On October 27th and 28th, around 150 members of the Department of Family Medicine gathered for the first time in two years to participate in a hybrid retreat under the theme of 鈥�Family Medicine: our passion, ourselves鈥�. The event took place at the Departmental offices on 5858, chemin de la C么te-des-Neiges. The program was organized by the Department鈥檚 Faculty Development unit and the management of logistics was undertaken by the Department鈥檚 administrative staff, both of whom did an excellent job hosting everyone.
After the opening remarks by the Chair of the Department, Dr. Marion Dove, the first workshop was presented by Dr. Catherine Jarvis and Dr. Mylene Arsenault who introduced the topic of 鈥淐harting a Family Medicine Career Path.鈥� The audience was then scattered around various discussion groups based on their lifecycle interest including early career (facilitated in French by Dr. Mylene Arsenault and in English by Dr. Catherine Jarvis), mid-career (facilitated by Dr. Marion Dove), retirement (facilitated by former Chair Dr. Louise Nasmith), and research (facilitated by clinician-scientist Dr. Charo Rodriguez).
The afternoon session comprised of more discussion groups, this time with special interest workshops:
- Good Ancestor: Unlearning Colonial Mindsets presented by professors Richard Budgell and Alex McComber
- Soigner sans nuire... Pensons 脿 l鈥檈nvironnement presented by Dr. Caroline Laberge
- The Wisdom of Geese: What they can teach us about effective teams presented by Dr. Michelle Elizov
- From words to mistreatment: What the Office for Respectful Environments can tell us about the learner鈥檚 experience presented by Theresa Beesley, PhD
- The Power of a Network: Connecting practice-based clinical research at 平特五不中 presented by Dr. Laura MacLaren
On the evening of October 27th, there was a special ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the completion of the Department鈥檚 new office space, spread over three separate floors. The occasion was also marked by thanking the administrative staff who played and continue to play a major role in ensuring our overall operations are successful. The administrative staff who left the Department during the pandemic were each presented with a gift basket and subsequently, everyone was directed to the entrance for the official ribbon cutting.
The following day on October 28th, the retreat continued with a plenary on 鈥淧lanning for the Future鈥� by Dr. Marion Dove. Participants then discussed the meaning of their professional choices answering the question 鈥渨hy did you choose to work here?鈥� in various small groups. It was interesting to hear the diversity in answers, from the teaching opportunities to the supportive environment and sense of community.
All in all, it was a great time to connect with one another and to talk about dreams and visions for Family Medicine. We even managed to take a group photo of all those who wore their swag and, in doing so, we saw versatility and uniqueness - just like the people in our department!
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View our photo gallery here:
/familymed/family-medicine-retreat-2022?page=0%2C0
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