Meet the Docs

Joanne Devenish (recently retired)

Born: Warmbaths, South Africa

Studied: University of Cape Town, South Africa Moved to Canada 1991

After working in many different towns in western and northern Canada, I moved to Dawson City for one year. That was 18 years ago! I met my partner, who owns a hotel just south of the Arctic circle, and together we built our home on the Klondike River outside of Dawson.

Dawson is a wonderful place to provide integrated rural family medical care to our diverse community. We are a cohesive group of doctors, and provide a wide scope of practice. Whitehorse, 550km away by road, is our larger support hospital.

Robert Service, in his poem “The Spell of the Yukon”, so aptly describes our Dawson Yukon wilderness “there are mountains that are nameless and rivers run God knows where”. We have the magnificent Dempster Highway, a gravel road that snakes its way up past the Arctic Circle to to Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean; and the Top of the World highway that goes to Alaska. These roads provide wonderful adventure opportunities to hike, snowshoe, ski, snowmobile in the mountains, and the privilege of being able to observe wildlife, including wolf, grizzly and black bear, caribou, moose and a host of spectacular bird species. Tombstone Provincial Park, only 70 km up the Dempster is a local playground for anyone wishing to escape into true wilderness. Kluane National Park, with Canadas highest peak Mt Logan, lies in southern Yukon, providing mountaineering and many other adventure opportunities.

Adam Sherrard

Hometown: Montreal, QC

MSc Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University 2004 | MD University of Ottawa 2010 | Residency Memorial University of Newfoundland 2012

Almost ten years ago I came to Dawson with my wife and daughter for a one year locum. And then, to the astonishment of our friends and family in Eastern Canada, we never left! We hadn’t even visited the Yukon and we certainly never expected to stay for more than a year or two, but the town and the work have been an outstanding fit for our family.

I think being a generalist physician in a small community is probably one of the most interesting jobs in medicine today and Dawson provides doctors with the opportunity for that kind of traditional rural practice. I really enjoy the variety of work here – 24/7 emergency dept., walk-in and primary care clinics, palliative care, in-patients, house-calls, long term care, and even flying out on helivacs to get patients in remote locations. And we do all this with an incredibly supportive and compassionate healthcare team.

The town itself is a wonderful place to raise a family. I have two kids and I walk them a few blocks to school every morning and then walk a couple of blocks back to the hospital/clinic. I’m home with my wife just about every day for lunch and if I’m stuck at the hospital while on call my kids just run over with a snack. It’s hard to beat.

The arts and music scene is a real attraction with a strong fiddle program for kids and adults among countless other opportunities. Access to canoeing, hiking, fishing, hunting and other adventures are absolutely world-class and the town hosts thousands of tourists who travel from around the world to marvel at all the wonders this place has to offer. Our family feels so fortunate to live and work here on the Traditional Territory of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation and to call Dawson home.

Sheila Curran (previous local MD, now a locum)

Hometown: Sylvan Lake, AB

MD University of Calgary 2007, Residency UBC Nanaimo 2009

I moved to Dawson with my husband and colleague, Ben, just after we got married in 2014. My absolute favorite thing about living here is the winter - really! I love that I never have to warm up the car because I can walk or fat-bike everywhere. The friendly women's ice hockey league keeps me active and sane when the days are short, and it's great having the river and dome in my literal backyard for snowshoeing and XC skiing. I keep up my OB practice with regular trips to Whitehorse and love getting to know the many young healthy families in Dawson through maternity care here. It's truly a place we can practice the full scope of family medicine and I enjoy the interesting and unique problems I get to solve as part of my work here. We are truly under the "spell of the Yukon" and feel so grateful for the sense of community here and the natural landscape around us.

Ben MacInnis (previous local MD, now a locum)

Hometown: Woodstock, NB

MD Queen's University 2005, Residency UBC Kelowna 2007

I have lived and worked in 7 provinces and territories and can honestly say I have not been to a more unique town in Canada than Dawson City - it really is a gem and the fact that it is north of 60 makes it that much more special. The mix of people is part of what makes it so interesting - from the First Nations who have been here for over 10,000 years to the gold miners, artists, tourists, and young families who call it home. In addition to the wonderful community we also benefit from the mountains and rivers that make up the local environment - they provide infinite opportunities for outdoor recreation especially hiking, skiing, mountain biking, and hunting/fishing - it's not an exaggeration to say the wilderness is right out our back door! Working in the hospital and medical clinic you get the benefit of a small and tight knit group of dedicated staff who know the community well and have it's citizens' health as a shared priority. The benefit of not seeing patients in a fee for service model, coupled with the shared care model of our clinic, means that we get the privilege of practising family medicine with a greater focus on the patient's needs - this makes for a very satisfying work life.

Zoe Zimmerman (Previous Local MD)

Hometown: Whitehorse, YT

MD University of British Columbia 2015, Residency UBC Victoria 2017

After a few years of locuming all over BC and the Yukon including many wonderful locum experiences here in Dawson, my partner Adam and I ultimately decided to move to Dawson full time to take on positions as local MDs. The proximity to outdoor activities is such a treat, and I have loved being able to ski, hike, mountain bike, trail run and paddle essentially from our front door! There are few other places where a late night call in rewards you with stunning northern lights and summer gardening under the midnight sun is commonplace. More than just the beauty of the landscape and the outdoor opportunities however, is the incredible medical community which was a real draw for us. It truly is full scope rural family medicine with a wonderful group of collegial and supportive colleagues in all health disciplines. OB was a big part of my practice before moving to Dawson, and I have been fortunate to keep up my OB practice with regular trips to Whitehorse. Despite the Covid pandemic over the last year, the strong sense of community, outdoor recreation, and incredible yearly events calendar has continued to make Dawson such a wonderful place to live!

Adam Pankalla (Previous Local MD)

Hometown: Calgary, AB

MD University of British Columbia 2014, Residency UBC Rural Kelowna Program 2016

It was the activities, recreation and beauty of the area that drew us up here initially, but it was really the amazing community, work environment, support staff and physician colleagues that sealed the deal for us to move here full time. The remote nature of Dawson brings its own challenges at work, but it is this same remoteness that makes the job extremely rewarding; the close relationship with patients, the vast scope of our practice (with a payment model that affords the time necessary for such an increased scope), and the constant fascinating medicine that we manage here locally are just some of the highlights.

Though a small town, Dawson has restaurants, facilities and events comparable to a town many times its size and it has never ceased to amaze us what a great sense of community there is here. Since moving here, we've done some breathtaking hiking and canoeing trips, I can confidently identify plenty of edible (and delicious) mushrooms, and I've finally gotten a (late) start on my NHL career through the local hockey league that has been most accepting of my skill level.