Otsi'tsakèn:ra (Charles Patton)
Elder
Otsi’tsakèn:ra (Charles Patton) is a respected elder of the Kanien’keha:ka community of Kahnawa:ke, on the south shore of Otsira:ke (Hochelaga/Montreal) - the northern section of Kanien’keha:ka ancestral territory. His name Otsi’tsakèn:ra means Spotted Flower; he is Rotiskarewake (Bear Clan), married to Niioie:ren for 51 years, with three sons and seven grandchildren. He has been involved in spiritual and civic affairs of the Ronatha:te Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk Trail) Longhouse in Kahnawá:ke and throughout the Haudenosaunee territory for over 46 years. He is committed to ensuring the continuance of Kanien’kehá:ka tradition, language, spirituality, ceremony and culture.
Dr. Caroline Gérin-Lajoie
Host
Dr. Caroline Gérin-Lajoie is a psychiatrist and assistant professor at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine, where she spent five years as director of the Faculty Wellness Program. For the past two decades, she has worked at The Ottawa Hospital in various leadership, teaching and clinical roles, including as the first Medical Lead of the Psychosocial Oncology Program and first Medical Director of Physician Health and Wellness. In 2019, she joined the Canadian Medical Association as its first Executive Vice-President of Physician Wellness and Medical Culture. Her areas of research and expertise include psychosocial oncology, physician health and wellness, and disruptive behaviour.
Day 1
Dr. Jane Lemaire
Plenary speaker
Dr. Jane Lemaire is a Clinical Professor of Medicine and consultant in General Internal Medicine. She holds multiple positions relating to physician wellness including: Vice Chair, Physician Wellness and Vitality, Department of Medicine; Director of Wellness, Office of Professionalism, Equity and Diversity; and Wellness Lead, W21C Research and Innovation Center at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. Dr. Lemaire is also the co-director of Well Doc Alberta and the Well Doc Canada Pilot Project.
Dr. Kathleen Ross
Plenary speaker
Dr. Kathleen Ross is CMA President and a family physician in Coquitlam and New Westminster, BC. She is a recognized expert in physician leadership and quality improvement. Dr. Ross has held numerous leadership roles throughout her career, including president of Doctors of BC, and is committed to fostering inclusive, diverse and anti-racist practices in health care. With an interest in advancing technology in front-line clinical care, she served as physician lead and chair of the Pathways Patient Referral Association, an indispensable online clinical and referral tool for physicians in BC and the Yukon. She is an avid volunteer in her community and internationally and has received several awards for her global humanitarian work.
Dr. Marie Brown
Plenary speaker
Dr. Marie Brown is an Internal Medicine specialist, Director of Practice Redesign for the American Medical Association, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush Medical College, past governor of the American College of Physicians (ACP) and ABIM Board member. She has practiced as an internist for over 30 years in several settings. Dr. Brown is also a frequent guest lecturer at academic, national and international health care conferences. Her areas of expertise and publication include: practice efficiency, joy in medicine, medication adherence, adult immunizations and diabetes. She is also the medical director for the Malcolm X City Colleges of Chicago Medical Assisting Program.
Day 2
Dr. Kristin Neff
Plenary speaker
Dr. Kristin Neff is an associate professor in educational psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. She is one of the most influential researchers in psychology and a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion nearly twenty years ago. She has authored several best-selling books including Self-Compassion, The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and her latest, Fierce Self-Compassion: How women can harness kindness to speak up, claim their power and thrive.
Dr. Jillian Horton
PLENARY DEBATE MODERATOR
Dr. Jillian Horton is an associate professor of Internal Medicine at the Health Sciences Centre and the University of Manitoba. She completed a longitudinal internship in teaching Mindful Practice at the University of Rochester and Chief Wellness Officer training at Stanford University. She is also the best-selling author of We Are All Perfectly Fine: A Memoir of Love, Medicine and Healing, and her writing about medicine and medical culture regularly appears in several outlets across Canada and the United States. In April 2020 Dr. Horton was awarded the Gold Humanism award by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada for her national contributions to compassion in clinical care and her leadership in the field of humanities in medical education.
Dr. Andrew Ajisebutu
Plenary DEBATEr
Dr. Andrew Ajisebutu is a neurosurgery resident from the University of Manitoba. He graduated with his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Manitoba in 2019, where he served as president of the class of 2019 and was selected valedictorian. He began his neurosurgical residency at the University of Manitoba in 2019, but his research interest in neuro-oncology brought him to the University of Toronto where he is concurrently completing his Ph.D.
Dr. Marie-Ève Goyer
PLENARY DEBATER
Dr. Marie-Ève Goyer is a family physician with a Master's degree in public health. She is the medical chief of addiction and homelessness services at CIUSSS Centre-Sud-de-l’île-de-Montréal and the scientific director of the clinical and organizational support team in addiction and homelessness. She is passionate about service organization for underserved populations, teaching and mindfulness.
Dr. Julie Maggi
PLENARY DEBATER
Dr. Julie Maggi is the Director of Faculty Wellness in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a staff psychiatrist at St. Michael’s Hospital providing consultation-liaison psychiatry services. She holds an academic appointment of assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Her academic and research interests are in understanding the organizational drivers and contributors to fatigue in physicians.
Dr. Saleem Razack
PLENARY DEBATER
Dr. Saleem Razack joined faculty at UBC/BC Children’s Hospital in 2023, after a 25-year career as a pediatric intensivist and medical educator/education researcher at McGill University. His research interests in medical education include the intersection of assessment and professionalism with representation, equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism, for which he has had SSHRC and CIHR support. He is the recipient of several accolades, including the AFMC May Cohen award for outstanding contributions to equity in medical education, the Haile T. Debas award for contributions to equity in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill, and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada award for outstanding contributions to medical education.
For more details on the program and conference speakers, please see Program page.