Hope and Celebration: The Department of Family Medicine Spring Retreat 2026
The Department of Family Medicine's 2026 Spring Retreat brought colleagues together from across Saskatchewan for a day of professional development, faculty scholarship, and recognition of this year's award recipients.
By Spencer BomboirFamily medicine asks a great deal of the people who practice and support it. But at this year’s Spring Retreat, faculty, staff, residents and administrators from across Saskatchewan gathered for something different: a day built around finding hope and celebrating our people.
Building Hope Together
The day opened with a professional development session led by Dr. Jessica Riddell, a Full Professor at Bishop’s University, founder of the Hope Circuits Institute, and author of multiple books on organizational resilience and human flourishing.
Her framework centres on the idea that hope is not passive optimism. It is something that can be practiced and built into the systems and communities where we work. She invited the room to consider where the department sits on a spectrum of organizational health, and to ask what small interventions might move things toward flourishing.
Colleagues broke into small groups to work through reflective prompts: What do you most love in your work? What possibilities do we want to nurture? The conversations were candid and generative, grounded in Dr. Riddell’s belief that hope is big enough to hold anger, confusion, joy, and laughter alike.
Participants left the morning session with practical tools and a renewed sense of purpose, carrying the question of hope with them into the rest of the day.
Faculty Scholarship on Display
The afternoon turned to the range of scholarly work happening across the department. The Faculty Scholarship Showcase invited colleagues to walk among poster presentations and engage directly with the research and projects their peers are pursuing.
The session was designed as much for connection as for learning. In a department spread across a large province, it is not always easy to know what colleagues at other sites are working on. The poster walk gave people the chance to ask questions, make connections, and recognize the scope and creativity of the work being done in family medicine across Saskatchewan
An Evening of Recognition
The day closed with a celebration dinner, where Dr. Sarah Forgie, Dean of the College of Medicine, offered remarks to the gathered department. Her presence emphasized the significance of the evening and the collective work being recognized.
Awards were presented across seven categories, honouring faculty whose contributions have shaped the department, the profession, and the patients and communities they serve.
2026 Family Medicine Award Recipients
Dr. Vivian R. Ramsden Award for Scholarship and Innovation
Winner: Dr. Bruce Reeder
This award recognizes those who advance practice improvement, community engagement, and participatory research with local impact and national or international reach. Dr. Reeder's sustained contributions to scholarship in family medicine have shaped how the department approaches research and knowledge-building.
Dr. Gill White Award for Leadership in Family Medicine
Winner: Dr. Reid McGonigle
Presented to individuals who inspire others, lead transformative projects, and promote excellence in education and healthcare delivery, this award reflects the kind of leadership that makes a department stronger. Dr. McGonigle's work exemplifies that spirit.
Dr. Sally Mahood Award for Mentorship and Advocacy
Winner: Dr. Carla Holinaty
This award honours exemplary mentorship and advocacy, recognizing those who empower mentees and champion socially responsible healthcare. Dr. Holinaty's influence is felt by those she has guided and the communities they now serve.
Dr. Keith Ogle Award for Teaching in Family Medicine
The Teaching Award recognizes outstanding contributions to resident and learner education. Each recipient was selected through a process that draws on the voices of those they teach, a fitting measure for an award in their name.
Four recipients were recognized this year across the department's distinct teaching streams:
Dr. Keith Ogle Award for Teaching in Family Medicine (Urban)
Winner: Dr. Stephanie Nyberg
Dr. Keith Ogle Award for Teaching in Family Medicine (Rural)
Winner: Dr. Tara Lee
Dr. Keith Ogle Award for Teaching in Family Medicine (Enhanced Skills)
Winner: Dr. Jordan Anderson
Dr. Keith Ogle Award for Teaching in Family Medicine (North)
Winner: Dr. Devin Ritter
Carrying It Forward
Dr. Riddell closed her morning session by asking participants to commit to one thing they would bring back to their department or unit. It is a small ask on the surface, but it points to something larger: that hope, like the work of family medicine itself, is built one relationship and one decision at a time.
Colleagues left Saskatoon with something to think about, something to try, and a clearer sense of the community they are part of. The work continues, across every site and every corner of this province, and the department is better for having come together to remember why it matters.