MARATHON, Ont. — Dr. Barbara Zelek of Marathon has won a prestigious award from the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Zelek is among 10 family doctors across Canada to be named 2021 Family Physicians of the Year.
The college annually recognizes one doctor from each province for providing exceptional care to patients, contributing to the well-being of their communities, and committing themselves as researchers and educators to future generations of family doctors.
Nominations are made by peers, colleagues and the college's 10 provincial chapters.
Dr. Zelek has worked in Marathon since 2002.
In 2020, she was named Division Head, Clinical Sciences at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, where she became an associate professor in 2015.
Zelek also founded NORTHH, which is NOSM's Research Toward Health Hub.
Her team is building Northern Ontario's first primary-care health research database.
A recent news release from the medical school explained that with the use of de-identified electronic medical records, community and population data will be made available to Northern primary-care researchers, clinicians and organizations to help identify prevalent health concerns and make improvements in care.
She will receive her award this Friday at a virtual awards gala, part of the college's Family Medicine Forum.
