La Ronge rural family physician Dr. Sean Groves named 2019 SMA Physician of the Year

The award was presented during the SMA’s 2019 Spring Representative Assembly on Friday evening, May 3, 2019, at the Sheraton Cavalier in Saskatoon.

“It definitely was a surprise, it’s humbling,” Dr. Groves told the SMA on being named the recipient of the award. “I don’t really see it as an individual thing. I work in an excellent group practice. I have huge support professionally and personally, and I think of the award more as recognition of work in a rural community and rural medicine and the opportunities that that type of setting provides for me.”

Dr. Groves was born in Innisfail, Alta., and raised in Saskatoon. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine in 2003, and did his rural family medicine residency in Prince Albert. He arrived in La Ronge with his wife and family in 2005.

“We just thought I’d come up for a while, but it wasn’t very long before we realized this was the place we wanted to raise our family and have our kids. We had a young family when we moved here. It didn’t take long before we were committed to the long haul regardless of the challenges,” Dr. Groves said.

“When I went through medicine I wasn’t thinking about this life, but I caught the rural medicine bug pretty early.”

Dr. Groves created and has led the development of the La Ronge rural family medicine training program since 2011. This program has evolved into resident-run clinics in a number of remote northern locations. He has been student and resident coordinator at the La Ronge Medical Clinic since coming to La Ronge.

Read more about this outstanding accomplishment on SMA's news site.