Francophone Features

How education and work reconnected a NOSM Francophone employee to her culture

Debbie Popien is best described as the person who is always smiling and goes out of her way to see how others are doing. She’s a Francophone Student Records and Electives Officer at NOSM at Lakehead University. She speaks English with such clarity and ease that you’d never know her first language is French. Born in Timmins, her mom is from a small town in Quebec and her dad is from a small community outside of Kapuskasing called Moonbeam. “When I was a year old, we moved to Thunder Bay for my dad's business in the forestry industry, and I spoke only French until I was about four. Then I had to start school,” she recalls. ...

The Art of Treating Patients in French

“When I hurt, I hurt in French.” It is hard to imagine receiving health-care services in a foreign language. Dr. Crystal Boulianne, Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) alumna, is committed to eliminating linguistic barriers that affect the quality of health care for the Francophone population of Kapuskasing. Her efforts are so formidable, that she was awarded the 2019 Family Medicine Resident Award for the Study of Communities Impacted by Health Disparities granted by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) through the Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine. Boulianne will receive the award in November, during t...