a goal of serving a wide range of people with varied needs and backgrounds. Throughout their careers, they have both been driven by a passion for providing complete care and building strong relationships with their patients and colleagues, which has provided care for families across four generations.
Both physicians were early adopters of the Family Health Team model and joined the Hamilton Family Health Team (HFHT) in 2005 to provide wraparound care with integrated support from allied health professionals. Their dedication to quality improvement has fueled their continued involvement in various healthcare leadership roles including child health advisory lead for the HFHT (Dr. Mullens) and president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (Dr. Copps).
Drs. Copps and Mullens are grateful to be surrounded by a talented team of associates, physician’s assistants, nurses, allied health professionals, and administrative staff who have helped them embrace the changing landscape of family medicine.
Family Medicine Resident of the Year
The Family Medicine Resident of the Year Award – Ontario’s Rising Star recognizes a resident who is an emerging leader and advocate for family medicine, and demonstrates an initiative that is making positive contributions in areas such as patient care, peer support, advocacy, community service, research, and education.
Dr. Maria Leis is a family and emergency medicine resident physician at the University of Toronto, with a special interest in global health. Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Leis studied psychology at McGill University where she graduated as valedictorian, centering her speech on global gender inequalities.
Dr. Leis has a passion for promoting women in global leadership as well as women’s health. Currently, she serves as the National Resident Representative for the Federation of Medical Women of Canada within the University of Toronto. Previously, she was Director of Women in Medicine, the Women’s Health Education Initiative, and Medical Students for Choice.
Additionally, Dr. Leis has a particular interest in global gender disparities, gender-based violence and the intersection with emergency medical care; her current research examines the impact of gender-based violence against female sex workers in Kenya on HIV prevention and emergency medical care service utilization. She also advocates for youth empowerment and against gender-based violence as a Canadian delegate for the United Nations.
Medical Student of the Year
The Medical Student of the Year Award is presented to a medical student who is an emerging leader and advocate for family medicine and has made contributions to family medicine and/or primary care in areas such as patient care, peer support, advocacy, community service, research, and education.
Dr. Hunster Yang is a recent graduate from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto (UofT). Prior to medical school, he completed a Master of Science in Global Health at McMaster University and Bachelor of Science with an Honours Specialization in Neuroscience at Western University. Currently, Dr. Yang is a PGY-1 family medicine resident at UofT.
Dr. Yang is deeply committed to health equity and community engagement. He co-launched the Institute for Youth Health and Development, a non-profit dedicated to engaging racialized, immigrant and refugee youth in participatory action research and policymaking to enhance community health. Additionally, as a co-lead of the Toronto Political Advocacy Committee, Dr. Yang organized workshops and lobby days to engage with city councillors on critical issues such as homelessness and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccinations. He has also led various mentorship programs, providing guidance and support to equity-seeking high school and undergraduate students.
After residency, Dr. Yang plans to work as a community-based family physician, providing locum support to rural communities and addressing the diverse needs of vulnerable populations in Ontario.
2024 Awards of Excellence
The Award of Excellence recognizes an exceptional accomplishment or innovation achieved within the past 24 months in a specific area or for a specific project pertaining to the specialty of family medicine.
The Award of Excellence recognizes outstanding contributions in a specific area pertaining to the specialty of family medicine: patient care, community service, hospital or health-care institutions, College activities (CFPC or OCFP), teaching, research or other elements of the academic discipline of family medicine.
After a 40-year career as a family and palliative care physician, Dr. John Beamish retired from daily practice in 2023.
In 2018, he became Hospice Peterborough’s medical director for community programs and the hospice care centre which opened in 2019, a 10-bed residence providing around-the-clock end-of-life care for patients and their family.
After retirement, Dr. Beamish collaborated with a small group of colleagues to establish Peterborough Street Medicine. This group, under an alternate payment plan model, will deliver primary care services to the homeless and under housed. They will work closely with other community agencies to provide consistent, predictable care to this underserviced community.
Dr. Kate Greenaway is a queer family physician who has been providing gender-affirming care as a part of her practice for 20 years. She completed her undergraduate degree at Dalhousie University, and residency at the University of Toronto. She completed her Master of Public Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health in Public Health Policy and Family Medicine.
She has been a long-time advocate for queer and trans communities and has led changes to provincial health systems and medical training programs to improve health equity for 2SLGBTQ+ people. She was the founder of Connect-Clinic, a pre-pandemic virtual care program for trans and nonbinary people. She is now the medical director of a multi-province virtual gender-affirming care program and a consultant at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Gender Identity Clinic. Additionally, Dr. Greenaway is an educator in Project ECHO® Ontario’s Trans and Gender Diverse Health Care program.
Dr. Megan Landes is an attending emergency physician at the University Health Network (UHN) and is an associate professor and clinician investigator in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.
In the last two decades, Dr. Landes has completed clinical work in Lesotho, Malawi and Ethiopia in both emergency medicine and HIV services. As a researcher, she has specialized in operational research around the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and was a research scientist with Dignitas International in Malawi.
Additionally, her research interests include the delivery of emergency medicine services in low-resource settings. She is a founding member and former director of the Centre for Global Equity in Emergency Medicine. She was the founding co-director and now the strategic director of the Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration in Emergency Medicine, which is working with Addis Ababa University to deliver Ethiopia’s first emergency medicine residency program.
Dr. Maria Muraca is a family physician who has been practicing comprehensive family medicine in North York since 2005. She completed her residency in family medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital through the University of Toronto (UofT). Currently, she is an assistant professor at UofT, Department of Family and Community Medicine, and instructs students at all levels of their medical training. In addition to her family practice, she acts as the consultant physician in the Charlotte and Lewis Steinberg High Risk Breast and Ovarian Cancer Clinic at North York General Hospital.
For eight years, Dr. Muraca has served as the medical director of the North York Family Health Team. Since 2018, she has been an active participant at the core table of the North York Toronto Health Partners OHT and now acts as a co-chair of its Primary Care Network. Through these roles, Dr. Muraca seeks to improve integration of the health system and the delivery of high-quality primary care.
Dr. Rebecca Stoller is a family physician who has been practising comprehensive family medicine in North York for 20 years. As an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, she has been involved in teaching medical students, residents as well as faculty. Previously, Dr. Stoller served as the lead for faculty development for the Department of Family and Community Medicine at North York General Hospital from 2014 until 2019.
Dr. Stoller has been involved in the development of the North York Toronto Health Partners Ontario Health Team since its inception in 2019 where she was the primary care engagement lead and the current co-chair of the Primary Care Advisory Council. She is enthusiastic about co-designing a more integrated and connected health care system for both patients and providers.
