The CFPC welcomes its 2025-2026 President, Dr Sarah Cook

doi:10.46747/cfp.711112757

Dr Sarah Cook was elected 72nd President of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) at the Annual Meeting of Members. She was officially installed in the role on November 7, 2025, during Family Medicine Forum in Winnipeg, Man. Dr Cook has practised family medicine since 2008, with much of her time spent in northern Canada. Her career has been defined by broad clinical practice and a deep commitment to health equity.

Growing up in Nova Scotia, Dr Cook initially contemplated a career in marine biology. During a thesis year in New Zealand, she realized she “preferred people to abalone” and turned toward medicine. Having listened to her father’s stories of cradle-to-grave family medicine, Dr Cook had a good idea of what she was signing up for.

After completing medical school at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, and residency in Ottawa, Ont (which included time in both Nunavut and the Northwest Territories), she and her husband, Matt, chose to raise their family in Yellowknife, NWT. “I loved that I could practise full-scope family medicine—from hospital medicine and obstetrics to remote outreach, primary care, abortion care, and GP [general practice] oncology.”

Drawn to systems-thinking and bigger questions of care access and quality, Dr Cook observed that challenges in remote medicine are a microcosm of broader issues. Whether fractured health information, staff shortages, inequities in access, or climate effects on health, the impacts are amplified in remote settings. Thinking about solutions led her to become involved in leadership roles early in her career. She launched Choosing Wisely NWT, appling a unique northern lens to Choosing Wisely principles to reduce unnecessary patient movement for care. “When northern patients need to access specialized care, they often must travel far from home, sometimes over days,” Dr Cook said. “We must do everything we can to provide access to high-quality care close to home across Canada, optimizing virtual care and connecting health information.”

Dr Cook also developed a group prenatal program for patients travelling to Yellowknife to give birth, helping address uneven prenatal care in remote communities; implemented a program for early pregnancy loss to reduce emergency department visits; and piloted virtual integrated care teams for remote communities. She served as Yellowknife Medical Director, was the Northwest Territories’ first Territorial Medical Director, and spent a year in Halifax as the Chief of Family Medicine–Maternal Newborn Care at the IWK Health Centre.

Dr Cook said that while northern medicine has unique challenges, it also fosters resilience, adaptability, and strong community bonds. “Being a family doctor in the north allows you to forge deep relationships with patients. Those relationships are at the heart of why I chose family medicine, and are of particular importance in serving a region deeply affected by the legacy of colonization and residential schools.”

Dr Cook was also shaped by personal experiences. “Being the mother of a critically ill child has been the most humbling and transformative experience of my life. Nothing prepared me for what it felt like to sit on the other side of the bed, realizing that my greatest challenge was not only protecting her from the harms of the illness itself, but also protecting her from aspects of the very system in which we work to help people.”

A member of the CFPC Board of Directors since 2020, Dr Cook joined the officer track in 2023 and now, as President, is looking forward to connecting with members across the country. “I want to hear your stories, particularly what you are proud of. I’m most excited about finding nuggets of hope to amplify, and working together on solutions to ensure every Canadian has access to a family physician as part of an interdisciplinary team, while also highlighting the critically important work of family physicians beyond primary care across the country.”

National bodies such as the CFPC must work collaboratively with other organizations and policy-makers to align on the vision and implementation of effective primary care, recognizing the vital role family physicians play both in primary care and other parts of the system.

Dr Cook is clear-eyed about the challenges but determined to infuse optimism into the profession. “Family medicine is full of ingenuity and dedication. If we connect those strengths, we can build a system that serves patients and is joyful for family physicians.”