Peter Newman, a North York family physician, has received the Ontario Medical Association’s Presidential Award in recognition of exceptional and longstanding humanitarian service to the community that brings honour to the medical profession.
Newman accepted the award – he was nominated by the Toronto district of the Ontario Medical Association – at a recent ceremony and dinner held at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
A graduate of University of Toronto’s medical school, Newman, now an assistant professor at U of T, has practised medicine in Vancouver and Israel, as well as the tiny eastern Caribbean island nation of Dominica.
He has served on the North York General Hospital’s president’s advisory committee, the executive of the department of family medicine, and the executive of the medical advisory committee.
A co-ordinator of continuing medical education events with a special interest in international content, Newman is the founder and co-ordinator of the Canada-Dominica Outreach Program, which combines medical aid to Dominica with training for post-graduate residents.
The seeds for this program were planted, Newman said in an interview, after he volunteered in Dominica, and remained in touch with people there. “It is a poor country in the Caribbean – one of the poorest in terms of resources.”
His idea, he said, was to send residents to Dominica – the population is about 75,000 – for about one month of their training. The program benefits both sides. The residents get credit, and the patients receive care. Residents also provide information to Dominican health-care professionals.
Since 1991, he said, he has sent down about 100 health-care professionals, including social workers and psychologists, from graduate programs across the country, who work in community health clinics and in outlying villages.
“My goal is to expose young Canadian [health-care professionals] to the challenge of working in under-serviced areas. The ones that do go always come back excited and brimming with enthusiasm. They learn how to work as part of a team and with nurse practitioners.”
He hears “heartwarming” stories, he said. “Residents have told me about intervening to make an HIV-positive patient understand about safe sex, and a lot of stories about helping to organize the care of patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes or heart disease.”
Newman’s job is to meet with prospective residents, prepare them for their work, and liaise with the minister of health in Dominica.
One of his biggest challenges is arranging housing, he said. “[The Dominican government] can no longer afford to provide housing, so we have to fundraise here to pay for the housing and airfare,” Newman said.
“These days, doctors graduate with huge debts, and most can’t afford to pay for this on their own. We’ve raised money from individual and corporate donors, and North York General Hospital has a fund earmarked for this program.”
Among his work in continuing medical education he has spoken in Mexico and in Trinidad – he speaks Spanish, Hebrew and French – to the Pan American Health Organization about Canada’s experience with SARS.
He has also arranged talks in Alaska for Canadian doctors to learn about native healing. “They learn about traditional healing methods, herbal medicines, and the psychological effects of complementary medicine. It is interesting for the Canadian doctors who practice evidence-based medicine.”
Newman, a father of four and grandfather of two, said he has always been addicted to travelling. “I’m fascinated by other cultures. It has been a lifelong interest. My work in other countries has come about because of this.”
In his earlier days as a physician, he said, he was a doctor on a kibbutz in the Upper Galilee. “I was the first civilian doctor in the Golan Heights after the Six Day War, and I was monitored by the International Red Cross. I had to speak to them in French, to the nurses in Hebrew, and then it all had to be translated into Arabic. It was challenging.”
His connection to Israel has been very strong since then, he said. “I’m a strong supporter. It’s an incredibly dynamic country.”
Newman stressed that the Presidential Award “could have gone to thousands of people. I’m humbled at being singled out, and I dedicate the award to all hard-working physicians.”
