Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums
  • My alerts
The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • RSS feeds
  • Follow cfp Template on Twitter
OtherArt of Family Medicine

Jennifer Whelan MB BCh BAO CCFP

William M. Glenn
Canadian Family Physician November 2015, 61 (11) 995-997;
William M. Glenn
Toronto, Ont
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading
Figure1

My common-sense approach and laid-back Irish attitude are among my greatest medical strengths,” Dr Jennifer Whelan says in her soft brogue. “At least, everybody seems to like it. No matter what the problem, have a cuppa tea. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

Dr Whelan always thought she was destined to be an emergency department physician. After graduating from medical school in Dublin and completing her intern year in Ireland, she completed a 6-month rotation at a large tertiary trauma centre in Brisbane, Australia. There, she dealt with all kinds of exotic emergencies, from jellyfish stings to poisonous snake bites, in addition to the more mundane breaks, contusions, and cuts. “We had a whole row of dangerous creatures in jars lined up in the ER,” she laughs. “But curiosity really killed my career in emergency medicine. I kept wondering what happened to this patient, or how is that one doing now?”

So she and her family physician husband, Patrick, a former rugby player at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont, applied as a couple for the Queen’s residency program in family medicine back in 2006. Today, her primary practice is with the nearby Belleville Queen’s Family Health Team, but 2 days a week she works at a community health centre providing continuity of care for “some of the most complex and vulnerable patients in society.”

Family medicine is all about continuity, especially in a tight-knit community like Belleville. “I love living here. I run into my patients on, literally, a daily basis,” Dr Whelan says. “Just this afternoon at the market, I bumped into a woman with a new baby I’m scheduled to see for the first time next week. We also talked about her husband, a patient who’s also a chef at one of our favourite restaurants.”

While Dr Whelan, her husband and 2 young girls have put down deep roots in Belleville, they still get back to Ireland a couple of times a year. Her oldest daughter, 7-year-old Emily, has been 21 times, while her little sister, 4-year-old Isabella, has already visited 12 times.

Despite the repeat visits and the Irish dancing lessons and the favourite Irish television shows they screen online, “the kids are really growing up as Canadians,” Dr Whelan says. “I’m trying to fully embrace the Canadian lifestyle too. I’m learning to ski and I have my first skating lesson set for next week.” But don’t worry. Afterward, back at home nursing those inevitable bruises and aching ankles, she’ll have a cuppa tea and everything will be just fine.

“No matter what the problem, have a cuppa tea”

Figure2
Figure3
Figure4
Figure5
Figure6
Figure7
Figure8

PHOTOS (LEFT): Dr Whelan in the office and with Annie Langley, who was a third-year medical student at Queen’s University when the photos were taken.

PHOTOS (ABOVE): Dr Whelan skiing with her (left to right) husband, Patrick Esperanzate, also a family physician, and daughters Isabella and Emily Esperanzate. (From top down) Dr Whelan with Isabella and Emily at the gym and enjoying a book, and Isabella learning to ski with Patrick.

Footnotes

  • Dr Whelan is a family doctor in Belleville, Ont, practising in an academic community-based practice and a community health centre.

  • THE COVER PROJECT Canadian Family Physician has embarked on a project to assemble the portrait of family medicine in Canada. Each cover of the journal features a family physician chosen at random from our membership list, along with a short essay—a brief glimpse of the person and the practice. Over time, the randomness will become representative and the differences, taken together, will define what it is that all family physicians have in common.

  • Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Family Physician: 61 (11)
Canadian Family Physician
Vol. 61, Issue 11
1 Nov 2015
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on The College of Family Physicians of Canada.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Jennifer Whelan MB BCh BAO CCFP
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The College of Family Physicians of Canada
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the The College of Family Physicians of Canada web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Jennifer Whelan MB BCh BAO CCFP
William M. Glenn
Canadian Family Physician Nov 2015, 61 (11) 995-997;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Share
Jennifer Whelan MB BCh BAO CCFP
William M. Glenn
Canadian Family Physician Nov 2015, 61 (11) 995-997;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Footnotes
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

Art of Family Medicine

  • On unproductive joy
  • Code blue
  • A way of responding
Show more Art of Family Medicine

The Faces of Family Medicine

  • The Faces of Family Medicine 2011–2015
  • Edward Tsoi MB BCh BAO MRCP(UK) FCFP
Show more The Faces of Family Medicine

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
  • Collections - English
  • Collections - Française

For Authors

  • Authors and Reviewers
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Permissions
  • Terms of Use

General Information

  • About CFP
  • About the CFPC
  • Advertisers
  • Careers & Locums
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Subscribers

Journal Services

  • Email Alerts
  • Twitter
  • RSS Feeds

Copyright © 2021 by The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Powered by HighWire