Dr Carrie Bernard was elected as the 71st President of the CFPC on October 30, 2024, at the Annual Meeting of Members. She was officially installed in the role on November 8, 2024, during Family Medicine Forum in Vancouver, BC.

Dr Bernard began her career in health care as an occupational therapist.

“The years I spent working as an occupational therapist taught me to consider how illness affects all aspects of a patient’s life. This understanding continues to frame how I work with patients.”

Dr Bernard received her medical degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont, in 1997 and completed her family medicine residency at the University of Toronto (U of T) in Ontario. She went on to complete a 3-month fellowship in low-risk obstetrics at U of T and was awarded Certification in the College of Family Physicians of Canada in 1999. She became a Fellow in 2013.

Family medicine drew her interest right away in medical school and she attributed much of her passion for the field to her mentorship experiences.

“I won the mentorship lottery, because my first-year family medicine experience was in the office of Dr Sandy Buchman. He was an incredible teacher and role model who instilled in me a desire to consider full-scope family medicine, to serve, to constantly learn, and to consider teaching. And he showed me that all of this was possible in a non-academic community-based family practice.”

Her good fortune, she said, continued into residency when Dr Ross Upshur took over as her family medicine residency supervisor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at U of T.

“Dr Upshur’s enthusiasm for making deeper connections between patient-centred care, evidence, and teaching was exhilarating. I was amazed at his ability to make the most common clinical concern an exercise in searching for evidence-informed practice and to weave it seamlessly into the values and desires of the individual patient.”

Both physicians continue to be her mentors, Dr Bernard said.

Dr Bernard’s journey to her practice in Brampton, Ont, began as a resident when she spent 1 month at Queen Square Doctors. At this practice she learned from family physicians who cared for their patients when they were admitted to hospital and from those who offered emergency and obstetric care, worked at a local nursing home, and provided services at a correctional facility.

“It was at Queen Square where I started to assume the identity of a family doctor,” said Dr Bernard, who has worked in Brampton for 25 years. “They were practising the kind of medicine I wanted to embrace.”

Following residency, Dr Bernard joined the practice as a clinician and teacher.

“In Brampton we are part of the health care community and are integrated into the overall structure. Our hospital CEO [(chief executive officer)], Dr Frank Martino, is an accessible family doctor and leaders from Peel Public Health regularly come to our family practice rounds. It is a huge city with a small-town feel and the perfect place to learn, grow, and practise as a family doctor.”

After taking some time to work for Médecins Sans Frontières, Dr Bernard pursued a master’s degree in public health, leading her to engage in research while never having to leave her home as a community-based family physician.

Dr Bernard said she is proud of the community perspective she brings to all the roles she has embraced, including those in university leadership, in public health, and on the CFPC board.

“At the end of the day, all my work has a direct connection to the patients in Brampton and to my colleagues who care for them. It is through such connections and partnerships between academia and the community that we can keep our questions relevant and our solutions practical and realistic.”

This perspective, she said, is central to the work she will do as CFPC President.

“The crisis in family medicine is pressing and we need to face the challenges head on. To do so, we must weave the strengths of the academy and the community together. Such collaboration is very much needed, and I want to extend an invitation to our members to become an active part of this partnership in the months to come.”

Dr Bernard encourages members to reach out to her at cbernardcfpc.ca.