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Working as a hospitalist at St. Boniface Hospital in the Family Medicine Clinical Teaching Unit (FMCTU) group, Dr. Gabrielle Leung says her journey in the medical world has been ​“enlightening and dynamic”. The broad diversity of clinical care in family medicine is what drew her to the specialty and she appreciates the opportunities and challenges it provides every day. 

She has a passion for teaching saying, ​“there’s satisfaction in witnessing the growth and evolution of learners.” She adds, ​“this joy was further amplified when the first medical student, for whom I penned a CaRMS family medicine reference letter, joined the team at FMCTU as a staff member this year.” Dr. Leung says moments like this reaffirm her commitment to her profession and to mentoring medical learners. 

Colleague and friend, Dr. Galia Pollack is inspired by Dr. Leung’s dedication to her patients and her approach to teaching residents. Dr. Pollack calls Dr. Leung ​“an excellent physician, [who] works up patients appropriately and systematically with an evidence based approach.” Dr. Leung provides immeasurable value to her group, always working to achieve the best possible outcomes for her patients.

At the The College of Family Physicians of Canada virtual awards gala in 2021, Dr. Leung was among eight Manitoba physicians who practise intrapartum obstetrics at St. Boniface Hospital, to be recognized with the Artemis Group Award of Excellence for providing a family and community-oriented option for patients and for ensuring residents have exposure to this important aspect of family medicine. 

Dr. Leung was born and raised in Winnipeg and completed her undergraduate degree and medical training in Winnipeg. Away from the medical world, Dr. Leung and her partner Daniel enjoy spending time with their two mischievous cats and watching movies, with ​‘Shrek’ being her absolute favourite. Cycling has captured Dr. Leung’s heart. In 2023 she has already clocked 9,000km on her bikes! After taking up winter cycling last year, she gave up her parking pass and says ​“riding through the snow-laden streets of Winnipeg, I’ve come to appreciate the beauty of the city in a whole new light.” 

Originally from Toronto, and trained at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dr. Sameer Kassim has lived all over the world, and settled in Manitoba when he began his residency in 2012. He has completed residency studies in Medical Microbiology, the Clinical Investigator Program, the Family Medicine — Northern Remote Program and received a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is the associate medical director at Nine Circles Community Health Centre, where he focuses on HIV, Travel and Tropical Medicine, STI/BBI care and prevention, and research. A clinician-scientist, he recently became a professor in the Department of Family Medicine research and innovation and has been an assistant professor for nearly 3 years.

Dr. Kassim appreciates opportunities to engage with ​“patients, allied health professionals, members of the community, and administrators to advance individual health and health outcomes, health services, education, and research.” He says the most rewarding part of practicing medicine is ​“seeing positive systemic changes in the lives of your patients, your practice, and your community.” He loves teaching and has been working closely with UM, CPSM, the Manitoba HIV Program, and the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS to build programs to help facilitate learning through online modules and provide physicians who are new to Canada with bedside teaching and assessment. 

Colleague and friend, Dr. Klevis Iliriani says Dr. Kassim exemplifies ​“the best the medical profession has to offer” and is inspired by his ​“passion for medicine, equality and equity”. Dr. Iliriani says Dr. Kassim has been ​“challenging the status quo” to deliver care to his patients at Nine Circles Community Health Centre. Dr. Kassim has been pivotal at creating opportunities for physician learning with his outreach program, designed to help individual family physicians prevent HIV transmission through the use of PrEP. He has been a champion for harm reduction programs and advocated for enhanced fees with Doctors Manitoba in order to better incentivize physicians to assist in the testing, treatment and follow-up of HIV patients in their community clinics. Last year he had his first national guideline on the treatment of acute COVID published in the AMMI. Publication of his work in education has led to multiple changes at his alma mater.

Dr. Kassim is concerned about the erosion of our post-COVID healthcare system as a result of funding restraints, lack of innovation and provider burnout. He believes provisions must be made for ​“fair remuneration that is commensurate with the unique expertise and depth and breadth of medical training required for family physicians and sub-specialties.” As a physician on the front lines of the HIV epidemic and the opioid and meth crisis, he is worried about the overall impact it is having on people, communities and the system. 

Dr. Kassim and his wife love to cook, trying out new and different recipes. They are currently working on Latin American dishes and love the picadillo. They are proud parents to a little boy, with another baby on the way. Dr. Kassim loves art and has been trying his hand at painting, a hobby he took up when the pandemic started. He is currently working on a study of Group of Seven’s Lawren S. Harris’ Lake and Mountains. He claims to now have a ​“home littered with terrible paintings.”

Dr. Joel Loiselle was born and raised, and attended medical school in Saskatchewan. In 1997 he moved to Manitoba to complete a residency in anesthesiology and never left. He has been on the anesthesia staff at St. Boniface since 2002 and also provides anesthetic coverage at the PanAM clinic and Misericordia Health Centre. He works in the palliative care program 3 – 4 days a month in the Pain Management Centre at HSC, primarily focusing on cancer related pain. He is the Director of the Continuing Professional Development Portfolio (for the Department of Anesthesia) and acts as the chair for the CPD committee for ACUDA (Association of Canadian University Departments of Anesthesiology). Dr. Loiselle is an assistant professor at UM and has been leading the undergraduate pain curriculum for Med2 for several years and is the medical director of the Acute/​Complex pain service at SBGH the Medical Director for Anesthesia 

Colleagues Dr. Samantha Russell and Dr. Andrew Reda say Dr. Loiselle, ​“deftly manages relationships with managers and healthcare personnel to increase morale and collegiality while still increasing capacity to deal with the surgical backlog.” They are inspired by Dr. Loiselle’s humane approach to patient care and his compassion and kindness, ​“shines through with this patient group.” 

Dr. Loiselle feels privileged ​“to be allowed into people’s lives, even if sometimes it’s only briefly” and values the connections made over longer periods of time, like when helping patients with chronic pain. He finds meaning in and is rewarded by the work he does with palliative patients, when he is able to help both the patient and their family through such difficult times. Dr. Loiselle loves his job and says his many great colleagues and previous teachers and mentors make it even better. He says a simple thing, like being thanked for helping a scared patient through a procedure calmly and safely is so rewarding. Like many of his physician colleagues, he has concerns about the healthcare system and medicine, but says ​“if we stick together, we will get through it!”

Dr. Loiselle loves a good steak, whether out at a restaurant or grilled up on one of his ​‘fleet of barbecues”. He has been happily married to his wife of 24 years, Lynn, who he says provides the safety and support he needs. They have two adult children, a daughter (Genevieve) and a son (Xavier). He and his family are proud to call Winnipeg home, having planted roots here these 20+ years. Dr. Loiselle calls himself an avid armchair athlete. He is a life-long, loyal, season ticket holding Saskatchewan Roughriders fan. He and his son manage to make it to half the home games each season. His colleagues have grown to accept and even forgive his allegiance, because, in their words, ​“to err is human.” He is thankful for their tolerance.

Born and raised in Nigeria, Dr. Olabisi Mosuro, graduated from medicine at the University of Ibadan and spent 10 years practicing medicine in Nigeria before moving to Canada with her husband and children in 2014. She grew up in a university environment and was inspired by many doctors at a young age. She always wanted to become a physician. She has always played a caregiver role, having grown up the oldest of 5 children, and loves ​“helping people and making them feel better.”

She worked in cardiac and respiratory rehabilitation in rural Saskatchewan before completing her Manitoba Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates (MLPIMG) in 2018. She lives in The Pas, where she practices as a family physician in the Northern Region and provides health services at Beatrice Wilson Health Centre Opaskwayak Cree Nation.

For Dr. Mosuro, the most rewarding part of her work is making a positive impact in the lives of patients and their families. ​“Seeing the progress and improvement in my patients’ health brings immense satisfaction,” she says, adding ​“the trust they place in me to guide their medical decisions is both humbling and motivating.” She feels a great sense of accomplishment when she can improve her patients’ quality of life by helping them manage chronic medical conditions, and says her work to continually work to understand and respect cultural norms and practices in the Indigenous community brings her great pride. Dr. Mosuro has integrated these considerations into her healthcare approach, and says doing so helps her ​“gain the trust and respect of the community members.”

As an International Medical Graduate (IMG) herself, Dr. Mosuro knows the hurdles and barriers IMGs face. She is proud to mentor all medical learners, but is especially eager to support and mentor other IMGs who are aspiring to practice or have recently begun practicing in Canada. ​“It has been incredibly rewarding to share my experiences, insights, and knowledge with these individuals, helping them navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with practicing medicine in rural communities,” she says, adding, ​“witnessing their success and seeing them make a positive impact in the medical field has brought me great personal satisfaction.” Colleague Dr. Jagtar Singh is grateful to work with Dr. Mosuro, and says her passionate dedication to mentorship, patient care and to the wellbeing of her colleagues sets her apart. 

Dr. Mosuro’s supportive, witty husband is also a Family Physician. Together they have three children — a set of twins (a boy and a girl) and a younger son. In her spare time, Dr. Mosuro enjoys reading, listening to music and spending time with family and friends, even more so if there is a meal involved. She loves trying new food from different parts of the world, especially rice dishes like jollof rice, fried rice, biryani, or kabsa.