Rocky Mountain Internal Medicine 2021
Speaker Bios

Andrew Yang, MD, FRCPC 

 

Affiliations:  

Assistant Professor General Internal Medicine, University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine 

Physician Saskatchewan Health Authority 

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada 

Canadian Society of Internal Medicine; Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine 

Christian Medical & Dental Associations 

 

Bio: 

Dr. Yang is a general internist currently providing inpatient and rapid access outpatient addiction care with the Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) team in Saskatoon. He completed medical school in Edmonton at the University of Alberta and went on to complete his core internal medicine training in Regina with the University of Saskatchewan. Given the high prevalence of substance use disorders in the patient population, He decided to pursue extra training in the management of substance use disorders during his general internal medicine fellowship, and currently work primarily providing inpatient addiction medicine services and furthering the care of patients with substance use disorders in Saskatchewan. 

 

Brian Wirzba, MD, FRCP(C), FACP 

 

Affiliations:  

Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine,  

Edmonton Zone Section Chief of General Internal Medicine  

 

Bio: 

General internist 

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Caley Shukalek, MD, FRCPC, MSc, MPH 

 

Affiliations:  

Clinical Assistant Professor, Departments of Medicine, University of Calgary  

Physician, Alberta Health Services 

 

Bio: 

Dr Caley Shukalek is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine & Community Health Sciences, the Foothills Medical Centre Department of Medicine Site Lead, and a Medical Informatics Lead with AHS’ Connect Care initiative. His clinical and academic work focuses on both therapeutics and health system interventions for the prevention and management of persons with or at risk of HIV and STIs with additional interests in health impacts of human sexuality. 
Outside of his academic work, Dr Shukalek has worked with the team at PurposeMed since its inception to develop a comprehensive virtual care platform with current offerings including sexual health and mental health services. 

 

Darcy D. Marciniuk, MD, FRCPC, FCAHS 

 

Affiliations: 

Professor Respirology, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Associate Vice-President Research University of Saskatchewan 

 

Bio: 

Dr. Marciniuk is a Professor of Respirology, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, and Associate Vice-President Research at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.  

Dr. Marciniuk is recognized internationally as an expert and leader in clinical exercise physiology, COPD, and pulmonary rehabilitation with more than 425 invited national/international presentations and 240 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and reviews. Dr. Marciniuk is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and serves as Deputy Editor – Outreach for the journal CHEST. Dr. Marciniuk is a past-President of CHEST and the Canadian Thoracic Society, past-Chair of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) and was a founding Steering Committee member of Canada’s National Lung Health Framework. He has been a Chair and member of many international and Canadian Thoracic Society clinical practice guidelines. 

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David Christiansen, MD, FRCPC 

 

Affiliations: 

Assistant Professor in the Section of Adult Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manitoba 

 

Bio: 

Dr. Christiansen is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Adult Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manitoba. He completed Internal Medicine training at the University of Manitoba and training in respirology and pulmonary hypertension at the University of Toronto. He practices in the areas of pulmonary hypertension, general respirology and General Internal Medicine, based primarily at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg. 

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Debbie Rosenbaum, MD, CM, FRCPC 

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Affiliations: 

Clinical Assistant Professor Division of General Internal Medicine, University of British Columbia 

 

Bio: 

Dr. Rosenbaum is a Clinical Assistant Professor in UBC’s Division of General Internal Medicine. She completed fellowship training in Nephrology at UBC, additional training in hypertension, as well as successfully completed the American Society of Hypertension Certification Exam in 2015. 

Her areas of special interest include acute inpatient medicine on the CTU, medical management of patients with eating disorders, and resistant hypertension. She has established an Internal Medicine outreach clinic in Vancouver’s Downtown East side. Dr. Rosenbaum is involved with undergraduate medical education and is the Discipline Specific Site Leader at St Paul’s Hospital for medical students rotating through their internal medicine clerkship. She loves teaching fellows, residents, and medical students. 

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Gabriel Fabreau, MD, MPH, FRCPC 

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Affiliations: 

Assistant Professor, General Internal Medicine O’Brien Institute for Public Health, Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine University of Calgary  

 

Bio: 

Dr. Fabreau is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. He completed an MPH in Clinical Effectiveness at the Harvard School of Public Health and an academic fellowship in General Internal Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. He has methodological expertise in clinical, health services, and public health research with a particular focus on the health of socially vulnerable populations, recently resettled refugees and asylum claimants, complex chronic disease, and high-needs patient populations.  

Dr. Fabreau's clinical practice as a general internist focuses on caring for socially vulnerable populations, specifically as an inpatient internist at the Peter Lougheed Centre as well as an embedded consultant within the Mosaic Refugee Health Clinic (MRHC), and the East Calgary Health Centre.  

Dr. Fabreau's research program is primarily embedded within primary healthcare, community organizations and non-profit organizations and aims to develop innovations in healthcare delivery that address both health, healthcare delivery and upstream social determinants of health for socially vulnerable populations.  

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Glen Drobot, MD, FRCPC, FACP 

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Affiliations: 

Assistant Professor, section of General Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba 

 

Bio: 

Dr. Drobot is a clinician educator in general internal medicine who works in Winnipeg at St. Boniface Hospital. He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate training at the University of Manitoba. He has clinical interests in heart failure and in travel & tropical medicine, having completed the Gorgas Course in Clinical Tropical Medicine. His non-medical interests include gardening and trivia. 

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Martha Ainslie, MD, FRCPC 

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Affiliations: 

Section Head of Adult Respirology Medicine in Internal Medicine, Health Sciences Centre, and St. Boniface Hospital 

 

Bio: 

Dr Ainslie is the Section Head of Respiratory Medicine in Internal Medicine and attends at Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface Hospital. She received her MD from Queen’s University and did a rotating internship at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, before starting her training in Calgary. 

After completing her subspecialty training in Respirology, Dr. Ainslie worked at the Peterborough Hospital in Calgary for several years before moving to Winnipeg. She has a general pulmonary outpatient practice. She has a special interest in TB and medical education. Dr. Ainslie is an enthusiastic cross-country skier and loves the outdoors. 

 

Michael McDonald, MD, FRCPC 

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Affiliations:  

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto 

Medical Director, Ted Rogers Centre of Excellence in Heart Function 

Peter Munk Cardiac Centre 

Ajmera Transplant Centre 

University Health Network 

 

Bio: 

Dr. McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Division of Cardiology at the University Health Network/Mount Sinai Hospital, where his clinical focus is the management of patients with advanced heart failure, cardiac transplantation, and implantable device therapy. He is the Medical Director of the Ted Rogers Center of Excellence in Heart Function and Medical Director of the Heart Transplant Program at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre/UHN. He is the inaugural Martha Rogers Chair in Heart Failure Training and Education and is the current chair of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society’s Heart Failure Guidelines Committee. 

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Michael Prystajecky, MD, MSc, FRCPC 

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Affiliations: 

Assistant Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Saskatchewan 

 

Bio: 

 

Dr. Michael Prystajecky is an Assistant Professor and Clinician Scientist with the University of Saskatchewan Department of Medicine. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Calgary and completed his Internal Medicine and General Internal Medicine training at the University of Saskatchewan. He subsequently received a Master of Science in Healthcare Quality from Queen's University and additional training in perioperative medicine at McMaster University. When not working, Dr. Prystajecky spends his time climbing, paddling, skiing, and cycling.  

 

Paxton Bach, MD, MSc, FRCPC, FASAM 

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Affiliations: 

Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia 

General Internist, Addiction Medicine Consultant, St. Paul’s Hospital  

British Columbia Centre on Substance Use 

 

Bio: 

 

Dr. Bach is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and a general internist and addiction medicine physician at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. He additionally serves as the Co-Medical Director for the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, and the Director of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program. 

 

Prabh Lail, MD 

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Affiliations: 

Clinical Lecturer, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary; General Internal Medicine Specialist, 
Medical Director, Addiction Recovery 
and Community Health (ARCH) Calgary 

 

Bio: 

Dr. Lail is a Canada Addiction Medicine Research Fellow and General Internist who completed the Goldcorp Addiction Medicine Clinical Fellowship in 2017. She completed a BSc. Honours in Life Sciences at Queen’s University, and medical school at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary in the combined Md/MSc. Leaders in Medicine Program with a Master of Science in Population and Public Health. Dr. Lail completed her residency for internal medicine at the University of Calgary and moved to Vancouver to attend the University of British Columbia in 2015 to pursue the General Internal Medicine Fellowship and subsequently the Addiction Medicine Fellowship. Dr. Lail’s area of interest is in the management of alcohol use disorder.

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Rose Hatala, MD, FRCPC 

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Affiliations: 

Professor, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia 

General Internal Medicine and Palliative Care, St. Paul's Hospital 

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Bio: 

Dr. Hatala is a general internist, palliative care physician and a Professor in the UBC Department of Medicine. She is a previous Associate Program Director for the UBC internal medicine residency program and is currently the Internal Medicine Competency Committee Chair. Her educational research career has focused on assessment methods, clinical reasoning, and simulation. Lately, she has been exploring clinical supervision and feedback in the era of CBME. She is a RCPSC Internal Medicine Board and Executive member and a past co-chair of the applied examination in internal medicine. 

 

Sarah Takach Lapner, MD, FRCPC 

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Affiliations: 

Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta 

Member of the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis 

 

Bio: 

Dr. Sarah Takach Lapner completed her hematology training at the University of Ottawa and an additional fellowship in thrombosis research at McMaster University as well as a Master of Science in Health Research Methodology. Her interests include diagnosis of venous thromboembolism, duration of anticoagulation and risk stratification of recurrent venous thrombosis.

 

Tiffany Leung, MD, MPH, FACP, FAMIA, FEFIM 

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Affiliations: 

Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences at Maastricht University, The Netherlands 

 

Bio: 

Dr. Leung is a U.S.‐trained Internal Medicine physician and Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences in The Netherlands. Dr. Leung is Immediate Past Chair of the American College of Physicians' (ACP) Council of Early Career Physicians, Editor‐in‐Chief of the Society of General Internal Medicine's monthly newsletter, SGIM Forum, and Co‐executive Producer of The DEI Shift, a podcast to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine, and an official ACP podcast partner. 

She has a special interest in physician suicide prevention and promotion of physician well‐being and gender equity in medicine. Further information and links available.