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UOHS 2018 Speakers

UOHS 2018 featured a diverse mix of speakers in addition to our keynote speakers.

Learn about them below! 

JEFF BLACKMER

MEDICAL PROFESSIONALISM VICE PRESIDENT, CMA

MD, MHSC, FRCPC

Dr. Jeff Blackmer is the current Vice President of Medical Professionalism at the Canadian Medical Association, where he leads the work on pertinent current healthcare issues such as end of life care and assisted dying. In the past, he has served in numerous leadership positions related to medical ethics, some of which include the Executive Director of the CMA’s Office of Ethics, Professionalism and International Affairs, as well as the Director of Ethics for the World Medical Association in Geneva. Aside from his extensive contributions to medical ethics, Dr. Blackmer also practices spinal cord injury medicine at The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre and teaches at the University of Ottawa Medical School. Without a doubt, Dr. Blackmer’s areas of expertise are vast and numerous and his talk is sure to be full of wisdom and inspiration.

DR. SACHIN PATEL

FOUNDER/CEO OF THE LIVING PROOF INSTITUTE

Doctor of Chiropractic, Certified Functional Medicine Provider

“The doctor of the future is the patient” is the philosophy central to Dr. Patel’s practice as a Functional Medicine Provider and the Founder/CEO of the Living Proof Institute. Through his holistic approach targeted at changing one’s lifestyle, nutrition and attitude, Dr. Patel provides long term solutions to various health problems and aims to empower his patients to take control over their own health. He is an advocate for changing the healthcare paradigm and a well versed speaker who has delivered many community workshops and talks to share his vision. At UOHS 2018, he will emphasize how important it is to go Back to the Basics in order to foresee a healthier future for all.

DR. ALICE ZWERLING

INFECTIOUS DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGIST

PhD in Epidemiology, Postdoctoral Fellow from Johns Hopkins Bloomber School of Public Health, Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa

Alice has been heavily involved in developing worldwide healthcare policies on treatments for Tuberculosis; many of which are being implemented by the World Health Organization. In her talk, Alice will share some of her personal stories of challenges and triumphs to really show the importance of applying your knowledge on both a local and global scale for a healthier world tomorrow.

DEANNA SCHOFIELD

PARAMEDIC

BSc, ACP, A/Superintendant (Operations)​

Deanna Schofield has been a practicing paramedic for 19 years. She leads an exciting and fulfilling career through which she has taken on many roles and initiatives. In the past, she has worked as the Emergency Medical Services Coordinator and through the Mentor Platoon program to train hundreds of new paramedics. Currently, she is an Acting Superintendent and serves as the hospital liaison with the Ottawa Paramedics Service, working with the Overdose Prevention Task Force to build relations between the city and community and to propose solutions to regional patient care issues.

LAURA ARCHER

NURSE AND CANADIAN RED CROSS EMERGENCY WORKER

BScN

Laura Archer is a Registered Nurse and global emergency aid worker based in Ottawa, Ontario. As the internationally focused Health in Emergencies Advisor with the Canadian Red Cross, Laura provides technical and operational input and oversight to international response initiatives.  She has over 12 years of field experience, having responded to disasters and complex health emergencies including conflict, famine, natural disasters, mass population movement, and epidemics in countries around the world with the Red Cross Movement as well as with Medecins Sans Frontieres.

 

Archer is wife to one adoring husband and a mother to two beautiful babies.  She is an artist whose work has been shown in both solo and group exhibits and a student currently working toward a Master of Science in Disaster Medicine.

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