Family Physician/Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, McGill University
Dr. Vania Jimenez began her career as a family physician in 1972. In 2007, she co-founded Montréal’s non-profit La Maison Bleue, a living environment for young children based on a preventive approach model.
As an associate professor at McGill University’s Department of Family Medicine, Dr. Jimenez was the director of the Research Division until 2005. She then went on to work as director of the Family Medicine Unit at the CLSC de Côte-des-Neiges in Montréal until December 2020. She practises family medicine, caring for a highly heterogeneous, multi-ethnic population. This work is a constant source of reflection and inspiration for research and teaching. She has also practiced obstetrics in family medicine at Montréal’s Jewish General Hospital.
As a researcher and clinician, Dr. Jimenez has always been intrigued by the influence of culture on illness. This theme is a major focus of the numerous research projects that she is involved in. She also explores other subjects, such as the psychology of pregnancy and parent-child relationships, that reflect her ongoing interest in obstetrics and the family.
Dr. Jimenez was named Family Physician of the Year in 1999 by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Collège québécois des médecins de famille. In 2004, she was awarded the Medal of Merit from the Association des médecins francophones du Canada. In 2008, the Association des médecins de CLSC du Québec granted her the Inukshuk Award for her special collaboration with Indigenous midwives in having their training recognized by the Ordre des sages-femmes du Québec. In 2023, she received the Distinction Award from the president of the Collège des médecins du Québec.
Dr. Jimenez is a Knight of the Ordre de Montréal and a recipient of the Médaille de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec. She is also a published novelist.