Dr. Ruth Wilson, M.D., C.C.F.P., FCFP
Kingston, Ontario

 Dr. Ruth Wilson is a practicing family physician, educator and a strong advocate of primary health care renewal. She is a  Professor of Family Medicine at Queen’s University, and was head of the department for ten years.   She served from 2001-2004 as Chair of the Ontario Family Health Network (OFHN), an arm’s-length provincial government agency created to deliver effective primary health care to all Ontarians.

After graduating from the University of Toronto (U of T) medical program in 1976, she did further training in family medicine and anesthesia, and then worked with a U of T program in Sioux Lookout, Ontario providing care to a number of isolated First Nations communities. She also practiced in the remote communities of Bella Coola, British Columbia, and Baie Verte, Newfoundland, before returning to Sioux Lookout  in 1985.

In 1989, Dr. Wilson and her husband, Dr. Ian Casson, also a family physician, decided to establish a residence and practices in Kingston, Ontario.  That same year, she accepted a position with the Department of Family Medicine at Queen’s University.  She served as coordinator of the Moose Factory Program, a medical outreach program to aboriginal people living on the west coast of James Bay.  While department head she also chaired the Queen’s University / Bosnia-Herzegovina steering committee, and helped establish family medicine programs  in that country immediately post-war in 1995.

Her involvement with the College of Family Physicians of Canada includes chairing the Self-Learning program, and contributions as a member of the national executive continuously since 1999.

Dr. Wilson’s research interests are in women’s health, aboriginal health, and the lessons from these areas that affect the determinants of health.    She is the co-editor of the Women’s Health chapters of the Oxford Textbook of Primary Care, and co-editor of a book entitled Implementing Primary Care Reform: Barriers and Facilitators.

In May 2002, Dr. Wilson received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the British Columbia Open University. She is the recipient of the Canada 125 medal, and the May Cohen Award of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada.

In 2006 she completed a sabbatical year where she practiced and researched primary care in a variety of settings, including New Zealand, Canada’s Arctic, Serbia, St. Lucia, and Scotland. She continues to practice family medicine and intrapartum obstetrics in Kingston, Ontario. She and her husband are the parents of five children, all now young adults.