This retreat will offer an inspiring environment for collaboration, learning, and networking among faculty members.
Please watch for Early Bird Registration details and important updates from the Chair’s office in the new year.
We look forward to reuniting at our 2025 Faculty Retreat and celebrating this remarkable milestone together!
Please contact Rebecca Celestin if you have any questions: [email protected]
View the complete Agenda here!
Dr. William Hogg, Professor, Eminent Scientist, and Director of Faculty Affairs, will be our distinguished Keynote speaker for this year’s retreat. His keynote presentation will take place following the cocktail reception and dinner on the evening of Friday, April 25, 2025.
Saturday, April 26, will feature a range of faculty development sessions and a poster session showcasing the innovative work of our faculty. This will be followed by leisure and networking time in the afternoon. In the evening, the 50th Anniversary Gala will be an extraordinary and memorable occasion to celebrate our Department’s achievements over the past 50 years and an opportunity to define the future of family medicine.
On Sunday, April 27, our retreat's educational programming will continue with more engaging faculty development sessions showcasing the diversity of our program. Closing comments and wrap-up will be completed before noon on Sunday.
Full refunds will only be issued prior to March 24 . After this date, partial refunds will be issued on a case-by-case basis if we can release your hotel room Please contact our Faculty Development team at [email protected] for more details.
The registration fee covers accommodations, meals, and access to all retreat activities and hotel facilities.
Yes, a 1-night registration option is available. You can choose to attend for either Friday or Saturday night. When selecting your 1-night ticket option, please review the description for meal inclusions.
For more details, we encourage you to visit the Department’s website, where you can find important information regarding the retreat and the 50th anniversary celebration: https://www.uottawa.ca/faculty-medicine/family/faculty/annual-faculty-retreat
If you plan to bring your spouse, please purchase additional meal tickets during registration. Children are welcome to attend, however, parents are responsible for child care and all meal arrangements. Please ensure to contact us to request special accommodations for family members.
Dr. William Hogg completed an MSc in experimental medicine (Department of Physiology) while completing his MD at McGill University. In 1975 he received his CCFP following a residency in family medicine at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). In 1993, Dr. Hogg completed the Masters of Clinical Science Graduate Studies Program at UWO.He was honoured by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Family Medicine Research and by the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) with the Maurice Wood Award.
Dr. Hogg’s research program focuses on how to best deliver primary care services to patients. Decision makers, primary care providers and citizens need this information to make evidence-based decisions about which care reforms should be kept and encouraged and which should be abandoned. Within this funded research program, he is developing new methods for measuring performance in community clinics by automating the collection of patients experience data. He uses the appointment scheduler in the clinic’s Electronic Medical Record system to send patients a link to a survey by e-mail or text after their visit to the clinic. By substantially reducing the cost of collecting patient experience data, he enables data collection for research and accountability reasons and assists practices in their ongoing quality improvement efforts.
Dr. Hogg is currently the Eminent Scientist, professor and the Senior Research Advisor at the Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa. He recently served on the Board of Directors of the CFPC and chaired the Section of Researchers.
Dr. Claire Kendall is a Full Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, Clinician Investigator at the Bruyère Health Research Institute, practicing family physician with the Bruyère Family Health Team, and Associate Dean Social Accountability in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa. She holds a University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine Clinical Research Chair in Strengthening Primary Care for Integrated Health Equity with a program of research aimed at improving the delivery of primary health care for underserved populations. She is also cross-appointed to the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, a Senior Adjunct Scientist at ICES, Affiliate Investigator in the Clinical Epidemiology Program at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and Affiliate Scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital.
With 30 years of experience in social and health care services, Monica Armstrong has held operational, system and strategic leadership roles in health, mental health, substance use health and the justice sectors. She is currently the Director of the Ottawa Ontario Health Team – Équipe Santé Ontario d'Ottawa (Ottawa OHT-ÉSO), leading efforts to enhance and integrate health and social services across the lifespan. Their work prioritizes improving access and outcomes for equity-deserving populations through collaborative and coordinated approaches. Prior to joining the Ottawa OHT-ÉSO, Monica was the Director of Mental Health Services at the Youth Services Bureau (YSB) of Ottawa where she was responsible for programs that supported youth mental health and well-being.
Denice Lewis is a family physician in Ottawa. She works at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario providing family medicine focused medical care to children and youth with mental health needs, and the University of Ottawa’s Department of Family Medicine where she holds the positions of Curriculum Director and Academic Day Director.
Denice’s post-secondary education includes an Honours Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology (University of Waterloo), a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (University of Liverpool), and a Master of Science in Experimental Medicine (McGill University). She completed her post graduate family medicine training at the University of Ottawa. Her academic area of interest is curriculum development. Currently, she is leading a grant funded project focused on socially accountable curriculum development in family medicine.
Dr. Kendall Noel is a community family physician affiliated with the Monfort program. He has been a continuous innovator in the Department of Family Medicine (DFM) and has been involved with both the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Ontario College of Family Physicians. Dr. Noel serves as the DFM’s director of evaluation, and in his short time in this role, he has completely revamped the position and has adopted a scientific approach to resident evaluation. His first innovation was to convert data from action-oriented In-Training Evaluation Report (ITER) feedback forms to numeric equivalents, which can be used to quickly determine the norms for resident performance at different levels of training. Another major innovation of his has been to use data from the program’s mandatory “resident confidence surveys” to correlate with resident performance in the programs. Dr. Noel has been able to track the impact of the pandemic on resident confidence in different graduating cohorts. These and other innovations that he has brought forth in his role demonstrate his significant value as a designer, innovator and colleague.
Lindsay Bradley, Assistant Professor, is the Assistant Program Director and Enhanced Skills Program Director at the Department of Family Medicine. She has provided medical coverage in the high-performance sport environment, working with national sport organizations, professional sports teams and international multi-sport games. She enjoys bringing lessons learned in high-performance sport to her leadership and education roles in family medicine and sport and exercise medicine.
Dave Luong is the head coach of the Carleton University varsity Women's Rugby team. He has coached in high-performance sport for over a decade. His program has produced athletes that have gone on to represent their country internationally. He is known for fostering an athlete-centred environment and has developed strategies to encourage athletes to excel beyond their expectations.
Dr. Mike Kirlew is an Assistant Professor with our Department of Family Medicine and our first Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigenous Health Director.
Dr. Kirlew is part of the Bruyère Academic unit, where he teaches our learners. He has been a member of our department since 2007. A graduate of our program, Dr. Kirlew has worked in Sioux Lookout and Moose Factory for almost two decades.
Dr. Wilkinson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Program Director for the PGY-3 FP Oncology program and Regional Cancer Primary Care Lead. She is a family physician with a special interest in oncology. She divides her clinical time between caring for medical oncology inpatients and academic family practice. Anna’s passion is bridging the gap between oncology and family medicine with knowledge translation, and investigating impacts of cancer screening to optimize cancer outcomes.In her spare time, she tries hard to keep up with her four athletic daughters.
Dr. Laura Cummings is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Family Medicine. She is a family physician at The Ottawa Hospital Academic Family Health Team (TOHAFHT). She completed her residency at the TOHAFHT in 2021, after completing her medical studies at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Cummings serves as the Director of Quality and Patient Safety for the Department of Family Practice at The Ottawa Hospital, and the Quality Lead for TOHAFHT, and is actively involved in electronic medical record (EMR) optimization. She is a facilitator in the ePortfolio program for medical students, teaching at the undergraduate (UGME) and postgraduate (PGME) levels. She obtained a certificate in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Leadership in 2024. Additional interests include applying quality improvement methodologies to enhance patient continuity of care, integrating point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) as a diagnostic tool, and advancing planetary health initiatives.
Dr. Grace Warmels is a palliative care physician, Assistant Professor and researcher in the Department of Family Medicine. She completed her medical degree, family medicine residency and palliative care training at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Warmels serves as the Palliative Care Program Director, and is passionate about increasing access to palliative care. Dr. Warmels co-founded and co-leads the Pal-SAIL clinic (Palliative Support in Advanced ILness) which provides early outpatient palliative care to patients with non-malignant illnesses, including end-stage renal disease and end-stage liver disease. Her research interests include non-malignant palliative care and medical education. In her spare time, she enjoys spin classes, choir and cooking.
Dr. Johnston is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, a family physician, Scientific Director, and Associate Vice President of Research at the Institut de Savoir Montfort (ISM). Over the past 17 years, Dr. Johnston has focused on integrating research into clinical care with a particular emphasis on performance measurement and digital patient outreach and engagement and concussion care.She works with primary care teams across the country and learns something new from them each week (with gratitude). The zebra stripes along her car should be attributed to her twin teens, who now have their license, and she welcomes suggestions for car detailing and good running trails around the city.
Dr. Elise Azzi, Assistant Professor and Director of Women’s Health in the Department of Family Medicine, is a passionate educator overseeing the Women’s Health curriculum for Family Medicine residents (PGY1-2). She is also the Program Director for the Enhanced Skills in Women’s Health (ES-WH) Fellowship (PGY3). Since 2022, she has transformed the ES-WH program through strategic growth and academic innovation, achieving milestones such as graduating the program’s highest number of residents per cycle, training the first Royal College Emergency Medicine resident in Women’s Health and welcoming international trainees. Dr. Azzi has founded key initiatives: she launched the Women’s Health Academic Series and co-founded the Women’s Health Network of Ottawa, while researching the ES-WH program's impact on clinical practice and leadership. In 2025, she will host the Women’s Health Medical Education Summit, celebrating 20 years of the ES-WH program and paving the way for a uOttawa Centre of Excellence in Women’s Health.
Dr. Leonard Bloom, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and has worked at the Greenboro Family Medicine Centre since 1987, where he practices comprehensive Family Medicine. He is the content expert for the first and second-year Interviewing Skills courses and teaches Family Medicine and Humanities to undergraduate and graduate students.
After completing an undergraduate degree in English Literature at Mcgill, he taught English in Nigeria, an experience which convinced him to study Medicine. From his first clinical experiences in McGill’s Faculty of Medicine, he realized that the imaginative perspective portrayed in literature complemented the biological in the care of patients. He is currently completing a Master’s degree in the Department of English focused on affect theory, the characterization of the relationship created at the moment, and in the space, where doctor and patient meet.
Dr. Stefan de Laplante obtained his MD and completed his residency in family medicine at the University of Ottawa. A Fellow of the College of Family Physicians of Canada since 2013, Dr. de Laplante is also Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He is an active member of Francophone Affairs in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and is particularly interested in medical education. Among other things, he is the site co-director for the family medicine residency at Montfort Hospital. He is a clinical preceptor for family medicine students and residents, and works with the Montfort Academic Family Health Team, where he is currently the Director of Education. Dr. de Laplante is particularly interested in 2ELGBTQI+ health, geriatrics and mental health. His research interests are diverse.
Dr. Leah Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and an Academic Family Physician at the Ottawa Hospital Academic Family Health Team. She obtained her medical degree at the University of Toronto and completed her residency training in Ottawa. She runs a family practice serving a diverse population and spends time weekly at a Long Term Care Home. She has many interests within medicine that centre around serving vulnerable populations with Person-Focused Care. She loves the opportunity to reflect and grow with medical learners as much as possible.
Dr. Patricia (Trish) Huston is an Assistant Professor, researcher and the Climate Change Preparedness Champion in the Department of Family Medicine. She is a family and public health physician who studied anthropology at McGill, medicine at the University of Calgary, and public health at Harvard University. She is interested in sustainable health care, planetary health, and climate change preparedness for primary care. She is part of the Planetary Health Working Party at WONCA (World Family Physicians) and a member of the Strategic Advisory Group on Climate Change and Environmental Determinants of Health for PAHO (the Pan American Health Organization). She has done over 100 presentations and has over 100 publications in scientific peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Laura Visentin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. She is also a family physician affiliated with The Ottawa Hospital Academic Family Health Team at the Civic Campus. Dr. Visentin holds a Master of Science degree in Epidemiology and has over a decade of experience as a clinician. Her work spans community-based and academic family practice, palliative care, as well as care in retirement homes and long-term care facilities. She has a research interest in dementia care. Additionally, Dr. Visentin has an interest in planetary health and how protection of the environment can be integrated into the skill set of future family physicians.
Dr. David Tobin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. A dedicated family physician with a career encompassing clinical practice, academic leadership, and medical education, he has worked in private practice at the Greenboro Family Medicine Centre, community clinics, hospital settings, and specialized care, including Maycourt Hospice and the Pearly-Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre.
Dr. Tobin is currently the Director of Wellness for the TOH Family Medicine Department, Director of the PSD 1st and 2nd year UGME Program, and the Director of the Resident Mentorship Program at the University of Ottawa. He has extensive teaching experience as Chief Supervisor for community family medicine residents at the Greenboro Family Medicine Centre and Clinical Instructor at uOttawa’s School of Medicine, teaching undergraduate medical students and family medicine residents. He has been recognized for his excellent contributions to medical education through numerous awards, including the Greenboro Family Medicine Clinic’s Practice of the Year in Ontario, the Andre Peloquin Award for excellence in clinical medical education, and the DFM’s UG Teacher of the Year.
Arya Rahgozar is a scientist at OHRI and an adjunct Professor of Data Science at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Medicine, DFM, uOttawa. He holds a Ph.D. in Digital Transformation and Innovation from the University of Ottawa, specializing in Natural Language Processing (NLP), and a Master’s in Management Sciences from the University of Waterloo.
With over 20 years of experience in decision science and analytics, Arya has worked across industries like banking, healthcare, and supply chain. Arya was a Mitacs primary investigator and a start-up partner to develop Chat-bot Recommender systems. Arya is a prime AI co-investigator in a variety of eHealth projects: NLP application in Brain-Heart Interconnectome, iCARE Parkinson, BMRI Dementia, eConsult and Frailty predictions. His research focuses on NLP, machine understanding, and their medical and eHealthcare applications.
Dr. Doug Manuel is a Full Professor at uOttawa’s Department of Family Medicine and School of Epidemiology and Public Health, holding a Tier 1 Clinical Research Chair in Precision Medicine for Disease Prevention. He is a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, a Senior Investigator at Bruyère Research Institute, and a Senior Core Scientist at ICES.
Dr. Manuel’s research combines interest in primary care, public health, and healthcare systems, focusing on understanding factors contributing to differences in population health outcomes across societies. This research involves developing and using advanced predictive algorithms and microsimulation models to assess the potential impact of health interventions and policy strategies. Dr. Manuel collaborates on Project Big Life, a website with disease risk calculators, helping millions globally to understand their health and contribute to evidence-based public health decisions.
Dr. David Mai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine where he teaches medical students, residents and colleagues. He is a fellowship-trained sports and exercise medicine physician, practicing in Ottawa since 2003. He has a particular interest in osteoarthritis care, medical informatics, MSK ultrasound and motorosports.
He was the past program director for the University of Ottawa Sports and Exercise Medicine Enhanced Skills Training Program. He has been the chief medical officer for many local, provincial national and international events locally and abroad. He is also trained as an emergency medicine physician and has done ultrasound assessments in the emergency room and at major sporting events.
He received his Medical School Training at the University of Western Ontario and completed his Family Medicine Residency, Emergency Medicine and Sport Medicine Fellowship training at the University of Western Ontario. He was previously the chief physician of the uOttawa Sport Medicine and Physiotherapy Centre. He has also been a volunteer physician at numerous local, provincial, national and international sporting events.
Dr. Jolin is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Family Medicine. A family physician, she completed her medical training at the University of Ottawa and her family medicine residency training in at the University of Manitoba. She currently works as a family doctor in Winchester. Her practice includes primary care clinic, intrapartum obstetrics and emergency room coverage. She often works with medical learners of various levels. In addition to clinical practice, Dr. Jolin has a research program that focuses rural primary care and obstetrical care as well as innovations in medical education.
She has been the director of quality improvement for the department of family medicine at University of Ottawa since July 2019. She also provides consulting services on development and implementation of quality improvement curriculum to various industries.
Finally, and most importantly, she is a proud mother of four.
