The Independent

A Petrolia doctor has won a prestigious Canadian award.

Dr. John Butler has won the Ian McWhinney Family Medicine Education Award from the Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine. It is named in memory of Dr. Ian McWhinney, the first professor and chair of a Canadian university department of family medicine at the University of Western Ontario, now Western University.

The award honours excellence in family medicine education and is presented to a teacher deemed by their peers to have made a unique and innovative contribution that has had a substantial national impact on the development of family medicine education in Canada.

Butler came to Petrolia in 2001 and was one of the people who helped formed what was then a ground breaking concept in family medicine – a family health team.

He also worked to bring a teaching program to Petrolia under the auspices of the Western University. Butler also serves as Bluewater Health’s vice president of rural medicine.

In a social media post, the Central Lambton Family Health Team congratulated Butler saying it is a “remarkable achievement.

“It’s named in honour of Dr. Ian McWhinney, widely regarded as the founding father of academic family medicing in Canada whose legacy transformed family medicine education through his commitment to patient-centred care, mentorship and academic excellence. This prestigious award recognizes educators who embody those same values and have made exceptional contributions to teaching and development of future family physicians.”