Council Award
Alliston FP receives Council Award
Dr . Shazia Ambreen
photo : claudia hung
Dr . Shazia Ambreen , a family physician and GP Anesthetist at the Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston , Ontario , received a Council Award in recognition for her dedication to quality improvement . Dr . Ambreen has many roles at Stevenson Memorial : she is an anesthetist , a hospitalist , the Chief of Family Medicine , and the President of the Professional Staff Association . When she joined the hospital ’ s medical staff in 2012 , she almost immediately distinguished herself as a strong advocate for patient safety , continuous improvement and excellent medical care . Dr . Ambreen ’ s story began in Pakistan where she grew up as part of a large , close-knit family . A childhood fascination with medicine led to her earning a medical degree at the University of Karachi in 1998 , followed by a residency in Family Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York ( 2006 ) and a fellowship in GP Anesthesia at the University of Toronto ( 2011 ). Early in her career , Dr . Ambreen practised in different urban and rural settings from Brampton to Wiarton to Sioux Lookout and many other parts of Northwestern Ontario . While she enjoyed every experience , she found herself drawn to the life of a rural community physician where she could practise a wider range of medicine and work on cases that would likely be referred to a specialist if she were working in a larger , urban centre . At Stevenson , she has won the praise and admiration of her colleagues for being a physician who goes above and beyond her commitment to patient care and demonstrates continuous leadership and excellence . Under her leadership , the family medicine department has developed a number of quality improvement initiatives including better transition of care for patients from acute care to the community , better patient experience , and medication reconciliation on discharge . She is also credited with introducing numerous hospital-wide quality improvement tools and procedures and participating in efforts to improve policies and procedures , including :
• Creating a pre-operative screening tool to reduce anesthesia-related risk , resulting in enhanced patient care and safety . This tool is currently being used by the hospital and community physicians to identify high risk patients ;
• Leading a group of hospitalists , surgeons and emergency department physicians in the development of a standardized process for care of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding ;
• Actively participating in the implementation of pro-
Issue 1 , 2017 Dialogue 19