This year’s DFCM Conference celebrated the past and looked toward the future of our department

Apr 15, 2019

DFCM Conference

On April 5, 2019, over 300 faculty members, alumni, residents, students, staff, and local and international friends of the University of Toronto Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) came together at the 2019 DFCM Conference & Walter Rosser Day. This year’s conference was especially exciting, as it marked the beginning of celebrations for the DFCM’s 50th Anniversary year. We would like to thank everyone who was able to join us at the 2019 Conference – your participation made it a success. For those who were unable to attend this year – fear not. We will have many other special events throughout the year to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. For more information, please visit our 50th Anniversary website here.

Here are a few highlights from this year’s conference:

  • The Conference began with Indigenous Elder, Cat Criger, acknowledging the traditional land upon which we held the Conference.
  • Dr. Michael Kidd kicked off the morning by acknowledging a few special guests and providing a sneak peek of the upcoming University of Toronto Family Medicine Report.
  • Keynote speaker Dr. Risa Freeman walked us through the first 50 years of DFCM’s history during the Walter Rosser Lecture with nostalgic photos and videos of the department, as well as pop culture references through the decades.
  • To celebrate the launch of our 50th Anniversary, we created a video featuring some of our greatest achievements. Click here to watch the video.
  • Dr. Michael Kidd started the afternoon by highlighting our 50th Anniversary events throughout the year. For more information on these upcoming events, please click here.
  • Earl Dunn lecturer Dr. Joshua Tepper spoke on where the department and family medicine could be in 50 years. Panelist members Dr. Andrew Boozary, Dr. Melinda Wu, and Dr. Braden O’Neill responded to Dr. Tepper’s vision for the future with their own visions for family medicine and DFCM. .
  • Dr. Rick Glazier and Dr. Aisha Lofters discussed the history of DFCM research and gave tips on how to achieve success with a career in research.

To see photos of the event, please visit our Facebook page here.

You can also recap the event on Twitter with the hashtags #dfcm19 and #dfcm50. Many conference participants shared their thoughts throughout the day, a few of which we have highlighted below.