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Dr Elaine Martel, MD, Bsc, LMCC Mrs. Antonietta Flacco Me Frédéric Letendre |
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Julie Salvador |
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I would like to present Dr Elaine Martel to you to help you get to know her, her motives and some events that she has gone through in her life: Above all, Elaine is the mother of an amazing boy who is currently studying kinesiology in Sherbrook. He has definitely inherited some of his fabulous mother’s many talents because he takes his goals seriously. He is involved in various cheerleading teams in Montreal and Sherbrook. It brings her great pride to observe the man that he has become and the person he is. Together they have shared many experiences including outings and various projects, not to mention the countless number of weekends spent at the hockey arena. For this devoted mother, she considers this to be the most beautiful accomplishment of her life and she cherishes these memories! |
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For Elaine, physical activity is a way of life. She often reminds her patients that physical activity will keep them healthy, it increases the chances of a good quality of life as well as longevity. She equally believes that physical activity is more beneficial than many medications! She does not shy away from prescribing physical activity for her patients… She even provides them with calendars to mark their cardiovascular workouts and when she sees their improvements she is very proud of them… She is cooking up a project for them for 2009… For anyone interested, keep a look out for it. It was her love for physical fitness that led her to do a Bachelor in Physical Education at the University of Montreal in 1980. And when I say athlete … she does it all, from basketball to rowing with the rowing team in Boucherville. The only sports she does not practice are parachuting and scuba diving. Elaine is currently a member of a group of runners, Altis, affiliated with the University of Montreal. It is in athletics that Elaine excels, specifically in medium and long distance races. She is very modest about her achievements. She rarely talks about the five times she received medals during athletic competitions in Europe from 2001 to 2005. The events she participated in were the 3000 m track race and the 10 km cross-country (which is her specialty). She also has participated in other local competitions such as the half-marathon in Montreal. It is possible to find Elaine jogging in the streets of her home town; many recognize her as she passes. What a good example she is for her patients… She insists that is her running that keeps her in shape and allows her to accomplish her numerous projects. Elaine has always run and to this day she continues to run… and she can run very fast! |
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After having completed her baccalaureate in physical education, she chose to continue her studies, this time in medicine. She graduated with her medical degree from the University of Montreal in 1986. She then pursued a specialty in gynaecological-obstetrics, a dream that she chose to put aside to build her family. She began her career in medicine in the town of Joliette at the Central Regional Hospital. Originally, she signed a contract as a replacement for six months but she stayed for six years! She contributed many services there in departments including Emergency, hospitalization, the drop-in clinic and even assistant operator in general surgery, as well as office work. This just goes to show that Elaine has many talents. She also spent six years working on an aboriginal reserve. She visited the reserve every two weeks by way of a seaplane: landing on the lake in the summer and on the same lake in the winter with the aid of skis. Would you agree that Elaine also seems to be adventurous? Elaine equally enjoyed her experience at the Foyer Rouselot which is a medical center for long term care in Montreal. She worked there for five years, caring for blind and handicapped patients. It was at this time that she moved to Boucherville and began her practice as a family doctor. Her parents had moved to Boucherville when she was six months old, so for her it was like coming home. She also got involved in a hockey sports-education program at De Mortagne Secondary School in Boucherville, as their medical doctor for seven years. During this period, she worked at various clinics including the Polyclinic Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Adoncour in Longueuil, as well as Plateau Mont-Royal. (It appears that running does give her a lot of energy…) As well as having her own family practice in Boucherville, Elaine has also been working at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital since 2002, in the department of Family Medicine which is associated with the University of Montreal. Elaine supervises residents who are in the process of completing clinical internships in family medicine. It is hard to understand where she finds the time to give lectures on various medical subjects along with facilitating conferences for continuing education in the medical field. |
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| Elaine has been taking singing lessons now for 13 years. The voice lesions are provided by Cécilia Hudon from Chambly. Like many of us, Elaine has always sung in the shower… However, few people have used the stairwells, as Elaine does, to practice their singing. And there are even fewer who have had the chance to perform in their own private concerts! All the same, Elaine had never thought that she would sing in public… It was during her performances at the February 29, 2008 Fundraiser Concert that we quickly sensed and understood her passion for singing. (Many thanks to the designers of stairwells!) | |
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It was in 2007 that Elaine became interested in medical missions abroad. Her desire to volunteer grew and she chose to join a team from Texas with whom she experienced her first mission in La Gloria in Mexico. After reflection, on her return, Elaine decided that she wanted to take concrete action in the spirit of friendship, compassion, and helping one another. Motivated by her experience, she decided to create her own foundation. I would like to share with you here Elaine’s convictions, in her own words: I believe that everyone has the right to have their essential needs met, such as the availability of water, food, shelter, education, and medical care. I would like my patients and people in general, in my neighbourhood and in the world, to have physical and mental health. I believe that together people can mutually help each other. I often say “Life is difficult enough as it is, there is no need to make it more so!” My parents taught me beautiful values: to do good, to help others, and to have compassion. My mother was a nurse and she would say, “With very little we can do a lot!” And even when my son was little he words echoed this sentiment, he would often remark after a project was in motion, “It’s a good start!” This is the way I see things and it is what motivates me to continue my work in this area. It is the amalgamation of many factors that led to the genesis of the Concert Fundraiser of February 29: her competencies in medicine, her desire to help the less fortunate, her passion for singing; her many circle of friends built through her involvement in her area; not to mention a few words of encouragement, “It’s a good start!” The profits from the concert were all donated to The Mission Humanitarian Mission Elaine Martel. It is clear that Elaine has a huge heart, a full life and that she knows how to put her many talents to good use with her abundance of energy. In the name of all those far away in La Gloria, who have benefitted and will continue to benefit from the generosity of this exceptional woman and on behalf of the Humanitarian Mission Elaine Martel we offer Elaine many thanks! And from all those here who have had the chance to know her and have benefitted from her care and advice, and her sensitivity and warmth, again we offer our thanks! I offer a toast, in her honour and wish her all the success she deserves: “To abundance Elaine!” Micheline Vidal Carrière |
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