Dr. Labib Girgis is a general practitioner from Egypt. He recently completed his Masters in Family Medicine at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Anne Andermann, Dr. David Zakus, Dr. Gerald Van Gurp and Dr. Isabelle Vedel. His MSc research project focused on the experiences of physicians in addressing the social determinants of health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. He has been invited to present the results of his research at a number of national and international conferences including the Family Medicine Forum, the Canadian Conference on Global Health, and the North American Primary Care Research Group Conference.
Dr. Girgis’ MSc thesis has been recognized as among the most impactful research projects in population heath and was selected for an award for “Best Master’s Thesis” by the Quebec Population Health Research Network. Dr. Girgis also translated the CLEAR toolkit into Arabic, and was instrumental in coordinating the translation into over a dozen languages including Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Urdu.
Contact: labib.girgis [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Publications
Girgis L, Van Gurp G, Zakus D, Andermann A. Physician experiences and barriers to addressing the social determinants of health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: A Qualitative Research Study. BMC Health Services Research 2018; accepted.
Girgis L, Vedel I, Andermann A. Barriers perceived by healthcare providers in addressing the social determinants of health of their patients in Eastern Mediterranean countries: A Rapid Qualitative Review. In preparation.
Conference presentations
Girgis L, Andermann A. What can we learn from action on social determinants in low resource countries? Family Medicine Forum. Montreal, Quebec: November 2017.
Girgis L, Vedel I, Andermann A. Barriers to addressing the social determinants of health in primary care in Eastern Mediterranean countries: A rapid qualitative review. North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) Conference. Montreal, Canada: November 2017.
Girgis L, Vedel I, Andermann A. Addressing social determinants in Eastern Mediterranean countries: What barriers are faced by healthcare professionals? Besrour Conference. Montreal, Canada: November 2017.
Girgis L, Andermann A. Lessons from the Eastern Mediterranean region on how health workers can mobilize action on the social determinants of health. Canadian Conference on Global Health. Ottawa, Canada: October 2017.
Funding and awards
Student Prize – Best Masters Thesis Category. Quebec Population Health Research Network (RRSPQ), 2017.
Thesis
Girgis L. Physician experiences and barriers to addressing the social determinants of health in clinical care in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Montreal: Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, 2017.
Dr. Shamiel McFarlane is a family doctor from Jamaica who is completing her Masters in Family Medicine at McGill. She is a 2010 graduate of the University of the West Indies where she obtained her medical degree. Prior to this, Dr. McFarlane received a BSc (with honors) in the biological sciences. While completing her year as a Senior House Officer, Dr. McFarlane was certified by the University of Washington on the clinical management of HIV/AIDS in resource limited settings. This lead her to become one of a handful of doctors recognized by the regional health agency as a leading authority on the treatment of this demographic.
Currently, Dr. McFarlane is finalizing her MSc thesis under the supervision of Dr. Anne Andermann, Dr. David Zakus, and Dr. Isabelle Vedel, as well as local supervisor in Jamaica Dr. Deborah Weir. Her thesis aims to better understand whether primary health care workers are aware of social isolation among the elderly in the communities they serve, and how to address this important issue which affects between 5%-40% of the elderly population, making it an emerging global and public health challenge. Dr. McFarlane’s research is centered on the isolated elderly population of rural Jamaica (known locally as “shut-ins”), and explores the role of the primary care physician in caring for these patients and advocating for broader change at local and national levels to support this growing population. Dr. McFarlane wishes to specialize in Geriatric Medicine and hopes to revolutionize the way in which elderly members of the population are viewed and treated. She was awarded a full scholarship by the Global Brain Health Institute for a 1-year fellowship starting in autumn 2018 as an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, based at the University of California San Francisco and Trinity College Dublin.
Contact: shamiel.mcfarlane [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Publications
McFarlane S, Andermann A, Weir D, Zakus D, Vedel I. Exploring the role of primary healthcare professionals on improving access to care and health outcomes of socially isolated older adults in Jamaica: A mixed methods study. In preparation.
Conference presentations
McFarlane S, Andermann A. Interventions to reduce social isolation among the elderly: A scoping literature review. Canadian Conference on Global Health. Ottawa, Canada: October 2017.
McFarlane S, Andermann A. Interventions to reduce social isolation among the elderly: A scoping literature review. Canadian Association on Gerontology Conference: Evidence for action in an aging world. Winnipeg, Canada. October 2017.
Invited lecture
McFarlane S. Can Social Connectedness Act as a Preventative Medicine for Older People? Overcoming Isolation and Deepening Social Connectedness Seminar Series. Jeanne Sauvé Foundation. November 2017.
Funding and awards
Full Scholarship, Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health, Global Brain Health Institute, University of California San Francisco and Trinity College Dublin, funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies, 2018-2019.
Dr. Ariane Courville-Le Bouyonnec graduated from McGill medical school in 2015 and successfully completed her residency training in family medicine at Anna Laberge Hospital in Montérégie in June 2017. She was accepted into the Clinician Scholar Program in the McGill Department of Family Medicine and is currently pursuing an MSc degree under the supervision of Dr. Anne Andermann, Mr. Bernard Besancenot, Dr. Isabelle Vedel and Dr. Sandra Morris. Her thesis aims to evaluate a new community outreach clinic being piloted at a local food bank in the Cote des Neiges neighborhood of Montreal. This initiative was implemented in partnership with St Mary’s Family Medicine Centre and local community organizations including Multicaf, Baobab Familial, and Femmes du Monde. The main objective of the community outreach clinic is to facilitate access to primary health care and a “patient medical home” for people living in conditions of social vulnerability in Cote-des-Neiges. A secondary objective is to contribute to the social accountability mandate of the Family Medicine Centre and to improve the competencies of medical students and family medicine residents in caring for these often under-served populations.
Contact: ariane.courville-lebouyonnec [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Conference presentations
Courville Le Bouyonnec A, Besancenot B, Andermann A. Evaluation of a community outreach pilot project in Cote des Neiges. North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) Conference. Montreal, Canada: November 2017.
Funding and awards
Clinical Scholars Program, McGill University, 2017-2019.
Federation of Medical Residents of Quebec Research Bursary ($10,000), 2018-2019.
Dr. Jose Morales is a Peruvian physician commencing a Masters degree in the McGill Department of Family Medicine. He graduated from the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias (UPC) Aplicadas in Lima, Peru and was awarded the degree of Medical Doctor in 2014. Dr Morales’ worked as a community and hospital-based physician for 3 years, and was also a co-investigator on clinical trials, as well as a laboratory and field assistant, and member of the Molecular Biology Research Laboratory of UPC. The focus of his Masters thesis research under the supervision of Dr. Anne Andermann, Dr. Gerald Van Gurp and Dr. Torsten Risor is understanding the barriers and facilitators to improving access to primary health care in rural Peru. He will be investigating case examples of success stories in increasing primary health care physician recruitment and retention in rural areas in other parts of the world to understand whether and how these strategies can be adapted and implemented in the Peruvian setting to improve equitable access to and quality of care for rural, remote and underserved populations.
Contact: jose.moralesoliva [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Conference presentations
Morales J, Risor T, Van Gurp G, Andermann A. Reducing the Peruvian Rural Physician Deficit and Promoting Health Equity: A Multiphase Exploratory Study. 4th Annual McGill Family Medicine Research Symposium. Montreal, Canada: May 2018.
Dr. Anila Naz is an obstetrician and gynaecologist from Pakistan. She successfully completed her Masters in Family Medicine at McGill University in 2015 under the supervision of Dr. Anne Andermann, Dr. Ellen Rosenberg, Dr. Neil Andersson and Prof. Ron Labonte. Dr. Naz’s MSc research project was focused on pre-piloting the CLEAR toolkit with primary health care workers to understand how they currently address the social causes of poor health of their patients and whether they consider the toolkit to be useful in an inner-city Canadian context with a high proportion of immigrants and refugees. Dr. Naz was invited to present the results of her research at national and international conferences including the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health convened by the World Health Organization in Recife, Brazil, the Canadian Conference on Global Health, and the Family Medicine Forum – the leading primary health care conference in Canada. Dr. Naz helped revise the CLEAR toolkit, and translated it into Urdu, now available for download free of charge.
Contact: anila.naz [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Publications
Naz A, Rosenberg E, Andersson N, Labonte R, Andermann A, on behalf of the CLEAR Collaboration. Health workers who ask about social determinants of health are more likely to report helping patients: A mixed methods study. Canadian Family Physician, 2016; 62: e684-93. A.
Conference presentations
Naz A, Andermann A. on behalf of the CLEAR Collaboration. Pre-piloting the CLEAR toolkit to help frontline health workers tackle the social causes of poor health. First Annual McGill Family Medicine Research Division and Graduate Student Society Symposium, Thompson House, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada: February 18th, 2015.
Naz A, Andermann A. on behalf of the CLEAR Collaboration. Pre-piloting the CLEAR toolkit to help frontline health workers tackle the social causes of poor health in an ethnically diverse inner city neighborhood. Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH) for 21st Canadian Conference on Global Health. Ottawa, Canada: November 2014.
Naz A, Andermann A on behalf of the CLEAR Collaboration. Barriers to addressing the social determinants of health in primary care: A qualitative study. Family Medicine Forum. Quebec City, Canada: November 2014.
Naz A, Andermann A on behalf of the CLEAR collaboration. The toolkit in practice: example of Lady Health Workers in Pakistan [satellite workshop by invitation by the World Health Organization]. Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health. Recife, Brazil: November 2013.
Funding and awards
Entrance Fellowship. Awarded by the Department of Medicine, Division of Experimental Medicine of McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. July 2013.
Dr. Gerald B. Price Memorial Travel Award and Graduate Research Enhancement and Travel Award (GREAT Award). Awarded by the Department of Experimental Medicine of McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. February 2014.
Family Medicine Academic Excellence Research Award - Travel award received to present poster on research work at Family Medicine Forum of Canada). Awarded by the Department of Family Medicine of McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. October 2014.
Leacross Foundation Award - Travel award received to attend the 21st Canadian Conference on Global Health, Ottawa. November 2014.
Thesis
Naz A. The CLEAR toolkit pilot study: An educational intervention for helping health workers address the social causes of poor health. Montreal: Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, 2015. (Master’s thesis).