The OCFP is proud to celebrate the outstanding skill, knowledge and dedication of family doctors across Ontario through the 2023 Awards program. The recipients showcase the vital work family doctors do to help keep Ontarians healthy.
Thanks to all who attended the 2023 OCFP Awards Ceremony on November 22, 2023 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. Brown-Shreves is a family physician with a passion for serving others. She grew up in Jamaica and completed her medical school training at the University of the West Indies. She later completed her family medicine residency training at the University of Ottawa in 2012.
Dr. Brown-Shreves is the founder and executive medical director of Restore Medical Clinics, the first black-led multidisciplinary clinic of its kind in Ottawa. Her practice is focused on providing comprehensive, collaborative and compassionate care to the community with an emphasis on vulnerable populations.
In addition to her clinical accomplishments, she has various academic achievements. Dr. Brown-Shreves is an assistant professor at Queen’s University and the University of Ottawa. In this role, she is an avid preceptor and supports many students throughout their training.
Dr. Brown-Shreves is a healthcare leader who sits on several leadership tables both locally and provincially, advocating for patients and contributing to health system change.
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.
Dr. Kvas graduated from University of Toronto in 1991 and upon completion of his family medicine residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in 1993, he moved north to Timmins.
As a family doctor in Northern Ontario, Dr. Kvas is known to provide many types of specialized care. For over 30 years, he has managed a large family practice and completed minor procedures and provided emergency, trauma and obstetric care at Timmins District Hospital. In addition, after recognizing a gap in Stroke care in his community, in conjunction with the Ontario Stroke Network and Telestroke, he organized a team of family doctors that have a special interest in providing acute stroke care.
He is an Associate Professor at Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), where he has taught countless medical students and residents and always aims to demonstrate a good balance between education, professionalism and fun.
In his spare time, Dr. Kvas enjoys taking part in all the athletic extracurriculars that Timmins has to offer, including hockey, soccer and kayaking. He is also the proud founding member of the Timmins Tennis and Squash Club.
Dr. Noack completed her family medicine residency through McMaster University’s Northern Ontario Medical Program’s (NOMP) last cohort in Thunder Bay in 2008. She then stayed on to complete Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s (NOSM) first ever PGY-3 in Enhanced Maternal Skills, which only included Dr. Noack and one other doctor.
Currently, Dr. Noack is a rural generalist who has practiced in Kenora, Ontario for the past 11 years. Her scope of practice includes, an office-based practice, working in a high acuity ER, caring for First Nations patients, providing women’s health consults to the region, delivering babies, supporting high-risk pregnancies, caring for women who struggle with addictions while pregnant and assisting the visiting gynecologist in the operating room.
As an assistant professor at NOSM, she has become an award-winning preceptor for clerks and residents.
Dr. Asrar is a Mississauga-based family physician who has merged his expertise in family medicine, public health and preventive medicine (PHPM). During his residency, he trained at the joint PHPM and Family Medicine programs at McMaster University. He also holds graduate degrees from the University of Toronto and University of Waterloo. Currently, he serves as the Trillium Health Partners’ Physician Lead for THP@home and the Physician Research Lead for the Family Medicine Teaching Units at Credit Valley and Mississauga hospitals. Simultaneously, he is an associate professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto and cross-appointed with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Global Faculty member at the International Space University and Adjunct Faculty at McMaster University, underscoring his dedication to academic excellence.
Dr. Asrar’s global impact extends beyond his clinical practice, being an internationally recognized leader, physician, educator and researcher in public health, family medicine, space medicine, EDIA, and medical education. His passion for education and research has fostered international collaborations, resulting in him leading international teams and projects and numerous publications in renowned journals from around the world.
Dr. Culbert graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2000 and completed her family medicine residency training through the University of Toronto (UofT) at Sunnybrook Health Sciences (Sunnybrook).
Since graduating, Dr. Culbert has continued her work on the Sunnybrook Academic Family Health Team. She is active in medical education and her clinical focus is on older patients with complex chronic care needs.
Recently, Dr. Culbert was involved in a pilot project with the North Toronto Ontario Health Team to develop and implement a Neighbourhood Care Team model to address the health and social needs of tenants living in Toronto Seniors Housing.
She enjoys being part of a team with her inter-professional care colleagues at Sunnybrook and is passionate about providing home–based primary care to patents most in need. She considers herself very fortunate to be working at the site where she was trained and credits her love of being a family physician to the incredible group of family doctors who taught and mentored her over the years.
Dr. Pillisch graduated from the University of Manitoba, and later completed her family practice residency. Throughout her training, she was certain that she would practice rural family medicine, which led her to settling down in the small town of Durham, a town that has welcomed and supported her for the past 30 years.
Dr. Pillisch credits many years of working with the excellent staff and colleagues in the hospital, long-term care home and clinic, along with the many patients she has cared for, in enriching her life as a country doctor.
Throughout her career, she has provided care for her patients through preventative care, obstetrics, surgical assists, palliative care, inpatient care, emergency care in the ER and providing home visits. Most recently, she has also stepped into the role of Medical Director for the local long-term care facility.
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. Lam graduated from the University of Toronto’s (UofT) medical school in 2021 and recently completed his family medicine residency with the St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team. Prior to pursuing a career in medicine, Dr. Lam practiced as a public health epidemiologist. Drawing on his previous experience and exposure, he was motivated to further his training in the Public Health and Preventive Medicine residency program at UofT. Informed by his primary care training, his goal is to address population health needs and tackle health inequities.
Throughout his post-graduate training, he actively advocated for the family medicine resident experience at both local and national levels. He served as a key member in the Family Medicine Residents Association of Toronto, chaired the College of Family Physicians of Canada’s Section of Residents, and held a board member position for the Resident Doctors of Canada.
Since completing his family medicine residency training, Dr. Lam has provided locum support in clinics and emergency departments in rural Ontario communities and delivered obstetric and in-patient care to help meet the communities’ broad-scope family medicine needs.
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.
Nusha Ramsoondar, originally from Trinidad and Tobago is currently a fourth-year medical student at Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM) and lives in Thunder Bay. While on placement in Northern communities of Dryden and Timmins, she developed a passion for full-scope rural family medicine and caring for the vulnerable populations who make up these communities.
As the previous inaugural Vice President of Equity and Inclusion for the NOSM student council and a member of the SAFE for Health Institute’s research team, she is focused on equity-oriented social accountability, creating new opportunities for marginalized learners and using a health equity lens in her future practice.
Upon graduation, she plans to use the skills learned during her community placements in Dryden and Timmins to work in other rural communities in Northern Ontario, providing locum coverage to fill gaps in health-care services.
2023 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.
Dr. Anil Gupta is recognized for conducting ground-breaking research on sotrovimab as a COVID-19 therapeutic, that had an immediate and positive global impact on the clinical management of COVID-19.Dr. Gupta supported several COVID–19 related studies that helped further the understanding and ability of doctors to treat patients during this critical time. His research entitled, “Effect of Sotrovimab on Hospitalization and Death in High-Risk Patient with Mild to Moderate COVID-19, A Randomized Clinical Trial” has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Leung is recognized for his exceptional dedication to medical education and clinical teaching and taking the lead to rejuvenate the University of Toronto’s One Pager project.With several leadership roles in education at a local, provincial and national level, Dr. Leung has been involved in improving and enhancing the educational and training experience of medical students and residents. During the pandemic, he published numerous works on advancing medical education through virtual platforms, including providing virtual supervision of residentsand teaching clinical skillsvirtually.
Dr. Isfan is recognized for her significant contributions to physician wellness and development of innovative programs to build physician resilience and reduce burnout. Dr. Isfan developed Haven Compassion Rounds, a unique approach to facilitated group peer support, whichis now offered to doctors across all disciplines throughout Canada through the Canadian Medical Association. She has dedicated her professional career to “healing the healers,” helping to ensure that her peers have the skills and expertise to be well, thrive and succeed in today’s challenging clinical environments.
Dr. Murji is recognized for his leadership and commitment to health equity through the creation of the VaxFacts Clinic, a first-of-its-kind vaccine confidence clinic in Canada. Since its inception, the clinic has provided more than 2,500 one-on-one, judgment-free phone consultations that led to approximately 84 per centof consults choosing to becomevaccinated after their session. By emphasizing the importance of open communication, patient-centered care and building trust, Dr. Murji’s work has demonstrated the potential of targeted interventions in addressing vaccine hesitancy and improving public health outcomesand the vital role family physicians play in addressing complex public health challenges.
Dr. Lewin is recognized for his leadership in creating The Conversation Labto address system-level gaps in education and support in palliative care for patients, families and clinicians across Ontario. Dr. Lewin’s program has built practical tools for holding advance care planning conversations in clinical practice, in-person and virtual educational sessions, research initiatives and an innovative community of practice to maintain skills. To date, his tools have been adopted across three hospital sites and more than 250 clinicians have been trained through this program, resultinginpositiveimpacts on patient care.
