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Education Committee

The ACFP Education Committee (EC) is an operational committee which will be engaged and responsive to member needs and emerging trends in the development and delivery of continuing professional development (CPD) and medical education opportunities for family physicians and team–based primary health care.

The committee is responsible for the development and delivery of ACFP Webinar series and other CPD programs and events as needed and will operate in an advisory capacity by providing recommendations to the Family Medicine Summit Planning Committee, Executive Director, and ACFP Board.

Committee Members

  • Dr. Helen Cuddihy (Chair), Edmonton
  • Dr. Ovie Albert, Ponoka
  • Dr. Leigh Beamish, Hinton
  • Dr. Divya Garg, Calgary
  • Dr. Kaili Harvie, Leduc (Family Medicine Summit Representative)
  • Dr. Shelley Howk, Cochrane
  • Dr. Chris Le, Edmonton
  • Dr. Quratulain Qureshi, Lethbridge
  • Dr. Mitra Rafati, Edmonton
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Helen Cuddihy
Chair
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Ovie Albert
Member-at-Large
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Leigh Beamish
Member-at-Large
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Divya Garg
Member-at-Large
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Kaili Harvie
Family Medicine Summit Representative
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Shelley Howk
Member-at-Large
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Chris Le
Member-at-Large
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Quratulain Qureshi
Member-at-Large
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Mitra Rafati
Member-at-Large

Terms of Reference

The ACFP Education Committee (EC) is an operational committee which will be engaged and responsive to member needs and emerging trends in the development and delivery of continuing professional development (CPD) and medical education opportunities for family physicians and team–based primary health care. 

Purpose

The Committee will provide support to the College’s CPD initiatives that promote the role family physicians play in delivering the highest quality care to patients and their communities across Alberta. The committee is responsible for the development and delivery of ACFP Webinar series and other CPD programs and events as needed and will operate in an advisory capacity by providing recommendations to the Family Medicine Summit Planning Committee, Executive Director, and ACFP Board. 

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Dr. Helen Cuddihy

I am a family physician at Saint Thomas Community Health Centre in Bonnie Doon. My area of practice is children, adolescent, and women’s health with a focus on mental health. My research interest are competency assessment and physician health.

Why are you volunteering to serve on this committee?
I volunteer to serve on the Education Committee as I am passionate about evidence-based education and quality learning opportunities.

What about the ACFP’s work do you find most valuable?
What I value about the ACFP is that it works with family physicians to maintain the quality and uniqueness of our profession. I am proud to be part of such a wonderful organization.

Dr. Ovie Albert

Dr. Ovie Albert is a Family Physician and Addiction Medicine specialist practicing across Alberta in community, hospital, and acute care settings. He serves as an Addiction Medicine Physician at the Centennial Centre for Mental Health and Brain Injury and is Co-Physician Lead for the Youth and Adolescent stream of Alberta’s Virtual Opioid Dependency Program. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary and is actively involved in CPD and physician education at the national and international levels.

What attracted you most to this volunteer position? Why do you want to volunteer on this Committee?

I was drawn to the ACFP Education Committee because of its central role in shaping practical, high-quality CPD for front-line family physicians in Alberta. Through my work as Chair of the CFPC Hospital Medicine Community of Practice and as a member of the Family Medicine Forum Committee, I have contributed to CPD development at the national level. I am now eager to bring those insights and experiences home to Alberta, supporting responsive, clinically relevant education that reflects the realities of family practice across the province.

What do you value most about the work of the ACFP?
I value the ACFP’s strong commitment to supporting family physicians through accessible, relevant, and Alberta-focused continuing professional development. The College’s emphasis on community, advocacy, and practical education helps family physicians adapt to changing clinical demands while maintaining comprehensive, patient-centred care.

Dr. Leigh Beamish

Dr. Divya Garg

Dr. Divya Garg is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary, Department of Family Medicine. She is the Medical Director for the Academic Clinics within the department and the Director of the Academic Patient Medical Home. Dr. Garg completed her family medicine residency and an Academic Fellowship at Western University.

Dr. Garg is a past recipient of the ACFP Recognition of Excellence Award. Her scholarly work focuses on innovative and multidisciplinary models of primary care delivery. She is also passionate about teaching and has received the University of Calgary Teaching Award for Workplace Integrated Education.

Dr. Kaili Harvie

I’m Dr. Kaili Harvie and I’m an Edmonton family doc and a University of Alberta grad. I completed my residency at the Grey Nuns Family Medicine Centre in 2014. My home clinic is Shifa Medical Clinic in South Edmonton, where I practice full-service family medicine with a focus on women’s health and chronic pain. I also spend some time doing PCHT at the Grey Nuns Hospital, Subacute at Capital Care Grandview, and ER at Drayton Valley Hospital. I am passionate about teaching and family medicine leadership.

What about the ACFP’s work do you find most valuable?
What I value the most about the ACFP is the community, CME initiatives, and advocacy for family medicine.

Dr. Shelley Howk

I was in clinical medicine with a full-time medical practice for 25 years until transitioning to regulation and competency in the last several years. Through all of it, I have been passionate about teaching, mentoring, and coaching in our professional journey as lifelong learners. I am now equally passionate about physician wellness and opportunities for our own personal development as we strive to make a difference in the challenging and changing world of health care.

Why are you volunteering to serve on this committee?
This aligns well with my personal commitment to lifelong learning and my belief that to best support our patients we need to learn together and equally support each other.

What about the ACFP’s work do you find most valuable?
As part of an organization that is by family physicians and for family physicians, there is an understanding and an appreciation of the critical and uniquely challenging role we play within the health of our communities.

Dr. Chris Le

I’m Dr. Chris Le, a family physician who did community and rural medicine locum work in British Columbia before moving home to Edmonton. I am now growing my family medicine practice and am teaching with the University of Alberta. Outside of work, I’m often reading books or listening to podcasts. I make time to keep active in the gym with weightlifting and at the hockey rink as a goalie.

Why are you volunteering to serve on this committee?
I volunteered to serve on the Education Committee because continuing medical education programs helped build my clinical confidence in my first five years of practice, and now it’s an opportunity to contribute back into the areas that shaped how I do medicine.

What about the ACFP’s work do you find most valuable?
What I value the most about the work of the ACFP is that the ACFP consistently produces high-quality content for family physicians so that we can deliver the care that we want to provide for our patients, so I like that I’m working alongside leaders in our profession.

Dr. Quratulain Qureshi

Hi, I’m a family physician practising in Lethbridge, AB. I’ve recently moved from the UK to Canada hoping to provide good medical practice and in process impact on medical education.

Why are you volunteering to serve on this committee?
It’s an honour to be accepted to serve on Education Committee as I’ve always believed in empowering our current/future generation of doctors to be the better version of themselves as well as prepare them in this forever changing landscape of current medicine. Very happy to be of help :)

What about the ACFP’s work do you find most valuable?
I find any work carried out for the advocacy of doctors regardless of their grade/stage of training as well as providing them opportunities to help shape their career to be one of the most indispensable feature. I also value the research opportunities provided by the ACFP.

Dr. Mitra Rafati

Dr. Mitra Rafati is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Alberta, Department of Family Medicine. She completed her family medicine residency at University of Alberta. Her area of interest is care of elderly and geriatric rehabilitation. She is the medical director at Qurely Clinics in Edmonton. 

Outside of her professional commitments, she enjoys running, biking, and hiking during the summer months, and skiing during the winter. 

Why are you volunteering to serve on this committee?
Her participation in the Education Committee is an opportunity to give back to the community that has supported her along the way.

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