The McGill Family Medicine Education Research Group

📢 We are thrilled to invite you all to the following webinar, from a series of webinars being held by FMER:

🧠 Title: What Happened to Evidence-Based Medicine? Concerning trends in family medicine faculty and resident skills

During its golden era, EBM was explicitly taught, practiced, and assessed in family medicine. Over time, it has shifted from a core competency to an assumption — that of course, medicine is evidence-based. But when we stop teaching and assessing a skill, we risk losing it.

📅 March 17, 2026
⏰ 12:30–1:30 PM (EDT)
💻 FMER Webinar

🎤 Featuring Kate Rowland, Associate Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at Rush University, whose work focuses on longitudinal medical education, translating evidence into practice, and the future of evidence-based family medicine.

To register, follow the link:
https://mcgill.zoom.us/meeting/register/BZv3vkVcQAyAXWtcKQN23g #/registration

📚 2025–2026 Faculty Development Annual Series:

Join us for an engaging workshop with Dr. Roland Grad, MDCM MSc, FCFP on:

Teaching Shared Decision Making (SDM)

Teaching Shared Decision Making (SDM) goes beyond introducing concepts and curricular approaches; it involves applying assessment tools for evaluating competence and developing strategies to integrate and sustain these tools in clinical teaching.

🎯 This interactive session will support physician educators to improve their teaching of SDM as well as improve how they evaluate resident competence for SDM.

📅 Friday, March 27, 2026

⏰ 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM

📍 Department of Family Medicine: 5858, chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges 3rd Floor, Room 307

☕ Networking breakfast served at 8:30 AM

🎓 Certified for 3 Mainpro+® credits

📝 Space is limited — register early

✨ Looking forward to a practical and thought-provoking morning focused on enhancing resident education in SDM.

🌟 Save the Date! Join Us for the FMER Advanced Webinar 🌟

We are pleased to invite you to our upcoming special FMER Advanced Webinar:

🎤 Title: Partnership and Context in International Primary Care Training: Lessons from the McGill-Tongji Program

🎙️ Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ziyue Wang, Research Fellow, Brocher Foundation, Switzerland

📅 Date: February 17, 2026

⏰ Time: 12:30 – 1:30 PM EDT

To register, please use the following link:

https://mcgill.zoom.us/meeting/register/bFguX5fIQt6jfhxRaVIuTQ #/registration

🌟 As part of our monthly spotlight series, we’re proud to introduce Prof. Samira Abbasgholizadeh-Rahimi, B.Eng., PhD — a leader at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Primary Care. 🌟

Prof. Abbasgholizadeh-Rahimi completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Family Medicine at Université Laval (2016–2018), following her PhD in Engineering earned in 2016 from Université Laval. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tabriz in Iran (2011), reflecting a strong interdisciplinary foundation spanning engineering and health research.

Dr. Samira Abbasgholizadeh-Rahimi, B.Eng., PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University, Associate Academic Professor of Mila-Quebec AI Institute, and affiliated scientist at Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research of the Jewish General Hospital. She is the Elective President of the Canadian Operational Research Society​ and Director of Artificial Intelligence in Family Medicine (AIFM).

✨ We are truly grateful to have Dr. Abbasgholizadeh-Rahimi as part of our FMER team! ✨

To read more:
https://fmer-remf.ca/about-us/our-team/samira-abbasgholizadeh-rahimi/

🕯️ We are saddened to share the passing of Richard Hovey on November 28, 2025. A respected educator and scholar, he is remembered for his commitment to patient-centred care, thoughtful inquiry, and human connection.

🌱Richard’s teaching and research were grounded in meaning, dialogue, and human experience. He was known for creating learning environments that valued reflection, inclusion, and connection, where ideas were explored through conversation rather than instruction alone. His influence extended well beyond the classroom, shaping how many of us think about ethics, care, and what it means to truly listen in health research and practice.

Read more:

In memoriam - Richard Hovey It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the passing of our dear colleague, Associate Professor Richard Hovey, on November 28, 2025. Born and raised in Quebec, Richard was an alumnus of McGill University, where he earned a Bachelor of Education in Physical Education in 1982 and a Master...

✨ Collaborator Spotlight – Dr. Mark Karanofsky, MDCM, CCFP, FCFP ✨

We are pleased to spotlight Dr. Mark Karanofsky from the Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University.

💡 Dr. Karanofsky practices at the Herzl Family Practice Centre and is the recipient of the “Contribution to the University/Hospital and U-FMG Life” award from the Collège Québécois des Médecins de Famille (CQMF).

📌 Practicing family medicine since 2004, he has shown outstanding leadership across clinical care, administration, education, and research.

👏 We are truly grateful for his continued collaboration, thoughtful contributions, and commitment to FMER. His expertise has made a meaningful impact and continues to strengthen our work.

To read more:
https://www.mcgill.ca/familymed/article/mark-karanofsky-wins-contribution-university-hospital-and-u-fmg-life-college-quebecois-des-medecins

https://fmer-remf.ca/about-us/our-collaborators/

🌟 As part of our monthly spotlight series, we’re proud to introduce Dr. Kathleen (Kate) Rice🌟

Dr. Rice holds the SSHRC-funded Tier II Canada Research Chair in the Medical Anthropology of Primary Care. Her theoretical and methodological expertise are in the areas of social theories of power and inequity, and ethnography.

In her work:

🔍 Kate aims to expose the underlying discourses, ideologies, and categories that shape healthcare, as well as the relations of power that underpin them.

💡 Kate’s specific areas of topical focus include rural and remote health, gender, human rights, chronic pain, pregnancy and birth, Indigenous methodologies in health research, and medical education.

🌍 The areas of geographic focus are Southern Africa, and urban and rural Canada.

🤝 In collaboration with a research team in South Africa, she is currently the Canadian PI on a CIHR and IDRC-Funded entitled “Ukuvula Isango: Women’s Empowerment and Post-Pandemic Reconstruction in Rural South Africa.” This project uses a “people’s science” approach to address key issues related to the precarity of women in rural areas of South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic as a starting point for post COVID-19 rebuilding.

💡 She is Co-PI on SSHRC-funded project entitled “Engaging people with lived experience of chronic pain within the context of social inequity: a critical realist evaluation of patient engagement in Canada” (https://lnkd.in/e8k3yY3g) and, in collaboration with colleagues at the Maison Bleue in Montreal, she is carrying an ethnographic investigation of cultural safety in urban perinatal care.

📚 Her first book, entitled Rights and Responsibilities: Gender, Personhood, and the Crisis of Meaning in Rural South Africa, will be published by the University of Indiana Press in 2023.

✨ We are truly grateful to have Dr. Rice as part of our FMER team! ✨

You can read more:
https://fmer-remf.ca/about-us/our-team/kathleen-rice/

✨ Collaborator Spotlight – Dr. Catherine Jarvis, MD, CCFP, FCFP ✨

We are pleased to highlight Dr. Catherine Jarvis, MD, CCFP, FCFP, from the Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University.

👏 We are deeply grateful for her thoughtful contributions, ongoing commitment, and generous collaboration with FMER. Dr. Jarvis’s expertise and engagement have had a meaningful impact on our research and continue to strengthen and advance FMER’s work.

💡 Help us to improve an AI-powered tool that supports Autistic Individuals and their families in completing Disability-Related government Forms

📝 Family Medicine Education Research (FMER) is collaborating with partners across Quebec to improve access to disability-related supports for autistic individuals and their families. We are currently recruiting physicians to help evaluate an AI-powered assistant designed to guide families when completing government forms such as the Disability Tax Credit Certificate (DTC) and the Supplement for Handicapped Children (SHC).

💡 This research project is testing a conversational AI assistant that aims to simplify this process for families and, once deployed, reduce the administrative burden on physicians.

🔍 What participation involves:
We are seeking physicians practising in Quebec who have previously completed DTC or SHC forms for autistic patients or their families.
It will be a one-on-one online interview of approximately 60 minutes to:
✅ Review sample documents generated by the AI assistant
✅ Provide feedback on relevance, clarity, and format
✅ Share suggestions for improvement

✨ Your insight will directly inform the development of a tool intended to support families and streamline form completion in clinical practice.

📩 If you are interested in participating or would like more information, please contact:
[email protected]

For more information, please read:
https://fmer-remf.ca/seeking-physicians-to-inform-a-new-ai-tool-supporting-disability-related-forms-for-autistic-individuals/

🌟 As part of our monthly spotlight series, we’re proud to introduce Dr. Peter Nugus (MA Hons, MEd, PhD), an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and the Institute of Health Sciences Education at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Dr. Nugus is also Acting Director of the McGill University Practice-based Research Network (PBRN) (Réseaux de recherche axée sur les pratiques de première ligne-RRAPPL).

🌍 Drawing on a rich interdisciplinary background in Political Science, Philosophy, Adult Education, and Sociology, Dr. Nugus's ethnographic and participatory research spans emergency departments, hospitals, and community settings across six countries. His work focuses on workplace and organizational learning, care coordination, culture and identity in complex organizations, and the translation and mobilization of knowledge between researchers and users.

📚 He held a Fulbright post-doctoral scholarship at the University of California Los Angeles, and an Australian government Endeavour post-doctoral scholarship at Columbia University, and was a postdoc at the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL).

💡 With publications in leading journals such as the British Medical Journal, Social Science & Medicine, and Sociology of Health & Illness, he has authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations, supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Fonds de Recherche du Québec (FRQ).

✨ We are truly grateful to have Dr. Nugus as part of our FMER team! ✨

📢📢 Our upcoming FMER Advanced Webinar, “Strengthening Family Doctors' Response to the Abuse of Older People: Lessons from a Malaysian Education Intervention,” with Dr. Fadzilah Hanum Mohd Mydin, has been postponed to early 2026.

🔔 Stay tuned for the new date and registration details.
🌟 We look forward to welcoming you in the new year!

✨ Collaborator Spotlight – Dr. F***y Hersson-Edery ✨

We are pleased to highlight Dr. F***y Hersson-Edery, MDCM, CFPC, FCMF, and Program Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program in the Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University.

👏 We are deeply grateful for her meaningful contribution, commitment, and generous collaboration with FMER. Dr. Hersson-Edery’s contribution has had a meaningful impact on our research and continues to strengthen FMER’s work.