Ignace resident named Ontario Medical Student of the Year

IGNACE, Ont. — The Ontario College of Family Physicians has named an Ignace resident the 2021 Medical Student of the Year.

The honour goes to Felicia Lotsios, a fourth-year student at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

The award recognizes a medical student who's an emerging leader and advocate for family medicine and has made contributions to family medicine and/or primary care in areas such as patient care, advocacy, community service, peer support, research and education.

"Ms. Lotsios' leadership and advocacy in finding solutions to social and health problems in her community, together with her focus on improving her knowledge to better care for Northern Ontario patients, highlights her commitment to family medicine," said OCFP President Dr. Elizabeth Muggah.

Lotsios completed the Honours Bachelor of Kinesiology program at Lakehead University prior to enrolling at NOSM.

She credits her work at the Mary Berglund Community Health Centre Hub in Ignace – and the interprofessional team there – for spurring her to pursue a career in medicine.

In her third year at NOSM, Lotsios completed a comprehensive community clerkship in Sioux Lookout.

Working with family doctors, she cared for patients in a variety of settings including nursing stations, patients' homes, the fracture clinic, the emergency department at Meno Ya Win Health Centre, and at fly-in Indigenous communities.

Her electives include cardiology and rural family medicine.

Lotsios has also volunteered with the Northwestern Health Unit on a tobacco advocacy campaign, and with local school boards and health units including the Thunder Bay District Health Unit to develop educational programming.

Her efforts were recognized last year by the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine with the inaugural Karen Mellor Award.