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OUR DOCTORS

There are fifteen family doctors working in the Family Practice Maternity Service. The doctors work in two teams.

Ron Abrahams
“Every birth is a miracle. It is very special to be welcomed by a woman to her birth experience.”
Ron was born and grew up in Montreal. He completed his MD at Queen's in 1977. He spent the next 5 years traveling and obtaining extra training in England, New Zealand, and Africa. He moved to Vancouver in 1982 and opened his Family Practice. He was a founding director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee working to stop logging in Vancouver's drinking watersheds. He helped establish the Autologous Blood Bank, the Vancouver Native Health Clinic, and the Sheway Maternity Clinic. As the Medical Director of Perinatal Addictions at BCWH he was instrumental in developing the Fir Square Unit at BCWH which supports substance-using women to be with their babies. Whenever possible he retreats from city life to rural Lasqueti Island with his wife, four children and two grandchildren. He tells us he learned to walk at age one, run long distances at age 12, ski at age 44, and walk on the beach with his dog at age 5O. He has a great sense of humour!

Karen Buhler
“I am inspired by the amazing power of a woman birthing and then the joyous moment when a new life is welcomed into the world.”
Dr. Buhler completed all her medical training in Vancouver. Her thirty years of volunteer work and family practice with a focus on women’s health has given her a strong connection to the birthing community in Vancouver. She was a founding member of the Vancouver Women’s Health Collective in 1971 and has been an advocate of woman-centered care ever since. Later she played a role in the establishment of midwifery as a legal, regulated, and independent profession in B.C. She is currently Head of the Department of Family Practice at BC Women’s Hospital. She has two children and loves to spend time with her family and friends hiking, skiing, kayaking, and canoeing--anything to get outdoors. Promoting the group care model for pregnancy (see Connecting Pregnancy) and incorporating Mindfulness meditation practice into pregnancy care are two of her current passions. She might be seen over in the corner with eyes lightly closed while waiting patiently for a baby.

Rachael Craggs
“A birth that empowers women and their families lays the foundation for a confident and joyful parenting journey. This serves not just that family, but the whole of humanity.”
Dr Craggs was born in Southampton, England and moved to Alberta as a child. She studied medicine at the University of Alberta and studied Family Practice at Dalhousie University. She has been practicing in Vancouver since 1995 with a focus on maternity care. A new challenge she has undertaken is learning to play the harp. With five boys there is little spare time for her other interests: growing roses, cooking, and running. She says her motivation for running is not just for fitness, but also to enjoy the baking.

Michael Farmer
Dr. Farmer comes from England and studied medicine at UBC. He has been in family practice for 19 years, all the while attending births with his patients. Michael is the chair of the Family Practice Quality of Care Committee at B.C. Women’s Hospital. He works to maintain the high standards of care provided by the Family Practice Department members. He loves to spend time with his two teenagers. He travels extensively and performs volunteer medical work in under-serviced areas around the world.

Renee Fernandez
Renee was born in the Yukon and raised in British Columbia. She attended medical school and family practice residency at UBC in Vancouver. Her practice currently focuses on women's health and maternity care. She works in a number of clinics, including a family practice clinic in downtown Vancouver, a youth clinic in Kitsilano, and the Youth Pregnancy Program. She enjoys watching action movies, reading fiction of all sorts, and listening to jazz.

Kathy Greenberg
“I am honoured to be able to participate in one of the most important and intimate experiences of a woman’s life”
Dr. Greenberg grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. Her medical degree is from the University of California San Francisco and her Family Practice residency was completeted at the University of Washington in Seattle. She had additional training in Maternity care at Los Angeles County Hospital. In Vancouver she worked for many years as a family doctor before focusing exclusively on women's health. She has three daughters and is an avid outdoors-woman. She is often seen running at Spanish Banks or biking to work. She speaks Spanish. Her cooking is legendary among those who know her and she travels extensively.

Renee Hall
“I love being involved in one of the most powerful moments in a family’s life.”
Dr. Hall comes from Toronto, Ontario and did her Family Practice residency at UBC, which included a Fellowship in Women's Health and Obstetrics. She was instrumental in creating the Youth Pregnancy and Parenting Program in Vancouver. Renee has two young boys but still tries to find time to run and hit the weights. She is an avid gardener and loves getting into the mud with her boys.

Georgia Hunt
“There is such mystery and power in labour.... Watching mother and baby fall in love with each other is awe-inspiring.”
After graduating from McMaster University Medical School, Georgia practiced in the Kootenays, before coming to Vancouver. She has been intensely involved in maternity care since the first time a baby was born into her hands in Broxburn, Scotland in 1973. She was a founding member of the Family Practice Maternity Service at BC Women’s and is Physician Leader of Sheway, a project for pregnant and parenting women who live in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Dr. Hunt speaks French and Italian. She has three grown-up children who are the joys of her life. When she is not walking on the beach with her dog, she loves listening to Italian music, hiking, skiing, kayaking, and growing flowers.

Heather Jenkins
“I feel lucky to be involved with families as they prepare to welcome a child into their lives. It is a total privilege to share this special moment with expectant parents.”
Dr. Jenkins comes from Rossland, studied medicine in Vancouver and family practice in Toronto. She enjoys snowboarding, sking, hiking (with her husband and son, both of whom outpace her), cooking, eating and sleeping. All full-time jobs, really. She tries to balance these endeavors with some work: She runs a full-service family practice, with a special emphasis on pregnancy and women’s health.

Maureen Keenan
“Pure love and joy - this is what parents radiate when they connect with their newborn. What a privilege to share it with you.”
Dr. Keenan grew up in BC, then migrated around getting degrees from McGill in Montreal, teaching English in Japan, working in research and travelling extensively before settling down into a career in medicine. She graduated from University College Dublin in 2003 where she recalls her first delivery in rural Ireland - a twin delivery au natural! This set the stage for a love of maternity care as she worked with teams of midwives, family doctors and obstetricians during her training in Ireland. Dr. Keenan then completed her residency in Family Medicine in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2005. Dr. Keenan worked in rural Manitoba as well as University of Manitoba residency teaching sites prior to her move west. She now works in her own practice at Family Practice Centre here at BC Women's Hospital and is actively involved in residency training as well as some occasional work in emergency and palliative care. When time allows, she is an outdoor enthusiast and a bit of an adventure junkie having been known to hang-glide, scuba dive and generally do things that life insurance agents advocate against. Her more sedate activities include rowing, hiking and biking with her husband and spending time with her big Irish family.

Michelle Linekin
“I particularly enjoy seeing the first-time families go from “me” to “we”.” Dr. Linekin wonders if she rebelled by becoming a doctor, as she grew up in a family that didn't follow medical beliefs. She studied medical anthropology in Ontario, Africa and England before returning home to study conventional biomedicine at UBC. She is proud to have born all three of her children during her Family Practice residency. After work, she loves to play with her children, attempt to recreate Saltspring in her garden, and keep up with her book club reading.

Barra O’Briain
“What I love about maternity care is the miracle at every birth.”
Dr. O’Briain comes from New Brunswick and studied Medicine at McGill University in Montreal. He has been practicing family medicine in Vancouver since 1988 and is very involved in teaching. As the Assistant Head of the Department of Family Practice at BC Women’s Hospital he is responsible for the education of medical students and Family Practice residents. With 5 children he has a very busy family life. He spends a lot of time at the hockey rink playing, coaching or being a fan for one of his kids’ teams. He also enjoys fishing and playing tennis. He speaks Spanish and French fluently.

Jelena Plavsic
“I feel privileged to be a part of such an amazing and important process.”
Jelena grew up in Former Yugoslavia and came to Canada in 1996. She completed her undergraduate degree in psychology, medical school and family practice residency at UBC. Jelena was trained and mentored by some of the FPMS physicians who inspired her to do maternity care as a part of her work. She also has a general family practice in Vancouver. She has two children and loves spending her spare time with them. Apart from work, Jelena loves skiing, biking, film and reading.

Nardia Strydom
“I am in awe of women giving birth.”
Dr. Strydom grew up in South Africa where she studied Medicine and Family Practice. She emigrated to Canada in 1991 and worked in Cranbrook for a few years before settling in Vancouver where she joined a group of family doctors, many of whom are current FPMS members. She is the Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee for Children's and Women's Hospitals. She has 2 energetic school-aged children who take after her. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, gardening, and "food, food, food"!

Dr. Ron Wilson
“I love being involved with families as they bring a newborn into the world.”
Dr. Wilson was born in Vancouver and studied medicine and family practice at UBC. He worked for many years in Bella Coola, a small rural town on the coast, where he started his family. At one point he and his wife had five children under the age of five years, but later he found that it was even more challenging to have five teenagers in the house at once. Maternity care has always been an important part of his Family Practice since he began working in 1975. His practice is located at the Family Practice Center at B.C. Women’s Hospital, a major teaching facility for Family Practice residents. He is also interested in promoting healthy lifestyles with physical fitness. Every year he organizes the family doctors of Women’s Hospital to go in the Sun Run together. As a committed teacher, he organizes courses in emergency obstetrics and emergency newborn care, in addition to teleconferences throughout the province so that doctors, nurses and midwives can discuss the latest research and best practices.

Family Practice Maternity Services supports pregnant women in Vancouver, British Columbia with their birthing, prenatal, breastfeeding, postnatal care programs. Specific Physicians / Doctors to help you with your obstetrics, pregnancy, baby / newborn delivery and planning.