The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and the Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine (FAFM) have selected the 2019 Family Physicians of the Year as the recipients of the Reg L. Perkin Awards. Each year 10 recipients (one from each province) are nominated by their peers, colleagues, and the CFPC’s chapters for their leadership, contributions to patient care, and commitment to family medicine teaching and research. The 2019 Family Physician of the Year from British Columbia is Dr Catherine Textor, MD, CCFP (EM), from Prince George.

Dr Textor has worked as a full-service family doctor in Prince George for the past 16 years. She is one of four partners who own a group family practice providing comprehensive care that includes obstetrical, palliative, and long-term care; home visits; surgical assists; and in-hospital care for their patients. Obstetrical care is a special area of interest for the practice, and they take referrals from colleagues in Prince George and outlying rural communities in the region. They also teach medical students and residents in their practice and in the hospital. For 11 years Dr Textor also did part-time work in the emergency department at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia (UHNBC).

As the physician lead at the Prince George Division of Family Practice, Dr Textor is currently spearheading two large initiatives. The first involves preserving longitudinal family medicine in the community, including a new approach to the care of unattached patients and opening a new primary care medical unit at UHNBC in partnership with Northern Health. The second is developing a model for the delivery of mental health and substance use services in Northern British Columbia.

Growing up in a small town on Vancouver Island, the only exposure Dr Textor had to the medical system was her family doctor. As she went through rotations in medical school, she found it difficult to pick just one specialty. She loves her job for the variety it brings and the privilege it offers of sharing in the most intimate moments of her patients’ lives

The complete list of recipients and each recipient’s biography is available at https://fafm.cfpc.ca/fpoy-2019 [9].