Awards

Dr Ken Burns, Ridge Meadows Division of Family Practice

Dr Ken Burns received the 2022 Doctors of BC Silver Medal of Service in January 2023. The medal is awarded to physicians who have made outstanding contributions to medicine and/or the improvement of British Columbians’ welfare. Dr Burns started his full-service family practice in Maple Ridge in 1980. He was the inaugural chair of the Ridge Meadows Division of Family Practice and former president of both the Ridge Meadows Hospital Medical Staff Association and the site’s Physician Engagement Society. Dr Burns retired in 2022 after 42 years in the Ridge Meadows community.

Dr Hyman Fox, Fraser Northwest Division of Family Practice

Dr Hyman Fox received the 2022 Doctors of BC Silver Medal of Service in January 2023. The medal is awarded to physicians who have made outstanding contributions to medicine and/or the improvement of British Columbians’ welfare. He was recognized for his outstanding record of service with Doctors of BC and BC Family Doctors over the last four decades. He has 14 years of experience on the Doctors of BC Statutory Negotiations Committee, and he currently still serves on the Negotiations Coordinating Group.

Dr Alysson Hamilton, Kootenay Boundary Division of Family Practice

Dr Alysson Hamilton received the 2022 Dr David M Bachop Silver Medal in general medical practice from Doctors of BC in January 2023. The medal is presented annually to the UBC family practice resident or the practice-eligible British Columbia registered general practitioner who achieves the best overall result in the Family Practice Certification. Dr Hamilton is a resident family doctor in the Kootenay Boundary Family Practice Residency Program.

Dr Shannon McDonald, Senior Medical Officer, Vancouver Island

Dr Shannon McDonald received the 2022 Dr David M Bachop Gold Medal from Doctors of BC in January 2023. The medal is given to a BC doctor who has made an exceptional contribution in the field of organized medicine and/or community service. Dr McDonald is an exemplary medical leader in Indigenous health, and she has co-led the First Nations Health Authority for the past seven years. She received the 2022 National Healthcare Leadership Award from Health Care Excellence Canada and the First Nations Health Managers Association.

Dr Remi Oyedeji (Dawson Creek), South Peace Region, Chief of Staff of the Dawson Creek and District Hospital

Dr Remi Oyedeji received the Best of the Best Reader's Choice Award 2022 for Best Doctor from the Dawson Creek Mirror. Passionate about teaching, Dr Oyedeji is a Clinical Instructor for the MD Undergraduate Program at UBC Faculty of Medicine. He teaches third-year medical students during their rural family medicine rotation. Dr Oyedeji works out of Dawson Creek Medical Clinic and is the Deputy Chief of Staff at Dawson Creek and District Hospital.

Dr Magda Du Plessis (Dawson Creek), South Peace Region

Dr Magda du Plessis received the 2022 Dawson Creek Citizen of the Year Award from the City of Dawson Creek. Dr du Plessis has a passion for women’s health, pre and post-natal care and aesthetics and works in the Mile Zero Family Practice clinic as well as ER/OR/Obstetrics. Dr du Plesis was instrumental in recruiting a group of new doctors to the community. In addition to her clinical practice, she initiated the new maternity care clinic, Chickadee, and she has stepped into the role of Medical Director to serve the needs of the South Peace region.

Dr Allison Ferg , Victoria Division of Family Practice

Dr Allison Ferg received the 2022 My Family Doctor Award for the Island Health Region from the BC College of Family Physicians. Dr Ferg has continued to provide comprehensive, longitudinal care to Victoria residents for the past 36 years and has also been a family medicine residency preceptor. With a passion for family practice obstetrics, Dr. Ferg has delivered thousands of babies, including some babies of the babies she had previously delivered – making her a “granddoctor”.

Dr Karin Kausky, Co-Chair, Sea to Sky Division of Family Practice

Dr Karin Kausky received 2022 BC Family Physician of the Year Award from the BC College of Family Physicians. Dr Kausky has practiced family medicine in Whistler, BC since 1993. She holds a diploma in sports medicine and is the medical director of the Canadian National Ski Cross Team. Dr Kausky formed the Whistler Primary Care Task Force in 2019 to attract and retain family physicians to ensure access for Whistler residents, and she co-founded the Whistler 360 Health Collaborative Society, a team-based, patient-centric community care centre. The award citation notes that Dr Kausky is a skilled physician, an active community member, and an invaluable resource for younger family physicians. One of the nominees for her award wrote that Dr Kausky “motivates all of us to make our own contributions to the social fabric of Whistler.”

Dr Anis Lakha, North Shore Division of Family Practice

Dr Anis Lakha received the 2022 My Family Doctor Award for the Vancouver Coastal Health Region from the BC College of Family Physicians. Dr Lakha has practiced family medicine on the North Shore for over 30 years. She runs a full-service family practice with a specialist interest in palliative care. Over the course of her practice, she has seen the face of primary care change. Despite today’s challenges, Dr Lakha continues to receive immense satisfaction when providing longitudinal care to patients and their families. Her proudest moments have been watching patients grow from babies to adults, and then bring their own children to her practice.

Dr Sasha Langille-Rowe (Terrace), Pacific NorthWest Division of Family Practice

Dr Sasha Langille-Rowe received the 2022 First Five Years of Practice Award from the BC College of Family Physicians. The award citation notes that Dr Langille-Rowe has shown great promise in the early years of her career. She has a community practice in Terrace and is passionate about addictions medicine, making a strong mark on her community through advocacy and leadership. Dr Langille-Rowe was selected to help establish an Opiate Agonist Clinic (OAT) in Terrace and has since provided weekly community OAT clinics and educational support to the Mills Memorial Hospital (MMH) to implement Suboxone treatment in the ER. In 2021, Dr Langille-Rowe became a local Medical Staff Association president. She also teaches with the UBC Medical Student Integrated Community Clerkships (ICC) program.

Dr Marylu Loewen, Abbotsford Division of Family Practice

Dr Marylu Loewen received the 2022 My Family Doctor Award for the Fraser Health Region from the BC College of Family Physicians and practices family medicine in Abbotsford. She is working to build a multigenerational patient panel. Her motivation as a family physician is largely driven by patient interactions, especially when a patient ends a visit with the line, “I already feel better by just talking to you.”

Dr Linda O’Neill (Kelowna), Central Okanagan Division of Family Practice

Dr Linda O’Neill received the 2022 My Family Doctor Award for the Interior Health Region from the BC College of Family Physicians. Dr O’Neill practices family medicine in Kelowna. Over the past two years, Dr O’Neill’s standard of care has been exemplary. At the start of the pandemic, she pivoted to a new model of care to best assist her patients in navigating the health care system and support their physical and psychological needs, especially those struggling with mental health challenges.

Dr Jaco Strydom (Terrace), Chair, Terrace Child Development Centre, Pacific NorthWest Division of Family Practice

Dr Jaco Strydom received the 2022 My Family Doctor Award for the Northern Health Region from the BC College of Family Physicians. He runs a family practice in Terrace and is actively involved in his community. He is the Past Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Pacific Northwest Division of Family Practice and the Chair of the Terrace Child Development Centre. In 2015, Dr Strydom played a central role in a setting up a women’s wellness clinic with a group of local obstetrical service providers. The Women’s Wellness Group was created in response to a gap in the care for women experiencing high risk pregnancies. In 2020, the Women’s Wellness Group was recognized for its impact after receiving the BC Rural Health Award of Excellence for Team-based Rural Maternity Care.

Dr Talveen Gill, Member at Large, South Island Division of Family Practice

Dr Talveen Gill received the Clinical Faculty Award for Excellence in Advancing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusiveness from the UBC Faculty of Medicine Awards in October 2022. The award recognizes excellence in advancing  equity, diversity and inclusion through research, teaching, or service by clinical faculty members. Dr Gill is a family practice clinical instructor and the Victoria site faculty for academic curriculum and assessment and evaluation with the UBC Family Practice Postgraduate Program.

Dr Ruth Elwood Martin, Vancouver Division of Family Practice

Dr Ruth Martin received the Clinical Faculty Award for Excellence in Leadership/Service from the UBC Faculty of Medicine in October 2022. This award recognizes excellence in leadership or service by clinical faculty members. Dr Martin practiced family medicine in Vancouver for 26 years and worked part-time in prison medical clinics for 16 years. She is a clinical professor at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health, the inaugural director of UBC’s Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education, and co-director of the British Columbia Primary Care Research Network. Dr Martin was previously chair of the College of Family Physicians of Canada’s Prison Health Program Committee, and she led the research faculty of UBC’s Department of Family Practice’s postgraduate program for 13 years.

Dr Duncan Miller, Vancouver Division of Family Practice

Dr Duncan Miller received the Clinical Faculty Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching from the UBC Faculty of Medicine Awards in October 2022. The award recognizes excellence in teaching by clinical faculty members. Dr Miller is a family doctor who has been in practice in Vancouver since 1995. He has a keen interest in teaching. He has lectured at Mount St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital, and Richmond General Hospital.

Dr Birinder Narang, Board Chair, Burnaby Division of Family Practice

Dr Birinder Narang received the Clinical Faculty Award for Excellence in Leadership/Service from the UBC Faculty of Medicine in October 2022. The award recognizes excellence in leadership or service by clinical faculty members. Dr Narang is clinical assistant professor with the UBC Faculty of Medicine and a family physician for REACH Community Health Centre. He is a community champion  health, advocacy, and culture, and a medical contributor for Global BC and CKNW 980. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Narang played a pivotal role in disseminating resources, support and health information to the community, including co-founding the “This Is Our Shot” national vaccine confidence campaign.

Dr. Granger Avery, C.M. (Port McNeill)

In June 2022, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, announced Dr Avery’s appointment as Member of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest honours. The appointment honours Dr Avery’s incisive leadership in the practice of rural medicine and tireless commitment to improving Canada’s health care system. Dr Avery is the past president of the Canadian Medical Association and the BC Medical Association (now called Doctors of BC), and co-founder of RCCbc.

Dr Francois Bosman (Gabriola Island), Gabriola Island Chapter of Rural & Remote Division of Family Practice

Dr Francois Bosman received the “Above and Beyond” Award from the Rural Coordination Centre of BC in May 2022. The award recognizes a physician going “Above and Beyond” in caring for rural patients and communities. Dr Bosman has been a dedicated physician on Gabriola Island, committed not only to the patients in his practice, but to any and all patients requiring urgent and emergency care, regardless of the time of day or night.

Dr. Karin Kausky (Whistler), Sea to Sky Division of Family Practice

In May 2022, Dr Karen Kausky accepted the Rural BC Community Award on behalf of Whistler, where, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, health care teams worked with partners across many community organizations to provide ‘social prescriptions’ for things like food from the food bank and therapy to meet people’s needs in a holistic way. The award cited Whistler’s model as an example of remarkable community partnership-building with Dr. Karin Kausky as one of the people who was instrumental in implementing the model.

Dr Danielle Pichie (New Hazelton), Hazelton Chapter of the Rural & Remote Division of Family Practice

Dr Pichie received the Rural Community Impact Award from the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada in April 2022. The award recognizes a physician who has had a significant impact on their community through clinical services, teaching, research, volunteer work, or other community involvement advocating for the best health care available. Dr Pichie is chief of staff at Wrinch Memorial Hospital.

Dr Lauri-Ann Shearer (Bella Bella), Physician Lead, Bella Bella Chapter of the Rural & Remote Division of Family Practice

Dr. Shearer received the Award of Excellence in Rural Medicine: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rural Coordination Centre of BC in May 2022. For over 18 years, Dr Shearer has been dedicated to improving health care on the Central Coast by acquiring new equipment, maintaining and developing specialist outreach clinics, and managing the local medical clinic.

Dr John Soles (Clearwater), Clearwater Chapter of the Rural & Remote Division of Family Practice

Dr John Soles received the Above and Beyond Award from the Rural Coordination Centre of BC in May 2022. The award recognizes a physician going “Above and Beyond” in caring for rural patients and communities. The award citation noted a professional accomplishment under Dr Soles’ leadership while he was president of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada: The Society collaborated with the College of Canadian Family Physicians on the Joint Task Force on Advancing Rural Family Medicine.

Dr Tracey Thorne (Gabriola), Board Co-Chair, Division Lead and Vancouver Island Region, Regional Physician Lead, Gabriola Chapter, Rural and Remote Division of Family Practice

Dr. Thorne received the BC Achievement Community Award from the BC Achievement Foundation in May 2022. The award celebrates British Columbians who go above and beyond in their dedication and service to others. It honours individuals who devote their time and energy to making their communities more caring, dynamic, beautiful, healthy, and inclusive.