Heart of Family Medicine

Dr. Jovita Beyer set out on a journey towards family medicine thanks to her rugby coach who also happened to be the family physician in her hometown of Rocky Mountain House. Throughout her career, Dr. Beyer credits mentors who have shaped her into the family doctor she is today, and how mentoring others has enriched her life and practice. Listen in to gain perspective on how mentorship can lead the way to wellness.

In this episode, Dr. Shirley Schipper bravely shares personal experiences and tribulations she has faced as a woman in leadership positions over the years. Listen to Dr. Schipper's honest take on the good, the bad, and the hope for equitable opportunities for leaders in medicine. 

Dr. Rollie Nichol's story begins with his military upbringing that shaped his aspiration for leadership. Family medicine may not have initially been on his radar, but it soon became his calling. Find out how Dr. Nichol discovered his path to family medicine, how the specialty has evolved over the years, and how he pushes the boundaries to ask ‘what's next' in these changing times.

Having started his professional career as a civil engineer, Dr. Allan Bailey quickly realized that his astute problem solving and systems thinking skills could quickly be transplanted into a different sector—health care. Realizing his childhood dream, Dr. Bailey found a new path in family medicine and has been building connections with his patients and community partners ever since.

After more than 30 years of rural family practice and 28 years as a family doctor in the community of Pincher Creek, Dr. Cathy Scrimshaw reflects on her time in rural family practice—the significant patient relationships she's developed over the years, what it has meant to her personally, and what the future of family medicine and family practice holds.

Meet AIVCC Medical Director, Dr. Amy Gausvik and family physician Nicole Cardinal as they discuss the recent launch of the Alberta Indigenous Virtual Care Clinic—its purpose and importance in providing adaptive, community-based care for remote and rural patient populations. More information on the AIVCC can be found at https://aivcc.ca/.

Having been diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 18 months didn't stop Matt from achieving and excelling at all things he does. Matt is an accomplished meteorologist and, in his spare time, a public speaker, advocating and educating people on the importance of inclusion of people with physical disabilities. On this podcast, Matt shares his patient story about the challenges and successes he has experienced through the health care system.

Drs. Marjan Abbasi and Sheny Khera have created and lead real and tangible positive change for the senior patient population by developing a primary health care model for healthy aging. Rooted in the Patient's Medical Home (PMH) vision, Drs. Abbasi and Khera designed a proactive and preventative care model by including the patient, their families, and the care teams who support them in the design, development, and implementation of it. The wholistic and comprehensive care model not only looks at the PMH vision but the whole health and wellness neighbourhood primary care networks and partner organizations can provide.

Dr. Susan Adelman is a champion and advocate for her patients wherever she practises—be it in the northern Alberta community of Peerless Trout First Nation to Stand Off, Alberta within the Blood Tribe community, or her street outreach work for safe substance use. Listen to Dr. Adelman while she shares her perspective on serving underserved populations and provides an exemplary model of how to build empathy and understanding for patients. 

Finding a way to connect the dots to solve the big problems family physicians and their practices face is what keeps Dr. Scott Garrison going. Learn how a simple conversation with his patient informed his passion to help family physicians answer the big questions and changed his professional trajectory.

A dash of humility, a splash of collaboration, and a healthy pinch of communication are just a few of the essential ingredients Dr. Edward Denga believes are baked into all family physicians. But what is the secret ingredient you might ask? With over 25 years of experience in comprehensive care, Dr. Denga's episode reveals how an interest in people (and their stories) ultimately lead to the overall success of healthy patients and communities. 

Westlock family doctor, Noel DaCunha has been the town family doctor for 30 years. He has developed relationships with his patients that span over four or five generations in some cases. Learn more about what it's like to be a rural family doctor; why he continues to choose to practise in rural Alberta and how he finds optimism in this trying time.

Take a moment to listen to ACFP Executive Director and the Heart of Family Medicine Podcast host Terri Potter as she sits down with Dr. James Makokis and learn about his journey to become a family physician and how he is serving a unique patient population. Understand how his upbringing has informed his perspective to provide whole-person and compassionate, life-saving therapy.

In this episode you will hear from Dr. Doug Woudstra, an Edmonton family physician who had a drive and desire to do more after having established a career in physical therapy. His desire took him abroad to get a first-hand look at global health. After working as a volunteer in Gabon in Central Africa and rural South Africa, Dr. Woudstra returned to Canada to work in rural medicine in Alberta and finally settled in Edmonton. Having a broad breadth of experience, Dr. Woudstra discusses the special bond family physicians and patients build of time and the necessity to protect Alberta's legacy of strong primary health care.

Listen to Dr. Adam Vyse explain how their small town response made a big difference to managing the Cargill outbreak. Dr. Vyse describes how  by relying on strong relationships, close networks, thoughtful foresight, and practical application of primary health care guidelines enabled the Calgary Zone Primary Care Network, Calgary Rural PCN, and the town of High River manage one of North America's single largest COVID-19 outbreak.

Dr. Sudha Koppula not only serves and cares for her patients and their families but she is also fortunate enough to have a health team of colleagues helping her every step of the way to do so. Be it preventative care, a patient in crisis, or navigating safely through a pandemic, patient care is at the center of the Patient's Medical Home. The MUHC's design was not by accident, building an PMH was intentional as infrastructure to support a PMH is critical. Creating strong PMH health teams is an important and deliberate effort to build trusted relationships among patients, their family doctors, and their PMH health teams. And nurturing a patient relationship over time is at the foundation of family medicine and essential to a PMH. Listen to Sudha's story and how she and her practice are making a difference.

Listen to Dr. Jessica Kirkwood as she chronicles her “accidental journey” into family medicine and the 10-year practice that has since followed. Gain insight into how adaptive family medicine can be during a pandemic crisis, all the while maintaining and building trusted relationships with patients.

Dr. Bonnie Larson reveals a few of the mechanism's family physicians can leverage to create meaningful and lasting social change. Identifying the systemic health inequities is only the first step in this long-term journey, it's also met with advocacy and empowerment of the patient in front of you. Find out more through Dr. Larson's journey of implementation from a locally organized grassroot movements to addressing a global pandemic.

Join Dr. Dinesh Witharana, a family doc who focuses on community primary care of palliative patients, for an impassioned discussion on how family medicine can be the proverbial ‘apple a day' is preventing patients slipping through system level cracks. Learn about whole life care journey and the honour a family physician has is travelling with you.

Thank you for tuning into the Alberta College of Family Physician's podcast The Heart of Family Medicine. This podcast will explore stories that demonstrate the unique and trusted relationships that Albertans have with their family physicians. The interviews and stories will communicate the collective contributions, capabilities, and commitments of family physicians to the people of Alberta. Family physicians have a special role in the health care system due to their broad scope of practice and relationships with other healthcare providers. They work diligently both within and outside of their practices to provide excellent care to their patients and contribute to the health of their communities and the advancement of family medicine. We often define the specialty of family medicine using the head, the hands, and the heart as an analogy. With the head encompassing the medical information and knowledge gathered during medical school; the hands acting as the catalyst to apply the skills and knowledge developed; and lastly the compassion and the emotional intelligence to be able to connect and communicate with the people they serve symbolizing the Heart of Family Medicine. We hope you enjoy our podcast and continue to hear more from us. Signing off, this is Terri Potter, the executive director of the Alberta College of Family Physicians.