Two Toronto doctors recognized for their innovation, dedication
Celebrated for programs in family medicine and shelter-based care
Two Toronto doctors have been recognized for their outstanding skill, knowledge and dedication by the Ontario College of Family Physicians.
Dr. Stephanie Klein has been named Resident of the Year for 2018 and Dr. Tomislav Svoboda was selected as the Regional Family Physician of the Year.
The annual awards honour doctors who exemplify the vital work family doctors do to help keep Ontarians healthy. The announcement was made during Family Doctor Week, which runs from Monday to Saturday.
Klein, a graduate of the University of Toronto’s medical school, designed and implemented GRIT: Gaining Resilience in Training, a wellness curriculum that is part of an education scholarship project for family medicine residents at North York General Hospital. She has earned multiple awards for this work, as well as for a separate quality improvement project on reducing benzodiazepine use in the elderly.
Svoboda has devoted his 20plus year career as a physician to reinventing care provided to the homeless. He has introduced systematic and comprehensive care into the shelter system, delivering a combination of primary care, hospital and long-term care services, hospice and rehabilitation care, and population health care, as well as addictions and psychiatric care.
Within months of his involvement at Seaton House, Toronto’s largest homeless shelter, Svoboda and the late Art Manuel, a leading manager at the time, developed the first shelter-based managed alcohol harm-reduction program in Canada.
This innovative program has served as a model for similar sites across Canada and internationally.