Northern Ontario doctor named Family Physician of the Year

A northern Ontario doctor has been named Family Physician of the Year. The award is the highest honour a doctor can receive from the Ontario College of Family Physicians.

Dr. Stacy Desilets, who grew up in Englehart, was nominated by her peers and practices medicine in New Liskeard.

Dr. Stacy Desilets is a family physician who practises medicine in New Liskeard. (Supplied)

The Ontario College of Family Physicians said Desilets' commitment to patient well-being has earned her the recognition. She has been awarded the Reg L. Perkins Ontario Family Physician of the Year.

"To realize, I guess, that there are actually colleagues that see what you do on a daily basis and make note of it and want to help you celebrate that," she told CTV News.

"It was just such a humbling and surprising experience."

Desilets has been working in northern Ontario since she graduated from medical school.

"I had a very formative experience at the end of second year where I came to New Liskeard for two months and worked with the physicians here," she said.

"(I) really got to see what a huge impact they made on the patients in their community and the diversity of practice that they got to do, the wide skills that they got to experience and that they were kind of doing it without a lot of support from the specialists."

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"Dr. Desilets definitely kind of encompasses all that it means to be an outstanding family physician," said Dr. Jobin Varughese, president of the Ontario College of Family Physicians.

"In addition to caring for her patients within the clinic, she also works as a hospitalist. So, somebody who sees patients within the hospital, she sees people in the … emergency department emergency room, as well as serves as a surgical assistant to provide necessary operating room support, as well as a collaborative physician for nurse practitioners."

Desilets is also part of NOSM University. In the last eight years, she has helped recruit 11 new physicians who worked with her during their time in residencies.