Regional Advisory Committee 1 Members

British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon Territory, and the Northwest Territories

Member of Council

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Marcia Clark, MD, MSc, FRCSC
Chair of Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) 1

Email: rac1chair@royalcollege.ca
Note: RAC Chair email inboxes are monitored by Royal College staff.

Marcia is an Orthopaedic Surgeon and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Calgary and the Chief of Surgery at the South Health Campus Hospital. Her academic interests are in Simulation Based Medical Education (SBME), National and Global Medical Education, and the intersection of Health and Technology. More

Members-at-large

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Brinda Balachandra, MD, FRCPC (Edmonton, AB)
Dr. Brinda Balachandra is an Anatomical Pathologist at Alberta Precision Laboratories and Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Alberta. She obtained her Medical degree from the University of Manitoba. She completed a residency in Anatomical Pathology at the University of Alberta.

This was followed by a Gastrointestinal and Liver pathology fellowship at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. She is a fellow of the Royal college of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a diplomate of the American Board on Pathology in Anatomical Pathology. She joined the department of Lab Medicine and Pathology at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton in 2006 where she remains to date. She has active roles in Undergraduate and Graduate medical education, Alberta Medical Association and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.

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Maria Chuquer, MD, FRCPC (Lethbridge, AB)
Dr. Maria Chuquer obtained her medical degree in 2004 at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and did her Anesthesiology residency in 2010 at SANE, Brazil. She completed a General Anesthesia Fellowship in 2011 at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto.

She is a staff Anesthesiologist at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, and has a staff appointment at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton. She has an Assistant Professor appointment with the University of Calgary since 2013. Dr. Chuquer has a special interest in Perioperative Medicine and is currently enrolled in a Perioperative Masters program at University College London, United Kingdom. In March 2019, Dr. Chuquer became the Alberta Health Services South Zone Perioperative Medicine Lead.

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Kristin DeGirolamo, MSc, MD FRCSC (Vancouver, BC)
Dr. DeGirolamo is originally from Victoria BC and is currently practicing general surgery in the Vancouver area in BC. She received her medical degree and completed general surgery residency at UBC and her fellowship in Acute Care Emergency Surgery at the University of Alberta. 

Her interests include general surgery, breast surgery and acute care emergency surgery. Outside of medicine, she enjoys spending time with her husband and son doing anything outdoors.

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Amit Dhillon, MD, FRCPC (Edmonton, AB)
Amit received his medical training from Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. This was followed by his Internal Medicine training at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and Gastroenterology fellowship training both in Winnipeg and Edmonton. He is currently working as a locum at the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital. Amit has a long history of leadership within medical governance.

He was a board member with the Professional Association of Residents of Ontario (PARO), committee membership on the Medical Council of Canada, Resident Doctors of Canada and various Post Graduate Medical Education Committees. Outside of medicine Amit enjoys spending time with his family, skiing, tennis and the horology.

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Adele Harrison, MBChB, MD, MMEd, FRCPC (Comox Valley, BC)
Dr. Adele Harrison received her Undergraduate medical degree (MB ChB) from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and postgraduate training in Pediatrics and Neonatal Medicine in the UK. She completed a neonatal fellowship at Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of BC and a Masters in Medical Education from the University of Dundee.

Dr. Harrison has worked for Island Health since 2006, practicing neonatology at the Victoria General Hospital, BC. She held a medical leadership role in Quality, Safety and Improvement and is currently the Medical Director for Clinical Improvement and Medical Staff Development, based in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island.

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Debakanta Jena, MD, FRCSC (Medicine Hat, AB)
Dr Debakanta Jena grew up in Odisha, India and obtained his MBBS degree from SCB Medical College, Cuttack where he also completed a three-year Masters degree in Orthopedic Surgery. Dr Jena subsequently completed his Orthopedic residency and higher surgical training from the University of Manchester, England. 

He did advanced fellowship training in Arthroplasty and Sports Surgery at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Jena is currently a staff Orthopedic Surgeon at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital. He is the surgical champion of NSQIP. He has a special interest in shoulder and knee sports surgeries, and holds an academic appointment with the University of Calgary as an Assistant Professor. Dr Jena has been involved with the Royal College as an examiner for Orthopedics since 2018, and is also a member of the Complaints Review and Hearing Committees of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.

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Maryana Kravtsenyuk, MD, FRCPC (Edmonton, AB)
Maryana Kravtsenyuk, MD, FRCPC, received her postgraduate psychiatry training at the University of Alberta. She completed a forensic psychiatry fellowship at the University of Toronto. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and University of Alberta since 2017.

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Bayan Missaghi, MD, MSc (Clin Epi), FRCPC, FACP, DTMH (Calgary, AB)
Dr. Missaghi received his M.D. in 2005 with distinction from the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine and subsequently completed his Internal Medicine residency (2005-2008) and Infectious Diseases fellowship (2008-2010) at the Maine Medical Center/Tufts University in the USA. 

He subsequently took an academic position at the Memorial University of Newfoundland where he served as an Assistant Professor, Chair of the Eastern Health Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee and Medical Director of the Newfoundland Provincial HIV Program for nearly three years.

He later moved to the University of Calgary in 2013, where he currently serves as a Clinical Associate Professor and the Site Medical Lead for Infection Prevention and Control at the Peter Lougheed Centre. He holds an MSc (Clinical Epidemiology) degree, a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and a Certificate of Knowledge in Clinical Tropical Medicine and Traveler’s Health. He enjoys conducting epidemiological research and facilitating medical education for postgraduate trainees in these areas.

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Gaby Yang, MD, MSc, FRCPC, FAAP (Victoria, BC)
Dr. Gaby Yang received her medical degree at Dalhousie University in 2010 and completed postgraduate training in Paediatrics and Paediatric Critical Care Medicine at the University of British Columbia. She has also completed further clinical training in Acute Care Nephrology (Cincinnati, USA) and Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care (London, UK). 

Her academic interests include medical education and simulation training. This has led her to completing a Masters of Science in Health Professional Education from Maastricht University, focusing on competency assessment and simulation. She is currently a pediatric intensivist at Victoria General Hospital and clinical faculty at the University of British Columbia.

Resident Doctors of Canada Representatives

Maria Powell

Maria Powell, MD (Calgary, AB)

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Harrison Anzinger, MD (Victoria, BC)
Harrison completed his Undergraduate and Medical Degree at the University of Alberta. He is now a Pediatrics Resident in Victoria with the University of British Columbia Vancouver Island Distributed Site. He also serves as an executive on the Residency Doctors of British Columbia Board.

His academic interests lie in general pediatrics, knowledge translation, and access to care for rural communities. He hopes to represent residents and advocate for their interests within the Royal College through his term on the RAC 1.

Canadian Federation of Medical Students Representatives

Cindy Kalenga

Cindy Kalenga, University of Calgary

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Alvin Qiu, University of British Columbia
Alvin Qiu grew up in Toronto, Ontario and completed his undergraduate degree at McGill University. He is currently a 6th-year student in the combined MD/PhD Program at the University of British Columbia. His PhD thesis work is investigating the epigenetic mechanisms underlying a soft tissue cancer called synovial sarcoma.

Outside of medicine, he enjoys spending his time competing in triathlons, snowboarding, and playing the piano.

University Representative

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Christie Newton, MD, CCFP, FCFP (Vancouver, BC)
Dr. Christie Newton completed her undergraduate and postgraduate training at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. She earned her Certification in the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CCFP) in 1997 and Fellowship in the College of Family Physicians of Canada (FCFP) in 2011.

Dr. Newton started her career at the Queen’s Family Practice Teaching Unit in 1997. In 2001 she moved to the West Coast and joined the University of British Columbia (UBC)’s Family Practice Teaching Clinic in Vancouver. She became an academic faculty member in UBC’s Department of Family Practice in 2005.

Dr. Newton has held many positions within the Department including Director of Continuing Professional Development since 2010, Interim Co-Chair of the Department (2017-2019) and Medical Director of the UBC Health Clinic where she has a part-time teaching practice.

Dr. Newton is a Board Director of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and serves on many CFPC committees including Governance Advisory, Finance, and Patients Medical Home Steering Committees. Outside of these roles at the CFPC and UBC, she is a member of the Doctors of BC CPD Nucleus Committee, is co-chair of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada’s Interprofessional Education Network and serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative.

CPD Educator

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Rod McFadyen, MD, FRCPC (Victoria, BC)
rod.mcfadyen@viha.ca
Dr. Rod McFadyen received his MD degree from the University of Manitoba in 1978. He has practised emergency medicine at the Royal Jubilee and Victoria General Hospitals since 1989. He is a clinical professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of British Columbia. More

Contact Your RAC
Marcia Clark, MD, MSc, FRCSC, Chair
rac1chair@royalcollege.ca
(RAC Chair email inboxes are monitored by Royal College staff)