We are lucky to have two enthusiastic and experienced new fellows in 2023. Dr. Ashraf Sefin is a family physician in Cambridge, Ontario, who is passionate about preventive health and chronic disease management. Dr. Shez Kassam is an early career family physician with interests in chronic disease prevention, screening programs and medical education.
Dr. Ashraf Sefin
Family physician and assistant professor, McMaster University
Why did you want to be a Task Force fellow?
I was interested in the fellowship program as I am interested in becoming a member of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care and want to be well-prepared. My passion for preventive health arose when I worked in Egypt for 23 years and as a family physician in Canada. I believe that the role of the Task Force is crucial, not only for family physicians but also to the public. It allows rational, evidence-based utilization of preventive health resources which is important to the well-being of all Canadians.
What do you hope to learn?
What I expect from the fellowship program is to learn in-depth how to analyze and interpret current evidence for effective evidence-based recommendations for guidelines for the Canadian public.
Parting thoughts….
I was privileged to attend the Task Force in-person meeting this June. In-person is so much better than virtual because of the exchange of ideas, fascinating conversations and deep dives into evidence.
Dr. Shez Kassam
Family physician and a senior resident, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Alberta
Why did you want to be a Task Force fellow?
Having combined training in Family Medicine and Public Health and Preventive Medicine (PHPM), I appreciate the value of bridging population health efforts with clinical practice to improve health outcomes. Being a Task Force fellow will help me to understand the processes in developing and revising clinical guidelines, including conducting evidence reviews and building consensus within interdisciplinary teams, to be used by healthcare professionals on a national level. This experience will be a stepping stone into a career centred around chronic disease prevention and screening, both in public health and family medicine.
Do you have any specific interests in medicine?
My key interests fall into chronic disease prevention and management, health promotion, and screening. My PHPM training will help support a career that also includes communicable disease control and environmental health; however, I also enjoy maintaining broad clinical skills to be able to work in any setting as a family physician.
What do you hope to learn?
I hope to learn more about guideline development processes, understanding how to apply clinical evidence to population health, and consensus building methods. I also hope to learn more from my colleagues in the Task Force working groups in terms of their experiences, clinical and academic expertise, and their unique approach to guideline development.
Parting thoughts….
I’m very excited to begin this journey as a Task Force Fellow and hope that there may be more opportunities to stay involved with the Task Force throughout my career.