Recipients of 2018 CMA Awards celebrated in Winnipeg

WINNIPEG, Aug. 21, 2018 /CNW/ - Today, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) presented its 2018 awards as part of its annual recognition of outstanding individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to medicine and the health care system.

"Taking a moment to highlight and recognize the work of these deserving individuals reminds us all of the incredible work being done every day in this country. It's my privilege to acknowledge these individuals for their exceptional work in health care," said Dr. Laurent Marcoux, CMA president.

The 2018 CMA Award recipients are:

    --  Dr. Cara Bablitz - CMA Award for Young Leaders (Early Career Physician):
        A Métis physician who uses her expertise to assist vulnerable
        Indigenous patients, Dr. Bablitz works with the Palliative Care Outreach
        and Advocacy Team in Edmonton. She brings compassion to a difficult
        role, as she helps to provide care to socially vulnerable patients. Dr.
        Bablitz also practises at the Indigenous Wellness Clinic and is a
        clinical lecturer at the University of Alberta.
    --  Dr. Blair Bigham - CMA Award for Young Leaders (Resident): Dr. Bigham is
        an emergency medicine resident at McMaster University, a qualified
        helicopter paramedic, and a medical journalist. He has published major
        feature articles in national publications including The Globe and Mail
        and The Toronto Star, and frequently appears on CBC. After entering
        medical school, he found many of his classmates were struggling to deal
        with the type of tragedies he experienced as a paramedic. This led him
        to become an advocate, both provincially and nationally, on the issue of
        medical trainee well-being.
    --  Dr. Christopher Charles - CMA Award for Young Leaders (Resident): Taking
        his passion internationally, Dr. Charles developed an innovative way to
        treat iron deficiency in Cambodia. He created a small piece of iron
        shaped as a fish -- a symbol of good luck in the country -- for families
        to use in their cooking pots. The iron fish fortified the cooked food,
        and provided a cheap, simple treatment for anemia. Dr. Charles also has
        a PhD in nutritional epidemiology and is currently completing his
        residency in anesthesiology at the University of Toronto.
    --  Dr. William Cherniak - CMA Award for Young Leaders (Early Career
        Physician): Currently practising emergency medicine on the outskirts of
        Toronto, Dr. Cherniak is co-founder and chairman of the board at Bridge
        to Health Medical and Dental, a Canadian charity working in southwestern
        Uganda. His commitment to global health has also led him to design and
        implement three 10-day courses in rural Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania for
        students in the Master of Science in Global Medicine program at the
        University of Southern California.
    --  Dr. John Dossetor - CMA Medal of Service: A pioneer in nephrology and
        bioethics, Dr. Dossetor organized the first kidney transplant from a
        living donor in 1958, and subsequently established the first kidney
        transplant program at McGill University in 1964 -- the same year he
        co-founded the Kidney Foundation of Canada. He is a founding member of
        the Canadian Bioethics Society and has consulted nationally on
        fundamental ethical issues in medicine including abortion, AIDS and HIV
        treatment, and end-of-life care.
    --  Dr. Ritika Goel - Dr. William Marsden Award in Ethics and
        Professionalism: A practising physician based out of Toronto's Queen
        West Community Health Centre, Dr. Goel spends much of her time serving
        the homeless and those with complex mental health and addiction needs.
        She is the chair of the College of Family Physicians of Canada's Social
        Accountability Working Group and the co-chair of the Poverty and Health
        Committee of the Ontario College of Family Physicians. During this time,
        she was involved in designing and delivering Treating Poverty, an
        award-winning continuing professional development workshop.
    --  Mr. Mike Gormley - Owen Adams Award of Honour: Mr. Gormley has held
        leadership positions at the Alberta Medical Association for almost 24
        years, with the last 15 as their executive director. He has dedicated
        his entire career to advocating for physicians and for improvements to
        the health care system. He also played a key role in the development of
        Alberta's primary care networks, helping to transform the way physicians
        work with other health professionals to deliver primary care services.
    --  Dr. Aline Demirdjian Khatchikian - CMA Award for Young Leaders
        (Student): Dr. Khatchikian is currently pursuing her radiology residency
        and is the youngest member to be elected to the board of the Québec
        Medical Association. She developed extensive international experience by
        giving training sessions in Switzerland, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay
        and Macedonia - amongst other countries - to encourage the next
        generation of medical students to become health advocates. But her
        international work doesn't end there; she organized the youth Pre World
        Health Assembly in Geneva, where she had the opportunity to collaborate
        with the World Health Organization.
    --  Dr. Andreas Laupacis - CMA F.N.G. Starr Award: Dr. Laupacis is a leading
        academic, clinician and CEO for the Institute for Clinical Evaluative
        Sciences. He has developed several guidelines, decision aids for
        patients, and approaches to assessing health care technology and
        interventions - all of which have been instrumental in shaping health
        services delivery. More recently, he has been involved in developing the
        Healthy Debate website, an influential platform for evidence-based
        health policy commentaries and a forum for establishing patient-centred
        narratives as an important medium for considering health issues.
    --  Ms. Lerly Luo - CMA Award for Young Leaders (Student): A medical student
        with a focus on global health, Ms. Luo co-founded the first Global
        Health Conference at the University of British Columbia, bringing
        together students from diverse backgrounds and building partnerships
        between health care professionals, engineers and entrepreneurs. Ms. Luo
        has also been involved in public health research in Vancouver's Downtown
        Eastside. However, her accomplishments are not limited to Canadian soil.
        She has also worked with Access Afya in Kenya, researching how to
        provide health care more effectively to Nairobi's slums and marginalized
        populations using digital technologies.
    --  Dr. Albert Schumacher - CMA Sir Charles Tupper Award for Political
        Action: A former CMA president, Dr. Schumacher dedicated much of his
        career to physician advocacy. At both the provincial and national
        levels, he kept pressure on governments to address the shortage of
        physicians as well as long wait lists for patients. Additionally, he was
        instrumental in creating an advocacy training program for medical
        students, residents and physicians at the Ontario Medical Association.
    --  Dr. Janice Willett - CMA May Cohen Award for Women Mentors: Dr.
        Willett's leadership spans local, regional, provincial and national
        jurisdictions. But her biggest impact has arguably been at the Northern
        Ontario School of Medicine, where she's worked to amplify the voices of
        northern physicians within Canada's health care and education systems.
        She has been praised for her mentoring skills and for her role in
        ensuring faculty development is available for all teaching staff at the
        school.

For more information on award recipients, please visit https://www.cma.ca/En/Pages/cma-awards.aspx.

The Canadian Medical Association unites 85,000 physicians and physicians-in-training on national health and medical matters. Formed in Quebec City in 1867, the CMA's rich history of advocacy led to some of Canada's most important health policy changes. As we look to the future, the CMA will focus on advocating for a healthy population and a vibrant profession.

SOURCE Canadian Medical Association