Featured Physician
Dr Nadia Alam is a full scope family physician and GP-anesthesiologist in Georgetown, whose passion for health policy and health system transformation has led her down the path of medical politics as well. Read more about all of the amazing ways Dr Alam impacts her patients and her community.
What is your clinical area of interest?
My clinical areas of interest include full-scope family medicine and GP-anesthesia. I'm lucky that I live and work in Georgetown where family physicians do so much in the medical community -- palliative care, hospitalist medicine, emergency medicine, obstetrics, geriatrics, pediatrics, and so on. It's allowed me to apply all of my training -- and beyond -- to my clinical practice. Out of all that I do, the part I love the most are the house calls for my elderly patients and my house-bound complex patients. There is something extraordinary about stepping into a patient's world, hearing the story of their life, seeing the pictures of their family, appreciating the way they sleep, eat, work and live that lets you understand them in a way that you can't get in an office setting.
What is your contact information?
Sinclair Medical Associates
99 Sinclair Ave, Suite 204
Georgetown ON L7G 5G1
Phone: (905) 873-3344
Fax: (905) 873-8094
You are very involved in your community. Tell us all of the amazing things that you do!
I'm very interested in health policy and health system transformation. I didn't get much training in it in medical school or residency, so I ended up completing an executive Masters in health economics, policy and management from the London School of Economics. I found myself frustrated by the dysfunction I saw in our healthcare system. So I got involved in medical politics through grassroots advocacy, and then the Ontario Medical Association and now through various provincial and regional initiatives. It's interesting and often frustrating work. But our healthcare system is not only fragmented and inequitable, it's broken and that is unacceptable. We need better. I also teach at U of T's Department of Family and Community Medicine as well as the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. I volunteer with the Toronto Initiative for Diversity and Excellence on workshops on practical tips to address unconscious bias, racism, sexism and other barriers to inclusivity to the U of T community. It's inspiring to work with the people I do.
Name one person you would take with you if you were going to be stranded on a desert island and why?
My best friend Silvy. She knows me inside out, and we can spend a day just talking or not talking… laughing at one another and with one another… crying, comforting, supporting… people-watching… dreaming… learning. It’s easy being around her, and I find, my heart is more settled when I’m around her.
Which of these things could you not live without?
Coffee or tea: Coffee
Chocolate or chips: Chocolate? Although I like neither chips nor chocolate — maybe my mom or dad’s cooking would be a better substitute
Books or TV: Books