Dr. Sarah Lespérance
Dr. Sarah Lespérance
MD, CCFP, FCFP, FRRMS
Director-at-Large
Amherst, Nova Scotia | Locum family physician, Nunavut
Dr. Sarah Lespérance was elected by CFPC members in 2024 for a three-year Director-at-Large term.
Dr. Lespérance is a rural generalist physician, who currently divides her clinical practice between Mi'kma'ki (Amherst, Nova Scotia), and Inuit Nunangat. Her practice includes obstetrics, in-patient care, procedures, office-based family medicine, and fly-in clinics to health centres in Sanikiluaq and Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut. Since completing residency at Dalhousie University, she has lived and worked almost exclusively in rural and remote areas of the Yukon, Labrador, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and New Brunswick.
In terms of leadership roles, Dr. Lespérance is a clinical assistant professor and the Assistant Postgraduate Program Director for Dalhousie University’s Family Medicine program. She is a past president of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC), current chair of the SRPC’s Governance Committee, and co-chair of the SRPC’s Health Human Resources committee. At the CFPC, she is the current Chair of the Self-Learning Committee. Her research interests include understanding the resilience of rural family physicians, latent tuberculosis treatment in Nunavut, factors impacting individuals’ choice of maternity care provider, supporting rural women physicians in leadership, and perspectives of rural physician partners regarding recruitment and retention.
As a leader, Dr. Lespérance takes a collaborative approach, focusing on finding common ground and mutual respect. She is an advocate for high-quality family medicine education that responds to the needs of rural communities, while understanding the needs of those who practise in bigger centres. Dr. Lespérance values equity, inclusion, reconciliation, and care close to home, and feels strongly that family physicians have a critical role to play in the health care system.
Dr. Lespérance is a rural generalist physician, who currently divides her clinical practice between Mi'kma'ki (Amherst, Nova Scotia), and Inuit Nunangat. Her practice includes obstetrics, in-patient care, procedures, office-based family medicine, and fly-in clinics to health centres in Sanikiluaq and Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut. Since completing residency at Dalhousie University, she has lived and worked almost exclusively in rural and remote areas of the Yukon, Labrador, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and New Brunswick.
In terms of leadership roles, Dr. Lespérance is a clinical assistant professor and the Assistant Postgraduate Program Director for Dalhousie University’s Family Medicine program. She is a past president of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC), current chair of the SRPC’s Governance Committee, and co-chair of the SRPC’s Health Human Resources committee. At the CFPC, she is the current Chair of the Self-Learning Committee. Her research interests include understanding the resilience of rural family physicians, latent tuberculosis treatment in Nunavut, factors impacting individuals’ choice of maternity care provider, supporting rural women physicians in leadership, and perspectives of rural physician partners regarding recruitment and retention.
As a leader, Dr. Lespérance takes a collaborative approach, focusing on finding common ground and mutual respect. She is an advocate for high-quality family medicine education that responds to the needs of rural communities, while understanding the needs of those who practise in bigger centres. Dr. Lespérance values equity, inclusion, reconciliation, and care close to home, and feels strongly that family physicians have a critical role to play in the health care system.