Our People / Our Faculty

New tenure-track position strengthens our Indigenous health program

In March 2023 we welcomed Indigenous health researcher Amy Shawanda as a tenure-track Assistant Professor and Indigenous Scholar in the Department of Family Medicine. Her official appointment started on August 1, 2023.

An Odawa Kwe, Prof. Shawanda was born and raised in Wikwemikong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. With a background in Law and Justice and Indigenous Studies, she received her Master’s in Indigenous Relations from Laurentian University and her PhD from Trent University. Her doctoral research focused on Anishinaabe Motherhood, examining the challenges and strengths of traditional teachings and pedagogies in the 21st century.

In an interview for our newsletter, she expressed her strong sense of responsibility to represent marginalized voices and to help unburden Indigenous medical professionals from having to educate those who are not Indigenous.

We are tremendously grateful to benefit from her specialized knowledge of Indigenous ways of being, doing, knowing and reclaiming. “Health is a broad term which I love,” says Shawanda. “For Indigenous Peoples, we can’t just talk about one aspect and isolate it, because it is all interconnected.”

“Western culture is very singular and Indigenous cultures are very communal,” she adds. “We are always thinking of our actions and our children and those past, present and future generations.”

Pain management expert rejoins our Faculty

In May 2023, we also welcomed Mark Ware as a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, Director of the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Alan Edwards Chair in Clinical Pain.

For over 20 years, Dr. Ware has been working to evaluate patientdriven questions concerning the safe and effective control of pain and its consequences. This led him to studying the use, safety and effectiveness of medicines derived from cannabis (cannabinoids), as well as efforts to understand the potential role of complementary and integrative approaches to pain management.

“1 in 5 adult Canadians lives in and with chronic pain. This comes at a huge cost to society, both directly and indirectly, including loss of work and disruptions to the patient’s social structures and quality of life,” says Ware. “It’s important that we have an academic presence alongside patient advocacy to lead and guide better pain control.”

Highlights from a busy year at Academic Affairs

In Academic Affairs, we strive to support our teachers in their academic mission as we oversee new hires, reappointments and the achievement of tenure, as well as the promotion and recruitment of tenure-track academics. The past year has seen many achievements, not the least of which was the clearing of the academic appointment backlog that had been created due to the pandemic and our staff shortage of 2020–2021.

To enhance our Indigenous health program, we underwent a rigorous recruitment process over the course of a year and a half. This involved many meetings, pre-screenings of applicants, and in-person interviews with shortlisted candidates. We are delighted to welcome Amy Shawanda as the successful candidate (see the separate article).

Congratulations as well to Prof. Tibor Schuster, Graduate Program Director of the PhD program and post-doctoral fellows, for obtaining tenure — and to Dr. Ann Macaulay on the honorific designation of Professor Emerita, the first in our department to be granted this distinction. She adds this to her many honours, including an Order of Canada and a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for her contributions to Indigenous health and her leadership in participatory research.

Faculty kudos

Alexandra de Pokomandy and Bertrand Lebouché received FRQS Senior awards and joined the ranks of permanent members of our academic faculty.

Tracie Barnett and Tibor Schuster obtained tenure in the Department of Family Medicine.

Faculty Development

A community that loves to learn and teach

With a vision to encourage academic excellence, the Faculty Development unit supports department members in their academic roles and provides resources, support and development opportunities. We strive to create a family medicine community that loves to teach and is excited to learn.

The past year was one of organization and innovation, with streamlined processes and the implementation of new software for online course creation. Along with helping to plan a successful departmental retreat, Faculty Development coordinated many important initiatives, including: n Fundamental Topics in Faculty Development for Clinical Teachers, a 2-year, 8-module course, is geared to new teachers, across 10 teaching sites with 116 participants and 35 projected graduates; n “Our Words Matter” campaign, a microaggression learning activity and collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, was completed by 1,300 participants; n Telemedicine, a collaboration with Postgraduate Residency & Enhanced Skills Programs, helped residents understand what telemedicine is and learn how to practice virtual care safely, was completed by 86 participants; n Community Social Pediatrics course, a collaboration with Fondation Dr. Julien, a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure access to community social pediatrics so that as many vulnerable children as possible get the care and services that respect basic rights.

Retreat 2022: Back together in person!

On October 27 and 28, close to 250 members of the Department of Family Medicine gathered for the first time in two years for a retreat with the theme “Family Medicine: Our Passion, Ourselves”.

Organized by the Faculty Development unit, the event took place at our offices on 5858 Côte-des-Neiges. After opening remarks from Department Chair Dr. Marion Dove, members took part in a workshop on charting a family medicine career path, followed by various discussion groups based on lifecycle interest.

The afternoon continued with discussion groups focused on special interests that ranged from unlearning colonial mindsets to creating respectful environments to using the power of a network to connect practice-based clinical research.

A special ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on the evening of October 27 to celebrate the completion of the Department’s new office space, now spread over three floors. On October 28, the retreat continued with a plenary on “Planning for the Future” with Dr. Dove. Participants then shared their reasons for choosing to work in Family Medicine at McGill. Frequent answers included “teaching opportunities”, “community”, and “supportive environment”.

No surprise that the retreat received an overall rating of 8.75 out of 10 from the participants. Kudos to the Faculty Development unit and the Department of Family Medicine’s administrative staff for coordinating this very successful event.

Buddying up for a great learning experience

In August 2022, the Family Medicine Graduate Student Society (FMGSS) launched a new Buddy Program that paired new students with a current MSc or PhD student in the Department of Family Medicine. Follow them on the FMGSS Facebook page or the FMGSS blog

A health check for primary care in Quebec

On March 18th, 2023, medical students from the Family Medicine Student Interest Group (FamSIG) organized the 14th edition of the Family Medicine Student Symposium, an annual event which promotes Family Medicine through various presentations and workshops. Each year, more than 500 medical students from 5 universities (Université de Montréal, Université Laval, Université de Sherbrooke, University of Ottawa and McGill University) reunite for this symposium.

On May 17 and 18, 2023, the FMGSS organized the 8th Annual McGill Family Medicine Research Symposium, in collaboration with the Department of Family Medicine and the McGill Journal of Medicine. With the theme of “Improving Primary Care in Quebec”, this successful two-day event included workshops, networking and presentations.

Celebrating our graduating residents

Convocation was held in person, at the Rialto Theatre, for Family Medicine residents who had completed much of their residency training during the pandemic. This was the first such event in more than two years and an amazing opportunity to come together as a program “in real life”. We congratulate all our graduates and wish them the very best as they begin their next chapter!