2019 Award Recipients

Dr. Catherine Textor grew up on Vancouver Island and completed her undergraduate degree the University of Victoria before heading to medical school at UBC. Inspired by the teaching she received at the Prince George site of the Family Medicine Residency Training Program, she has been a full-service family doctor in Prince George since 2003. She provides all aspects of family medicine including emergency room, obstetrical, long term, and palliative care. Dr. Texter has taught in the Northern Medical Program since its inception. She was also a preceptor in the Family Medicine Residency Program from 2003 to 2009. In addition, she is the Physician Lead at the Prince George Division of Family Practice.

Dr. Elizabeth Payne has had the joy of practising family medicine for 40 years since graduating from medical school at McMaster University. During that time, she has cared for generations of families in Port Coquitlam, while raising her own family in the community. Dr. Payne has provided everything from maternity to elder care. She is now in part-time practice, focusing on hospitalist work, occasional locums in family practice and participation in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC’s Physician Practice Enhancement Program. Dr. Payne believes that “the greatest part of family medicine is the longitudinal care we get to share with our patients – growing together through good and difficult times. There is no other career I could imagine bringing such fun and fulfillment.”

Dr. Steven Broadbent graduated from Leicester University and completed his family medicine and basic surgical training in the United Kingdom. On relocating to Canada, he spent more than three years practicing in Clearwater, followed by a move to Kamloops two years ago. Dr. Broadbent describes family practice as “challenging, with constantly shifting evidence; no two days are ever the same especially with my complex care practice. Over two thirds of health care occurs in our (family medicine) domain meaning we can make real differences in conjunction with working with our patients.”

Dr. Christopher Collins is a graduate of St. Bartholomew’s and the Royal London in England. He has been a family physician in Nanaimo for 11 years and is raising four young children in the community. A founding board member of the Nanaimo Division of Family Practice, he has also served as a faculty member for the Nanaimo residency program. In addition to his family practice, he is the medical lead for Snuneymuxw physician services (an indigenous community based primary care group) and provides care for patients at Options for Sexual Health. Dr. Collins passion is “learning from my patients, understanding and advocating for their beliefs and wishes.”

Dr. Marlowe Haskins graduated from medicine at the University of Calgary, followed by completion of family practice residency at Memorial University in Newfoundland. He has been working as a GP surgeon in northern BC for 27 years, currently practicing in Smithers. Dr. Haskins enjoys the variety of scope of rural family practice and has a passion for maternity care. He feels fortunate “to have had the opportunity to have work that allows such intimate connections with patients at such important points in their lives.”

Dr. Margo Sweeny is a UBC graduate, completing medical school and family medicine residency here in BC. She has been in a Family Medicine Group Practice in Vancouver for more than 20 years. She enjoys teaching UBC medical students and family medicine residents as part of her practice. Dr. Sweeny has a special interest in public health and, through her work with the Vancouver Divisions of Family Practice, the optimization of the continuity of care for patients within the medical system. She sees the opportunity to provide ongoing medical care to patients and families in her practice as “a real privilege.”

Dr. Aryn Khan was born in Burns Lake and always dreamed of becoming a rural family doctor. She became a registered dietitian and worked in several other fields before going on to complete her medical degree and family medicine residency in Edmonton.

The OAT Force is an initiative of the Surrey-North Delta Division of Family Practice. The goal is to create a community-minded network to enable physicians and MOAs in family practice settings to provide the services necessary to administer Opioid Agonist Training (OAT). OAT Force uses a supportive and collaborative approach to equip physicians to deliver opioid agonist therapy in a holistic, safe and trauma-informed way. The OAT Force faculty include: Dr. Lawrence Yang, Dr. Rajbir Klair, Dr. Kirandeep Minhas, Dr. Gagan Wilkhu, Dr. Sujatha Nilavar, Dr. Shanza Imran, Ms. Victoria Stafford and Ms. Meaghan Ryley (Some team members are missing from the picture.). However, the OAT Force membership is about 30 physicians in total in various stages of OAT provision readiness.

Dr. Saima Ali graduated from UBC Medical School in 2017 and is now completing her Family Medicine residency training. She is the UBC Family Medicine Program Chief Resident, collaborating with her colleagues and faculty across the province on developing sustainable improvement initiatives in the program. She has always been drawn to family medicine, as it provides the opportunity to connect with individuals and form meaningful, long-term relationships. She is excited to start her career, advocating for and empowering her patients in their health journey. She is also passionate about medical education, hoping to remain involved with both curriculum development and teaching when she starts to practice.

Dr. Natalie Chan is currently completing her family medicine residency training at the St. Paul’s site. The ability to pursue numerous diverse opportunities within the specialty and her passion for working closely with communities are what drew her to the field. She looks forward to providing broad scope family medicine services in the Lower Mainland in addition to addiction medicine and transgender specialty care. She is also committed to positively impacting health on a population level through her work as the co-founder and president of Be the Change Group Inc., a technical and creative consulting firm that provides services locally and globally in the fields of health, education, and environmental health. Dr. Chan graduated from the University of Calgary Cummings School of Medicine. She also holds an M.H.Sc. from UBC.

Dr. Vincent Wong completed both his B.Sc. Pharmacy and Doctor of Medicine at UBC. He will be completing his Family Medicine Residency in June 2019. He serves as resident advisor to the Fraser Northwest Division of Family Practice, where he planned a career fair connecting local physicians with residents for locum and partnership opportunities. He also initiated and hosted a Patient-Centered Prescribing education session to practicing physicians to highlight nuances of prescribing and interprofessional collaboration. He looks forward to serving patients as a family physician in the Lower Mainland, in addition to continuing his studies in Master of Health Administration.

Dr. Taran Main was raised in Spallumcheen, British Columbia. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at Thompson Rivers University in 2014, and graduated from UBC Medical School – Southern Medical Program in 2019. He will be continuing his training in Family Medicine in the Rural Okanagan program, and looks forward to continuing to contribute to the local and rural communities throughout British Columbia. He is excited to continue to pursue his passions in Addictions Medicine and serving marginalized populations in Kelowna. He also plans to stay involved in mentoring future residents and medical students when he starts practice.

Dr. Ashandeep Sandhu is a graduate of the UBC Southern Medical Program Class of 2019. She is grateful to be continuing her studies at UBC in the Family Medicine Residency Program in her hometown of Abbotsford. Ashan has special interests in women’s health, adolescent mental health, and palliative care. She is looking forward to developing her skills in these areas during residency.