By Sean O’Malley
When it comes to recognition, there is something special about getting an award from your peers.
That is why Clinician Scientist Dr. Juveria Zaheer felt so honoured to be named CAMH physician of the year for 2019.
“I consider myself very lucky to work with such a skilled and passionate interdisciplinary team in the CAMH Emergency Department,” says Juveria. “To be recognized by my allied health and resident colleagues is really special.”
All CAMH staff members were invited to submit nominations and the winner was chosen by the CAMH Medical Staff Association Award Committee.
Juveria was nominated for her excellence in the areas of patient care, inter-professional collaborative skill and education.
“Juveria is always willing to go that extra mile and talks to her patients in a comforting, empathetic and therapeutic manner,” says Registered Nurse Anya Dimaculangan. “She is also a strong and inspiring role model that many of our staff look up to. It is clear that Juveria loves what she does and the staff and students love her as well.”
“She actively promotes emotional well-being in the Emergency Department, which creates an atmosphere where every team member feels valued and connected,” says psychiatry resident Dr. June Lam. “Working with Juveria makes us better physicians.”
It has been a whirlwind year for Juveria inside and outside of CAMH. Before she returned from maternity leave last fall, she published a first-of-its-kind study analyzing the language of suicide notes in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry to inform efforts at suicide prevention that received a large amount of media attention.
Earlier this year, she published another unique study on what advice for clinicians treating patients with mental illness who fast during Ramadan that was also reported on widely.
On behalf of all of us at CAMH, congratulations Juveria!
BIO:
Dr. Juveria Zaheer is a Clinician Scientist within the Health Outcomes and Performance Evaluation (HOPE) Research Unit and Division of General and Health Systems Psychiatry at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Zaheer has worked as a staff psychiatrist in the Gerald Sheff and Shanitha Kachan Emergency Department since completing her residency training at the University of Toronto in 2012. Since 2015, she has served as the ED's Education Administrator, overseeing over 50 core resident rotations in emergency psychiatry as well as the CAMH call pool. Dr. Zaheer has won several education awards within the Department of Psychiatry (2013: CAMH Best Medical Staff Teacher (Undergraduate); 2015: Robin Hunter Postgraduate Teaching Award; 2017: Marie Mara Award for Residents Advocacy).
Dr. Zaheer's program of research focuses on suicide prevention, integrating population-level investigation with qualitative research to provide the critical context necessary for developing and evaluating targeted and effective screening, service provision and suicide prevention strategies for all Ontarians, across gender, age, diagnosis, immigration status, and ethnicity.