Profile: David Eisen, our new Chief of Family and Community Medicine

Dr. David Eisen thrives on being busy.

This seems fair to say when describing someone who has medical and law degrees, and a Master's in Business Administration. His interests don't stop there. In the 24 years he's been with North York General Hospital (NYGH), including his residency, he has delivered over 1,400 babies. He also plays drums and performs with the Docs Who Rock during the hospital's annual flu shot and United Way campaigns.

The Pulse sat down with Dr. Eisen and chatted about his top priorities as chief and what he loves about practicing family medicine.

Dr. David Eisen with new mom Eugeniya and baby Ivan

Dr. David Eisen with new mom Eugeniya and baby Ivan

On why he likes practicing at North York General:
Practicing family medicine at North York General is a unique opportunity for me and the other family doctors here because of the strong relationship between the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the rest of the hospital. NYGH has one of the largest groups of family physicians delivering babies of all Ontario hospitals. The department is integrated across other hospital programs, including palliative care, the emergency department, and surgery; just to name a few. We (family doctors) work in our Mental Health Program, paediatrics and alongside surgeons as operating room assistants.

Many people might not know the extent of our academic work. In fact, NYGH’s Department of Family and Community Medicine has had more papers accepted at this year’s North American Primary Care Research Group’s annual conference than Harvard’s.
 

On what he sees as his priorities:

At NYGH we have over 300 credentialed family physicians who practice here and every year 52 family medicine trainees are mentored and given real world training at our hospital.

My job is to continue building on the success of my predecessors. Success for me will include building a team that has optimized its efforts and is operating at full capacity and is fully integrated into all the work we do. I believe this success is achieved through collaboration and integration with colleagues across the hospital and in other community sectors.
 

On what advice he would give new family doctors:
When asked, I offer this advice to students and new family doctors: plan your career around a goal to practice in an excellent clinical environment where there is opportunity for innovation and learning; and then I add: don't get stuck on one goal. Be flexible and open to opportunities that evolve.

The Rudy and Rita Koehler Family Medicine Teaching Unit's location on the 4th floor of the General site is a leading edge “living laboratory” where trainees are educated. The unit is also uniquely poised to contribute to the hospital's burgeoning research program.
 

On why he became a doctor:
Towards the end of completing my law degree/MBA I started to really reflect on my father and his career. My father was an OB-GYN and how he cared for his patients and the fulfillment he received from his career had a huge influence on me. I'm so glad I decided to pursue medicine because now I hope I am a good role model for our trainees and my own kids. Each of my three children has come on rounds with me and seen first-hand what we do here.

I'm very excited about the future for NYGH and the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

David Eisen is a practicing family physician with active clinical and teaching interests in obstetrics, newborn care and women's health. He has an academic practice in association with North York General Hospital and the University of Toronto. He teaches students from other programs including the Ryerson University Midwifery program. He chairs the Family Medicine Obstetrics Division at NYGH, and serves on all of the Maternal Newborn committees there. He serves NYGH as Chief, Department of Family and Community Medicine and has served the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in several capacities.

He is married with three children and enjoys playing drums, yoga and skiing.

This article first appeared in the November 2014 issue of The Pulse.

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