Peer Connect provides an empowering space to continue your learning journey in one-to-one or small group settings. Through this free, MainPro-certified program, you’ll receive tailored support to skillfully respond to mental health issues, address substance use disorders, and chronic pain challenges in your practice, while also making space to prioritize and strengthen your own well-being.
Become a Peer Learner
As a Peer Learner, you will work collaboratively with a Peer Guide to identify and develop your strengths, building on existing skills to find practical solutions to complex issues.
“[Peer Connect] is a supported channel of communication that has enriched my knowledge. I am a better physician today. Great program and Peer physician.” — Peer Connect Participant
Elevating Excellence: Mentorship Development in Family Medicine
Grow your skillset in adult learning principles, navigating complexity and wellness through this self-learning program.
“Every (clinical) encounter is an opportunity for all involved to learn and to heal. Practicing as a family physician is an honour that is easy to dismiss when preoccupied by paperwork and the belief that we need to fix or refer. Sitting with people while ‘playing doctor’ & witnessing the complexity of being alive is a privilege that requires humility, skillfulness & a compassionate circle of support.”
Bio
My name is Chase. I live and work in Tkarón:to | GichiKiiwenging, though come from Lethbridge, which is on traditional Siksikaitsitapi | Blackfoot Confederacy Territory and is covered by Treaty 7. My clan is the Turtle and my spirit name is Water Song Medicine Keeper. My ancestors are Michif/Métis, Celtic, French and Ukrainian. Clinically, I am privileged to provide medical psychotherapy, primarily for physicians and artists struggling with grief and overwhelm, and I also have a small home-visiting palliative practice for long-living people with advanced illness. Currently, I am serving as the Indigenous Health Theme Lead in the MD Program and the Indigenous Practitioner Liaison within the Office of Indigenous Health in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. At the moment, I am honoured to co-chair the National Consortium for Indigenous Medical Education (NCIME) Working Group on Physician Wellness and Joy in Work.
(Profile photo: Stef & Ethan)
Communities Served
A home-visiting physician for long-living people with advanced illness, and an integrative psychotherapist for professional artists & physicians.
In My Own Words
I am a certified practitioner of both the Hakomi Method and Deirdre Fay’s Becoming Safely Embodied Model. Carefully integrating auricular acupuncture (based on the NADA protocol) and harp therapy into my practice has been nourishing for me. For several years, I have been training as a nâtawihôwêw* [not-a-way-who-ee-oo], or Medicine Man (*in Michif) and appreciate the complexity & nuance involved.
Past Sessions
Navigating undifferentiated distress during the pandemic – February 23, 2022 Practising Well CoP
Self-management for chronic pain – June 23, 2021 Practising Well CoP
Grief Medicine: Giving space for acknowledging life’s losses – June 22, 2022 Practising Well CoP
OCFP Programs
Peer Connect
Mood Disorders: Comprehensive and Realistic Strategies for Primary Care
Joan Chan is a human being who holds the roles of mother of two sons, wife of one husband, superfan of Ru-Paul’s Drag Race, and family physician of a thousand patients in Guelph, ON. She also serves her medical community as a restorative medical educator, using courses, workshops, and coaching to facilitate the reconnection of medical practitioners with their humanity. She loves working with burnt-out clinicians to build sustainable and even enjoyable experiences of medical practice – and believes this is the key to saving our healthcare system as a whole.
Communities Served
My patients live in Guelph and the surrounding region. They represent a wide variety of identities, including a big range of income levels, occupations, and socialized identities as well.
OCFP Programs
Practising Well
Clinical Interest
Physician Wellness
Showing biography of Dr. Judy Suke .
“I feel privileged and honored to support people, including physicians, in their journey to improve their sense of well-being and desired function”
Identifies As: White (Caucasian)
OH Region: North Region (NE/NW)
Practice Model: GP Focused Practice
Bio
Dr. Judy Suke is a Family Physician practicing exclusively in Medical Psychotherapy, with a practice focus supporting physicians. Dr. Suke transitioned her work towards this area of passion in January 2022 after eight rewarding years in General Family Practice, during which time she pursued her training and then practiced with a subspecialty in Medical Psychotherapy. With an interest in Public Health, she found the timing right to focus her energies within this area of medicine. Her training in Medical Psychotherapy began at the Beck Institute in Philadelphia and involved a formal Change of Scope process with the CPSO. Her work has grown to explore Trauma Informed Treatment Approaches. After valuing her own OCFP Practising Well Peer Learner experience she is eager to give back.
When not at work, she can be found with her family enjoying trails by foot, on a bike, on cross country skis or exploring waterways by canoe.
Communities Served
Dr. Suke’s practice is composed of about 80% physician patients and 20% from referrals from her local Family Health Team in Haliburton, Ontario.
Peer Connect provides educational support to family physicians at all stages of their career across Ontario. It is not a clinical consultation support for specific patients.
