Our Team

Dr. Joy Albuquerque completed her medical training in Manitoba then worked as a general practitioner for a few years prior to specializing psychiatry, completing her FRCPC training in Ottawa 1997. With a longstanding interest in mental health advocacy, she chose to round out her education through graduate training in philosophy (MA 2007).

Dr. Albuquerque joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program in 2004 to develop its services for doctors with mental health problems and, in 2017, accepted the position of medical director. Her role has evolved beyond the management of mental health conditions to expertise in the field of risk management of physicians and their work. Dr. Albuquerque is regularly invited to present on issues related to physician health and well-being. She has written and published on topics of physician health, burnout and resilience.

Dr. Albuquerque practices at St. Michael’s Hospital and is assistant professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Psychiatry.

Outside of medicine Joy is an avid reader of classics and fiction. She and her husband enjoy long-distance walking and have been going on annual walks for over 15 years.

Dr. Doina Lupea (MD, MHSc) is a family physician trained in Romania who has spent the last 22 years in a variety of leadership roles in the Canadian health-care system. In 2000 she has completed her Master in Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (HPME) in Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

She is a clinician experienced in health services management and research administration, with a deep understanding of the health-care system and strong leadership experience developing and managing complex programs in a dynamic environment with multi-stakeholders involved, a sophisticated relationship builder, who is always curious to learn and discover new ways of achieving better results.

In early 2000, she was one of the founding members of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at the University Health Network. In her role as a senior research associate and senior project manager, she provided program development leadership, managed a research team, and was the principal investigator for e-health grants. For several years she was a health informatics course director at York University and a special projects and business development manager of the Global eHealth Innovation & Wellness Initiative (Geni) School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Most recently, she was the senior program manager of primary care at Cancer Care Ontario (CCO), where for seven years she co-led the building and development of the provincial primary care program. Her work focused on optimizing the engagement and integration of primary care and the cancer system.

Doina has published numerous articles in peer-review journals and has been invited to present nationally and internationally.

She is currently the co-chair of the Accountability, Consistency and Excellence (ACE) Committee at the Federation of the State Physician Health Programs (FSPHP).

In her personal time, Doina enjoys yoga, meditation, and coaching among other things.

Mr. Ted Bober is the director of clinical services at the Physician Health Program. He has over 30 years of experience as a hospital administrator and clinician working with community and hospital-based mental health and addiction services. As a social worker, Ted believes that helping responses need to address immediate needs in practical terms and over time include a social justice and advocacy approach to reduce stigma and barriers to treatment while increasing compassion and support from one’s professional community and workplace.

Ted has a keen interest in enhancing professional health and peak performance during high-stress-high stakes work. He has served as a consultant to first responders following disasters in Canada and the US and provided training to organizations such as the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Ministry of the Attorney General and Indian Residential School Adjudication Secretariat. He has presented at scientific conferences in Canada, the USA, and the UK and is the co-author of the book "In the Line of Fire: Traumatic Stress in the Emergency Services" published by Oxford University Press.

Dr. Kaufmann graduated with a degree in medicine from the University of Toronto in 1979. He completed his training in family medicine at the University of Toronto then received certification from the College of Family Physicians of Canada in 1981. The College of Family Physicians honoured him in 1991 with a Fellowship award.

After 14 years of practising family and addiction medicine in rural Ontario, in 1995 Dr. Kaufmann became the founding director of the Physician and Professionals Health Program (PHP) of the Ontario Medical Association - a service designed to assist doctors and other health professionals with substance abuse, psychiatric disorders and other personal health problems. He received certification in addiction medicine from the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) in 1996 and the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM) in 2000. He is presently a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and a diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine.

Dr. Kaufmann is a past chairman of the Canadian Physician Health Institute Advisory Committee, the Physician Health Committee of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine and the Canadian Physician Health Network, a national affiliation of physician support programs.

In 2003, Dr. Kaufmann was awarded a Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in recognition of his work in the field of doctors’ health. In 2007, he received the Courage to Come Back award from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and in 2009 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement in Addiction Medicine Award from the Addiction Medicine Section of the Ontario Medical Association. In 2015, Dr. Kaufmann was the recipient of the Misericordia award from the Canadian Medical Association recognizing his career-long contributions to the field of physician health.

Dr. Kaufmann is an invited speaker, teacher and consultant nationally and internationally and has written extensively on the subject of doctors’ health.

Dr. Kaufmann retired from the PHP on May 1, 2017, and was honoured as emeritius medical director with the PHP for his service. Dr. Kaufmann is still involved in physician health, but has more time for his other interests, including music, writing and travel.

Dr. Lisa Lefebvre joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP), as an associate medical director in September 2014.

Dr. Lisa Lefebvre is an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and is cross-appointed in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Lefebvre completed a two-year residency in family medicine followed by a one-year fellowship in addiction medicine at the University of Toronto in 2006. She became a diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine in 2009 and completed her Master of Public Health degree at the University of Toronto in 2011. In 2016, Dr. Lefebvre became a fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. She was granted a Certificate of Added Competence in Addiction Medicine from the College of Family Physicians of Canada in 2019, the inaugural year for this certification. Dr. Lefebvre is also certified by the Medical Review Officer Certification Council (MROCC).

Dr. Lefebvre served as program director of the University of Toronto Addiction Medicine fellowship for seven years, during which time the program underwent a significant expansion, culminating in its accreditation by the American Board of Addiction Medicine in April 2013. She continues to supervise fellowship level trainees. Dr. Lefebvre was a member of the Addiction Medicine Committee at the College of Family Physicians of Canada for many years until it was disbanded in 2019 and has been chair of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine Education Committee since 2016.

Dr. Lefebvre developed an interest in physician advocacy early in her career and served as an OMA Council delegate from 2008 to 2014 and as a CMA Council delegate from 2011 to 2017. Dr. Lefebvre’s clinical interest lies in the area of occupational addiction medicine with a particular focus on safety-sensitive workers as well as in the treatment of opioid use disorder.

Dr. Mara Goldstein completed her medical training at McGill University in 1997. She went on to pursue her residency in psychiatry and fellowship in forensic psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Goldstein's clinical work has been in the areas of emergency psychiatry, urgent care and more recently in collaborative care psychiatry. In 2008, Dr. Goldstein received the Abraham Miller Undergraduate Teaching Award and was the recipient of the Robin Hunter Postgraduate Teaching Award in 2012.

From 2007 to 2013, Dr. Goldstein served as the director of undergraduate medical electives for the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and was the chair of the electives group at the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada from 2012 to 2013.

Dr. Goldstein took on the role of medical advisor to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario from 2013 to 2014.

After serving as an expert witness for multiple coroner's inquests, Dr. Goldstein received her Order in Council in June 2017, and is now an investigating coroner.

Dr. Goldstein is also the interim associate director of postgraduate education in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto as of November 2017.

In 2014, Dr. Goldstein reached out to the Physician Health Program at the OMA for support. After several years of personal recovery, she joined the PHP in November 2017.

“May my life be a reflection of the hand that was extended to me when I needed it the most” -Lindsey Zito

Dr. Jon Novick received his medical degree from McGill University in 1997, and trained in psychiatry at both Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and Hillside Hospital in Queens, New York. Early in his training he identified an interest in addiction psychiatry and psychotherapy, and subsequently served as the chief of the concurrent disorders unit at Zucker Hillside Hospital. He obtained his first certification in addiction medicine from the American Society of Addiction Medicine in 2004. (He recertified with the American Board of Addiction Medicine in 2015 and is now qualified to be certified as a specialist in Addiction Medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine.)

After moving to Toronto in 2005, he pursued further training in psychoanalysis at the Toronto Psychoanalytic Institute and became a member of the Toronto Society and International Psychoanalytical Association in 2011. He is also a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (US).

Originally from New Jersey, Dr. Novick has held a lifelong fascination with Canada. He enjoys photographing his hilarious children and husband, travelling to warm locations, attending alternative rock concerts, and developing his yoga practice.

Ms. Judi Platt joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP), as the first clinical coordinator in 1998. Judi's past work experience includes hospital based mental health and addiction services. Additionally, Judi worked for many years as a private therapist specializing with young adolescent women with substance use disorders. Judi graduated from the York Regional School of Nursing in 1973 and has been registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario since that time.

Judi holds certification as an addiction registered nurse. Judi is also an Adler-trained coach and a member of the International Coaching Federation.

Ms. Kirat Klair has been with the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP) as an operations manager since 2019. Kirat holds a Masters of Health Informatics degree from the University of Toronto.

Prior to working at PHP, Kirat has worked in medical case management, clinical research, and has co-published a Canada’s Health Informatics Executive Forum white paper on enterprise innovation with Digital Health Canada.

Kirat manages, executes, and implements technical and operational responsibilities for the PHP case management system in collaboration with OMA technology and multiple external stakeholder groups. As well, Kirat manages and oversees overall program operations and business processes, analytics and reporting, and quality improvement and quality assurance initiatives within the PHP.

Ms. Jordanna Graves joined the PHP as a clinical coordinator in 2007. Jordanna has a Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto, Bachelor of Applied Science with a specialization in family and social relations from the University of Guelph, and a certificate in dispute resolution from York University.

Jordanna's previous work experience includes case management and counseling individuals with substance use, problem gambling and mental health disorders. Jordanna is registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.

Ms. Beth Collison joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP) in the role of clinical coordinator in 2019. Beth has a Master of Social Work degree from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of British Columbia. She also has a post-graduate certificate in addiction studies from OISE/Toronto Advanced Professionals Education and has completed training in CBT, motivational interviewing, and many other modalities.

Prior to working at the PHP, Beth worked for several years as a therapist in community-based substance use and mental health treatment and held various roles in employee assistance and health-care settings. Beth is registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.

Ms. Dijana Jovic joined the Physician Health Program in October 2018 as a senior administrator supporting the PHP assessment process. Dijana has a bachelor’s degree in economics, a certificate in business management from Ryerson University, and Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute.

Dijana contributes to various PHP projects and is an active member of the PHP quality improvement and quality assurance project team. Dijana’s previous work experience includes roles in research and business/project management within the health-care system.

Ms. Colleen Good has been with the Physician Health Program as a clinical coordinator since 2015. Colleen is a status-only faculty member at McMaster University and also at the University of Toronto’s Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy where she was a clinical associate from 2012 to 2014. Colleen is an occupational therapist registered in the province of Ontario. Colleen has worked in the field of mental health and addictions for over ten years.

She has worked clinically as an occupational therapist in the field of community mental health as well as in the forensic mental health system.

Ms. Eva Ingber has been working in the role of clinical coordinator since June 2015. Eva has a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Toronto, and is a registered social worker. She is also a member of the International Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT).

Prior to working at the PHP, she has been working in private practice, and facilitating training on motivational interviewing for health-care professionals. Eva worked for twenty years at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health as an advanced practice clinician, trained staff in concurrent disorders and motivational interviewing. Eva was a manager of the Women’s Addiction Program and a therapist.

Ms. Tereena Berry joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP) as a senior administrative assistant in May 2015. Tereena has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a background in financial analysis and reporting with 10 years of experience at Coca-Cola Bottling Ltd. as a sales analyst. A shift in her career interests, and some experience in various reception and office administration roles took her in the direction of medical administration and an opportunity to work for the OMA. Tereena currently supports various members of the clinical team while actively contributing to the program’s special projects.

Ms. Tania Campbell has been working with the Physician Health Program as a clinical coordinator since 2018. Tania has a Master of Social Work degree from York University, and a Bachelor of Social Work from Ryerson University.

Prior to joining the PHP, Tania worked as a social worker and addiction therapist in an outpatient treatment program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health for 12 years. Tania has provided education and training to health care professionals about mental health and addiction, as well as providing training in cognitive behavioural therapy.

Tania works as a psychotherapist in private practice, providing support to individuals who struggle with mental health and substance use related issues. Tania is registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, as well as the Ontario Association of Social Workers.

Ms. Poly Christou joined the PHP as a senior administrative assistant. Poly graduated from Ryerson University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Business Management Degree (major in accounting and finance) and worked in the insurance industry in administrative roles for 20 years. She first joined the OMA's insurance services department back in November 2004. Her role until April 2015 was that of senior service administrator where she was active in developing service and process initiatives to improve member experience, leading primary business cycle projects, preparing reports and handling complex member insurance inquiries. Poly currently provides administrative support to various members of the clinical team while actively contributing to the program’s special projects.

Ms. Anna Kopowska joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP) as a senior administrative assistant in November 2006. Anna provides administrative support to various members of the clinical team and provides reception duties while actively contributing to the program’s special projects. Anna is certified in early childhood education, medical office assisting, communications, marketing and advertising. She has held various administrative positions, sales coordinator and sales representative positions for several publications of Today’s Parent Magazine (Professional Publishing) and Rogers Media.  

Ms. Ania Mielniczek joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP) as a senior administrative assistant in June 2014 covering a one-year maternity leave. In March 2015, she transitioned into a permanent role as a senior administrative assistant supporting the director, administration, and other team members as needed. In addition, she supports the financial operations of the PHP while actively contributing to the program’s special projects. Before joining the PHP, Ania held various roles as an executive assistant. Her most recent experience was at Kobo Inc. where she supported the executive vice-president and general manager.

Ms. Rosa Parsons joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP) as a senior administrative assistant in March 2015. Rosa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto. Rosa provides administrative support to various members of the clinical team while actively contributing to the program’s special projects. Rosa has held several administrative roles, including, the high-tech industry, human resources and health care. Rosa previously worked as an administrative assistant for the client services section of the Toronto Central CCAC. In that capacity she supported six managers and their teams of front-line staff (in hospitals and community) in all aspects of their administrative needs.

Ms. Mary Vidaic joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP) as a senior administrative assistant in April 2014. Before joining the PHP, Mary had a long work experience with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) working in number of administrative roles, her latest position was as the executive secretary of the chief operating officer at the WSIB. In her current role, Mary supports various members of the clinical team while actively contributing to the program’s special projects.

Ms. Poonam Parmar joined the administrative team of the OMA’s Physician Health Program in August 2011 and primarily does transcription as well as assisting in other administrative duties on an as needed basis. She has over eight years of experience working as a medical secretary/unit clerk in hospitals in Toronto and over ten years of experience primarily doing medical transcription.

She is a certified medical transcriptionist and graduated in medical laboratory technology in 1998.

Ms. Danijela Ninkovic, RN, joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP) in 2018. Danijela’s strong passion for physician health brought her to the PHP where in her role of clinical coordinator she supports and advocates on behalf of physicians across Ontario.

Danijela is an internationally educated registered nurse with 25 years of experience in a variety of clinical settings including CAMH and St. Michael’s Hospital. She worked in the psychiatric emergency department and urgent care program and was actively involved in internal and external projects, including the Registered Nurses of Ontario (RNAO) fellowship implementing RNAO best practice guidelines across psychiatry and addiction services at St. Michael's Hospital. With over 15 years of work in crisis intervention Danijela’s focus has been mental health and addiction. She holds the Canadian Nurses Association certification in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing (CPMHN(C)).

Ms. Ninkovic has successfully presented her scholarly work in global forums, linking the European and North American settings that influenced her practice. She is currently pursuing a graduate degree as a Masters in Health Management (MHM) candidate at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Throughout her career, she has valued the work of the interdisciplinary team and is actively involved with a number of PHP projects with a goal of improving supports for medical students and physicians across Ontario.

Mike is a clinical social worker with 25 years of clinical experience in adult mental health and addictions. He received his Master of Social Work degree from Carleton University in Ottawa Ontario and is a registered social worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.

Prior to coming to the Physician Health Program, Mike worked at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health as a front-line clinician and advanced practice clinical leader. He worked in a number of clinical settings including the schizophrenia program, concurrent disorders program, and the forensic mental health program providing direct client care, clinical supervision, clinical consultation and capacity building

In his spare time, Mike enjoys playing, coaching, and watching baseball, basketball and hockey and driving his three sons all over the city to ensure that they get to the field or rink on time.

Ms. Wendy Ross joined the OMA’s Physician Health Program (PHP) in July 2019. Wendy is a registered social worker whose career spans over 40 years. She has held both administrative and clinical positions in health care which has included the management and development of numerous addiction and mental health programs. Additionally, Wendy has chaired multiple committees addressing child abuse, woman abuse, concurrent disorders, diversity, crisis intervention, suicide risk assessment and prevention and program advisory committees including consumer and family participation.

Wendy has provided clinical services to various populations including older adults, individuals, couples, and families in the area of bereavement, couple and family conflict, mental health, and addiction problems, and occupational and/or personal stress. She has additional accreditation in family and elder mediation.