The 2024-2025 Board of directors

Dr Ghassen Soufi is an R5 in Psychiatry at the McGill University Faculty of Medicine, where he also earned his MD. After two years as President of the Association of Residents of McGill (ARM) and Director from ARM on the FMRQ Board, he becomes President of the FMRQ from July 1, 2024. In the past few years, he has also been a member of the Federation’s Negotiating Committee, working toward renewal of our collective agreement. Before becoming ARM President, Dr Soufi had previously been an Association delegate. In that capacity, he was active on the subcommittee responsible for updating the ARM statutes and by-laws, and the subcommittee reviewing resident doctors’ work conditions in his Faculty ahead of negotiations for renewal of the FMRQ-MSSS collective agreement. He is also a member of the McGill Psychiatry Residents’ Association (MPRA). Dr Soufi is interested in environmental matters, too, and is involved in his community. In addition, he has received different awards, including the McGill Global Health Scholarship and the Lieutenant Governor’s Youth Medal. In his free time, he enjoys sports and theatre.

Dr Darya S. Jalaledin is an R4 in Rheumatology at the University of Montreal, where she also received her MD. Previously, she completed three years of residency in Internal Medicine and a Master’s-level microprogram in Health Sciences Education at the University of Sherbrooke Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. As FMRQ Vice-President, she is responsible for the Federation’s Resident Wellness Committee (CBER) and Physician Resource Planning Committee (CPEM) for 2024-2025. Since starting residency, Dr Jalaledin has been AMReS Vice-President for Physician Resources on the CPEM, represented the FMRQ on committees concerned with academic and pedagogical matters, and taken part in accreditation surveys as a visiting surveyor resident. Over the years, she has been socially involved in her community, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from medicine, she is a sports enthusiast, having played badminton competitively for seven years, becoming team captain and a finalist for Athlete of the Year in 2014. She also participated in the provincial championships twice. She plays the piano, and loves classical literature. She speaks English, French, and Farsi fluently.

Dr Bouchra Tannir is an R5 in Adult Critical Care Medicine at the University of Montreal, where she also earned her MD. She will be Secretary-Treasurer on the FMRQ Board for 2024-2025, having been President of the Association des médecins résidents de Montréal (AMRM) in 2023-2024. She sat as a director from an affiliated association on the FMRQ Board in 2023-2024, as well as being a member of the FMRQ Negotiating Committee. In 2021-2022, she was Deputy Vice-President on the FMRQ’s Academic Affairs Committee – Specialties, then Deputy Chairperson of that committee in 2022-2023. Dr Tannir has been involved in the medical community since she started residency, in particular as a member of the Internal Medicine Core Curriculum Program Committee and the General Internal Medicine Program Wellness Committee.

Dr Xiao is an R5 in Anesthesiology at McGill University, where he also earned his MD. For the second year in a row, he will be Director responsible for Union Affairs, which means he will also be working on the FMRQ’s Negotiating Committee. He became involved in the FMRQ from the start of his residency, first as a delegate in 2021-2022, then as Vice-President representing the Association of Residents of McGill (ARM) on the Federation’s Union Affairs Committee in 2022-2023. He previously sat on the Medical Students’ Society of McGill University Government Affairs and Advocacy Committee, and was on the Board of Directors of the MQRP (Médecins québécois pour un régime public, or Quebec Doctors for Medicare). Dr Xiao loves movies, vegan cuisine, techno music, and cultural travel.

Dr André Lametti is an R5 in Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology in the McGill University Faculty of Medicine, where he also earned his MD. He intends to pursue Area of Focused Competence training in Cytopathology and perform a fellowship in ENT/Endocrine Pathology. He will be Director responsible for Academic Affairs – Specialties (CAP-S) on the FMRQ Board for 2024-2025. Over the past two years, he was Vice-President of that Committee for the Association of Residents of McGill (ARM). He was a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) Accreditation Committee (2022-2023), and has been on the RCPSC Residency Accreditation Committee since 2023. He also represents the FMRQ on the Accreditation Standards Improvement Committee of the Canadian Residency Accreditation Consortium (CanRAC). In the past few years, he has been very active on the ARM, in particular as a member of the Association’s Governance Review Committee and as a surveyor resident doctor for external surveys at the University of Montreal and McGill University. He was on the Board of Directors of the MQRP (Médecins québécois pour un régime public, or Quebec Doctors for Medicare) in 2020-2021, and was a member of the McGill University Senate (2018-2020) while a medical student. In addition to medicine, Dr Lametti has a keen interest in computing, sports, and music. He speaks English, French, and Italian fluently.

Dr Thomas Larente is an R2 in Family Medicine at the University of Montreal Faculty of Medicine’s GMF-U Sacré-Cœur University Family Medicine Group, of which he is also chief resident. He will sit on the FMRQ Board as Director responsible for Academic Affairs – Family Medicine for 2024-2025. Over the past year, as Deputy Vice-President of the Association des médecins résident·e·s de Montréal (AMRM), he sat on the FMRQ’s Academic Affairs Committee – Family Medicine (CAP-MF). Dr Larente is very involved in his community. He took part in the Youth in Mind Foundation’s Cyclo-Défi for Pediatrics in 2022. In the past, he also organized events for his colleagues on the University of Montreal’s medical student association, AÉÉMUM. On the clinical front, he has performed immersion rotations in Benin with IFMSA Quebec, and took part in interactive first-aid and addiction-awareness workshops in mini aboriginal healthcare schools in the Atikamekw community. Among Dr Larente’s varied interests is a strong preference for sports, travel, gardening, and musical comedy. Indeed, over the past five years, he has sung and acted in performances of four musicals.

Dr Louis-Charles Desbiens, an R4 in Nephrology at the University of Montreal, is enrolled in the Royal College’s Clinical Investigator Program. He received his MD from Laval University, where he also earned a Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology. As President of the Association des médecins résident·e·s de Montréal (AMRM), he will be sitting on the FMRQ Board as Director from AMRM for 2024-2025. Since starting residency, he was a delegate for two years, and was responsible for union affairs on the AMRM (2022-2023). He was previously active in the Laval University medical students group (RÉMUL), notably as Vice-President for External Affairs, then for Academic Affairs. On his academic journey, he has received several awards and scholarships, including the Master’s Training Scholarship (MD, MSc) ­­– FRQS, and the Master’s-level Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship. He has also received many awards for best (oral or poster) presentation, and several other academic and scientific recognitions. Since January 2024, Dr Desbiens has been a Quebec hypertension society (Société québécoise d’hypertension artérielle) Board member, as well.

Dr Heithem Joober is currently training in Geriatric Psychiatry at McGill University. He earned an MD and a postgraduate diploma (DESS) in Psychiatry from the University of Sherbrooke. As President of the Association of Residents of McGill (ARM), he will be representing the ARM on the FMRQ Board for 2024-2025. In 2023-2024, he was FMRQ Secretary-Treasurer, having sat on the Federation’s Union Affairs Committee (CAS) from July 2021 to June 2023. In 2020-2021, he was also Psychiatry residents’ representative on the Association des médecins résidents de Sherbrooke (AMReS). Awards received since he began his university studies include the University of Sherbrooke Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Research Bursary in 2016, and the Bioinformatics Research Bursary in 2015. Dr Joober is actively involved in his community, too. In particular, he was joint initiator of a partnership between Le Phare high school and the University of Sherbrooke Faculty of Medicine in 2017-2018 to help interested teens prepare for and take part free of charge in the Défi Pierre-Lavoie sporting challenge.

Dr Lea Sfairy is an R3 in the five-year Emergency Medicine program at Laval University, where she also earned her MD. She sits on the FMRQ Board as Director from AMReQ, of which she is now President. In 2019, she performed an international, intercultural rotation at Thiès Regional Hospital, Senegal. She is interested in research; her latest project, being carried out at CHU de Québec – Université Laval Research Centre, concerns adult traumatology. In the past few years, she has been a course monitor in her medical faculty. She has also been involved with her colleagues, in particular as a delegate for sociocultural events (2022-2023), then as Secretary General (2023-2024) with AMReQ. Dr Sfairy received the Research Excellence Award from the Laval University Faculty of Medicine in winter 2020, and recognition for her involvement as a medical student the same year. For recreation, Dr Sfairy enjoys running, travel, and reading. She speaks English, French, and Arabic fluently.

Dr Florence Viens is an R3 in Family Medicine in the Sport and Exercise Medicine Enhanced Skills Program at the University of Sherbrooke, where she also earned her MD. She will be representing her colleagues from the Association des médecins résident·e·s de Sherbrooke (AMReS) on the FMRQ Board of Directors for 2024-2025. For the past two years, she was AMReS Vice-President for Academic Affairs in Family Medicine on the FMRQ’s Academic Affairs Committee – Family Medicine. During her training, she has been a member of the Organizing Committee of MedGames 2020, co-chaired the Yearbook Committee for graduating medical students in 2022, taken part in the activities of the Family Medicine Interest Group, and represented her colleagues on her faculty’s Family Medicine Program Committee. Dr Viens has also received several awards, scholarships, and distinctions, including, in 2024, the Canadian Association for Medical Education (CAME) Rising Star – Certificate of Excellence. Beyond the practice to which she is headed, she maintains an undeniable interest in sport. She was a member of the Vert & Or volleyball team for two years, and enjoys alpine ski touring and triathlons. Over the years, she has also devoted her free time to volunteering, particularly with the Canadian Cancer Society and Operation Red Nose.

Patrice Savignac Dufour has been Executive Director of the FMRQ since 2016, after having first acted as Director, Legal Affairs, then as Deputy Executive Director. A manager and lawyer by training, Me Savignac Dufour previously worked as an executive, advisor, attorney, or director with different socio-political and labour union groups. A member of the Quebec Bar, he holds a postgraduate diploma (DESS) in management from HEC Montréal.