Speakers

Annual meeting presenters

• 

  Jean-Hugues Brossard, MD, CSPQ, FRCPC

  President, CMPA

  Dr. Jean-Hugues Brossard graduated from Université de Montréal’s medical school in 1986. After a residency in internal medicine and endocrinology, he completed a fellowship in bone and mineral metabolism. Since 1994, Dr. Brossard has taught and practiced endocrinology at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) as associate professor of clinical medicine.

  During his residency, Dr. Brossard was president of the Fédération des médecins residents du Québec (1987-1992). While in practice, he presided over the Association des médecins endocrinologues du Québec (1996-2005) and was involved in medical research (1993 – 2007).

  From 2006 to 2015, Dr. Brossard was medical administrator of the metabolic medicine program at the CHUM and chief of endocrinology (2009 – 2015). Since 2015, he has been managing partner of the Clinique d’Endocrinologie de Montréal and has progressively increased his involvement in CMPA governance, while relentlessly supporting its vision and mission.

  Elected to CMPA Council in 2002, Dr. Brossard provides guidance and leadership to several Council Committees. He has served on Executive Committee and on several governance committees. He has acted as chair of the Culture Sub-committee, Case Review Committee, Investment Committee, and Extent of Assistance Committee. Prior to his election as president, Dr. Brossard served as the CMPA’s second and first vice-president.

• 

  Lisa Calder, MD, MSc, FRCPC

  Chief Executive Officer, CMPA

  Dr. Calder completed her Medical Degree at the University of Western Ontario. She has a Master of Science in epidemiology from the University of Ottawa, where she also completed her Royal College Emergency Medicine residency and an emergency medicine research fellowship.

  She then pursued her passion for patient safety by completing two additional fellowships: the Patient Safety Fellowship in Emergency Medicine from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the Emergency Medicine Patient Safety Foundation, and the American Hospital Association’s Fellowship in Patient Safety Leadership.

  As a researcher, she has published close to 90 peer-reviewed publications and has been successful in securing research funding, including over 2 million dollars as principal investigator.

  Dr. Calder is an associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s Department of Emergency Medicine, and has received the University of Ottawa’s Excellence in Emergency Medicine Quality and Safety Award as well as the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians’ Teacher of the Year Award.

  Dr. Calder spent more than a decade practising as an emergency physician in Ottawa before joining the CMPA in 2015 as the director of Medical Care Analytics. She was appointed CEO of the CMPA in August 2020. Her areas of focus are to be there for members, modernize the CMPA, and do so in a collaborative way.

• 

  Michael Curry, LLB/JD, MD, CCFP (EM), FCLM, FCFP

  Council Member and Chair, Audit Committee, CMPA

  Prior to entering medical school, Dr. Curry completed his law degree at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and has studied in Edmonton, London (Ontario), Toronto, and California. While a trainee, Dr. Curry was president of Professional Association of Internes and Residents of Ontario (as it was then known) and was actively involved in representing medical students and residents at organizations including the Canadian Medical Association, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the Ontario Medical Association, and the CMPA. He has continued to be involved in medical education, having served as the electives director and year 4 chair of the UBC’s MD undergraduate program.

  Dr. Curry currently serves as the chair of the audit and finance committee at Doctors of BC. He has completed terms as a public appointee to the University of Alberta’s senate, the College of Dental Surgeons, and CGA Alberta. Dr. Curry is experienced in financial management and oversight, governance, and professional regulation.

• 

  Cory Garbolinsky, CPA, CA

  Executive Director, Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer, CMPA

  Mr. Cory Garbolinsky is the CMPA’s Executive Director of Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer. His responsibilities encompass the Association’s finance, investment, and actuarial functions.

  Mr. Garbolinsky joined the CMPA in 2012 as the Director of Finance. Prior to the CMPA, he worked as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Finance for International Datacasting Corporation, previously a TSX listed technology company. Mr. Garbolinsky obtained his Chartered Accounting designation in 1998 and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Manitoba in 1995.

Information Session presenters

• 

  Armand Aalamian, MDCM, CCFP, FCFP

  Executive Director, Learning, CMPA

  Fluently bilingual, Dr. Armand Aalamian has extensive experience in supporting and advancing medical education. He spent two decades with McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine as an associate professor, where he held numerous leadership positions.

  These positions included associate dean of Postgraduate Medical Education, director of development of New Family Medicine Residency Teaching Sites, assistant dean of Postgraduate Resident Affairs, and director of the Family Medicine Program. Dr. Aalamian also served as deputy director of medical studies with the Collège des médecins du Québec.

  In addition to his work in medical education, Dr. Aalamian has practised medicine for over 30 years, holding various positions such as chief of Mental Health Services with Centre de santé et de services sociaux de la Montagne, and chief medical consultant at the International Civil Aviation Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. He has substantial experience in collaborating with national and international medical education stakeholders and, as an accomplished leader, has promoted cultural humility, equity, diversity, and inclusion within healthcare organizations.

  As executive director of Learning at the CMPA, Dr. Aalamian oversees the portfolio that includes Safe Medical Care Learning and Organizational Learning and Collaboration.

• 

  Marie-Chantale Brien, MD

  Physician advisor and director of Intervention, Prevention and Research, Québec Physicians’ Health Program

  Dr. Marie-Chantale Brien is a physician advisor with the Québec Physician’s Health Program, where she has worked since 2019. She became the director of Intervention, Prevention, and Research for the program in June 2021, having acted in that role since September 2020. She currently manages the welcome desk and the physician advisors team.

  Dr. Brien obtained her medical degree and her specialty diploma in obstetrics and gynecology from the Université de Sherbrooke, after completing a rotating internship at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

  For over 20 years, Dr. Brien practised obstetrics and gynecology in New Brunswick and Québec, notably at the Centre des maladies du sein du CHU de Québec.

  Her in-depth knowledge of issues affecting physicians' health at all stages of their careers has led her to regularly lecture to physician groups, especially to residents and medical students. Attuned to crisis situations experienced by her peers, Dr. Brien is involved in postventions and supports the start up of peer support groups.

• 

  Vania Jimenez, MD, CCFP, FCFP

  Family Physician/Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, McGill University

  Dr. Vania Jimenez began her career as a family physician in 1972. In 2007, she co-founded Montréal’s non-profit La Maison Bleue, a living environment for young children based on a preventive approach model.

  As an associate professor at McGill University’s Department of Family Medicine, Dr. Jimenez was the director of the Research Division until 2005. She then went on to work as director of the Family Medicine Unit at the CLSC de Côte-des-Neiges in Montréal until December 2020. She practises family medicine, caring for a highly heterogeneous, multi-ethnic population. This work is a constant source of reflection and inspiration for research and teaching. She has also practiced obstetrics in family medicine at Montréal’s Jewish General Hospital.

  As a researcher and clinician, Dr. Jimenez has always been intrigued by the influence of culture on illness. This theme is a major focus of the numerous research projects that she is involved in. She also explores other subjects, such as the psychology of pregnancy and parent-child relationships, that reflect her ongoing interest in obstetrics and the family.

  Dr. Jimenez was named Family Physician of the Year in 1999 by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Collège québécois des médecins de famille. In 2004, she was awarded the Medal of Merit from the Association des médecins francophones du Canada. In 2008, the Association des médecins de CLSC du Québec granted her the Inukshuk Award for her special collaboration with Indigenous midwives in having their training recognized by the Ordre des sages-femmes du Québec. In 2023, she received the Distinction Award from the president of the Collège des médecins du Québec.

  Dr. Jimenez is a Knight of the Ordre de Montréal and a recipient of the Médaille de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec. She is also a published novelist.

• 

  Andrée-Anne Labbé, LLM

  Partner, McCarthy Tétrault

  Ms. Andrée-Anne Labbé is a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s litigation group in Montréal. Since 2009, she has been representing physicians through mandates given by the CMPA.

  Ms. Labbé pleads regularly before the higher courts and administrative tribunals. She has extensive experience in health law, professional liability, and disciplinary law.

• 

  Richard E. Mimeault, MD, FRCSC

  Physician Advisor, CMPA

  Dr. Richard Mimeault completed his medical degree at McGill University in 1982. He went on to do an internship at the Wellesley Hospital in Toronto, followed by a general surgery residency in Ottawa and then a two-year transplant fellowship at the University Hospital in London, Ontario.

  In 1989, he returned to Ottawa where he started a practice of general and hepatobiliary surgery at the Ottawa Hospital.

  Throughout his 27 years in practice, Dr. Mimeault was closely involved with the residency training program and undergraduate education at the Ottawa Hospital. He was also a peer assessor for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and volunteered in surgery and surgical education. Dr. Mimeault joined the CMPA as a physician advisor in 2017.