A New Member Joins Team PIRA

Dr. Marie-Claude Beaulieu has been a professor in the Department of Family Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Sherbrooke since 1984. In 2007, she was appointed assistant director of the medical residency program and, since 2013, she has been the director of the university’s Frontline Practices Research Network (RRAPPL).

Dr. Beaulieu has practiced medicine in the community for the last 34 years. She is also involved in preclinical and specialty training education in medicine and in the continuing education of family physicians.

As a family physician, she collaborated on the development of the “Programme de reconnaissance et acheminement rapide des patients avec arthrite” and on the project “Pilot study of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.” These programs have been created to help improve early access to care and quality of life for individuals with arthritis.

Dr. Beaulieu has also been involved in the development of interdisciplinary rehabilitation medicine workshops designed for family medicine, rheumatology, and orthopedics residents, as well as physiotherapy graduates.

At the national level, Dr. Beaulieu is involved with Osteoporosis Canada. She is a member of different committees that aim to improve patient care after fragility fractures.

Dr. Beaulieu is also a member of the “Research Strategy Working Group in Patient and Public Partnership.” She wants to encourage primary care research to improve quality of care, develop evidence-based best practices and foster knowledge transfer. Her main research interests are inter-professional collaboration, chronic diseases, mental health, and health care organization and delivery.

Three years ago, Dr. Beaulieu, a mother and grandmother, developed rheumatoid arthritis. She recently decided to become an active member of Patients Intéressés par la Recherche sur l’Arthrite (PIRA), Arthritis Research Canada’s Quebec-based patient advisory board.