AROGA - Key Persons
Amar has a vision for healthcare where medication and surgery takes a back seat to evidence-based lifestyle change, where curing rather than coping with chronic disease is the goal, and where technology empowers physicians and healthcare practitioners to focus on helping their patients. It's a reimagination of health care where Canadians are truly supported to become the best versions of themselves. By providing access to clinicians who are not only providers of care, but partners in wellness, patients are able to take control of their health and ultimately live better lives.
Amar grew up in Montreal where he completed a bachelor of commerce at Concordia University. In 2016, he moved to Victoria where he is now a hands-on dad to three beautiful baby girls and holds the hand of his true soul mate on this journey called life. He has a natural talent for supporting people to produce their best work, creating momentum towards progress, and finding the right people for the job. He is a born leader and inspires others with his contagious energy. His style of leadership comes naturally through a strong conviction for Aroga's mission, leading by example, and attracting team members that share the same values. Amar started his professional career at Accenture, where he gained invaluable experience working as a global management consultant. Since then, he has continued to refine his business acumen with over a decade of founding and developing multiple start-ups. He has now applied his skillset to co-found a scalable model of lifestyle medicine within the Canadian healthcare ecosystem that brings the root causes of disease to the forefront of the conversation for both patients and their doctors. With this model, Aroga's health professionals are creating a wellness movement across Canada that is turning the needle for not only overall health and wellness but overall happiness and joy, too. As Aroga expands its reach, Canadians are getting a second chance at life, becoming their healthiest selves, and inspiring others with their results. It's this kind of positive change that motivates Amar to serve his team and provide leadership that helps everyone achieve their best work.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Counsellor
- Registered Clinical Counsellor
Bernadette is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Registered Psychotherapist who works in private practice as well as part of a multidisciplinary team at Aroga. She grew up in Victoria and originally studied biochemistry at UVic. This led to her first career in clinical research with a small biotech company in Calgary, Alberta. She later transitioned to the sales side of biotech/pharmaceuticals which lasted for two decades and brought her to Vancouver, BC. After this, Bernadette decided to change directions to focus on a career that would involve more direct contact with patients. This transition started while she was still in Vancouver. She finished her studies and gained practical experience while living overseas in Abu Dhabi. Bernadette believes that inside of us all, we have the tools necessary to make the changes that can lead to a life that is best suited to achieve our own life goals. Her goal is to help people find those tools. Bernadette loves getting out in nature with her family and tiny dog.
Inspired to make a difference? We're always looking to grow and work with new people. Come join our team.
Job Titles:
- Health Coach & Registered Dietitian
Debbie obtained her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Toronto, York University (Schulich School of Business) and Ryerson University. Prior to her journey into food and nutrition, Debbie was a successful investment professional. She left her lucrative career in investment to become a registered dietitian because of her deep desire to empower people to add years to life and life to years through dietary and other lifestyle modifications. At Ryerson's School of Nutrition, her knowledge and passion about whole-food plant-based nutrition was noticed by nutrition professors and she was invited to contribute to academic research.
After being clinically trained at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre's dietetic internship program, Debbie established her career as a clinical dietitian in a heart rehab centre and in hospital-based nutrition-related clinical research. She also helped patients in her private practice to appreciate the joy, cost-effectiveness and healing power of whole-food plant-based eating. She has continued to enhance her nutrition knowledge and counselling skills through courses and conferences, including the International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine in 2019 and 2020.
Debbie speaks English and Cantonese. Being a strong believer in giving back, she volunteers as a dietitian for several charitable organizations to help raise food and nutrition literacy among the general population. In addition, she has been invited by the Canadian Liver Foundation (CLF), UHN (in a joint project with the CLF), and several community groups to speak about various health and nutrition topics. When not serving clients at Aroga or not volunteering her dietetic skills, Debbie is busy helping to rescue abused or abandoned animals.
Job Titles:
- Health Coach & Registered Dietitian
Dominique grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba where she completed her Bachelor of Science in Human Nutritional Sciences with distinction at the University of Manitoba and her dietetic internship with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. She started her career working in long-term care before moving to Victoria in 2018 where she worked as an acute care clinic dietitian with Island Health before joining Aroga. She has a passion for whole food, plant-based nutrition and empowering others on their journey towards optimal health and wellbeing. When not serving clients at Aroga, you can find Dominique in her kitchen testing new recipes, at the gym or hiking, making homemade greeting cards or virtually connecting with her family (and her brother's dog) in Winnipeg.
Job Titles:
- Consultant in General Pediatrics
Dr Marie-Claude Grégoire is a consultant in General Pediatrics, and is fellowship trained in pediatric pain and palliative medicine. She shares her time between her pediatric practice at Aroga Lifestyle Medicine and subspecialty work at BC Children's hospital. Marie-Claude completed medical school and her residency at Université de Montréal, then moved to Halifax for her fellowship and early career. Not to miss out on the West Coast, she moved to Victoria in 2019. Joining the Aroga team gave Dr Grégoire the opportunity to combine her personal passion for a healthy lifestyle and her medical practice. MC, as she is known here, wears many hats, including International Triathlon technical official and journalist. When she is not working, you will find her running, hiking or cycling and enjoying beautiful Vancouver Island with her family. Marie-Claude offre aussi des consultations médicales en français.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Internal Medicine
- Specialist
Dr David Burgess is a consultant specialist in General Internal Medicine, graduating from medical school in 2012. Originally hailing from Victoria, he has trained and taught all over the world including University College Cork (Ireland), Springfield (MA, USA), and Philadelphia (PA, USA). He returned home to Vancouver Island in 2016 to raise his family and care for the community he calls home. He has an interest in modernizing delivery of healthcare, consulting on the transition to electronic records at major Island Health hospitals. He is family oriented and enjoys the outdoors, you'll find him on the trails in the summer and on mountain snow in the winter.
Job Titles:
- Specialist in Physical Medicine
Dr. Gillian Simonett is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (also known as physiatry). She obtained her undergraduate degree at McGill with a focus on Health Psychology. After medical school, she completed her specialty training at University of British Columbia. She has worked at GF Strong Rehabilitation program in Vancouver B.C. and Foothills Hospital, Calgary AB. Her clinical experience has included spinal cord injury, acquired brain injury, neuromuscular and musculoskeletal medicine. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation focuses on enhancing and restoring functional ability and quality of life for those living with a variety of impairments. She is thrilled to be working with other health care professionals who share a focus on lifestyle factors to help optimize health. Born and raised in BC, she can be found on the ocean in the summer and the mountains in the winter.
Job Titles:
- Endocrinology & Metabolism
Dr. Ian Gillespie is a consultant psychiatrist, with a practice in his hometown of Victoria since completing specialty training at UBC and Mayo Clinic. Ian has a passion for health promotion and is delighted to join a clinical team of like-minded health professionals. With continuing education in Lifestyle Medicine since 2013, he was among the first 7 physicians in Canada to earn ABLM diplomate certification in the 2017 inaugural examination. His role at Aroga is to provide consultation services to the team and assessments focusing on the role of how Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), ADHD, and/or PTSD may contribute to the chronic illnesses that folks coming here may have experienced. Also, to provide compassionate Motivational Interviewing concepts, CHIP training principles, and current information about the evolving field of Lifestyle Psychiatry treatment. Ian enjoys swimming (including competing in Open Water races), a home workshop, and photography.
Dr. Islam Hassan is a consultant psychiatrist based in Vancouver, who is board-certified in both Psychiatry (Royal College of Physicians of Canada) and Lifestyle Medicine (American Board of Lifestyle Medicine).
He developed a passion for Lifestyle Medicine through his personal experience of its benefits in enhancing overall well-being, and joined Aroga after completing accredited specialty training in this field. Dr. Hassan is particularly passionate about the combination of Lifestyle Medicine principles with psychotherapy techniques. He is inspired by setting a higher goal of treatment: not only recovery from symptoms to the point of ‘breaking even', but progress beyond that into making positive gains. Dr. Hassan finds it exceptionally rewarding to share his patients' excitement as they experience "everything coming together", with enhancement across the domains of stress reduction, physical activity, nutrition, and overall quality of life.
In addition to the above, Dr. Hassan holds qualifications in Internal Medicine (Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of the UK), Neuropsychiatry (Diplomate of the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties) and Electroencephalography (Diplomate of the Canadian Society of Clinical Neurophysiologists). He is a consultant neuropsychiatrist on the inpatient unit of the province-wide BC Neuropsychiatry Program at UBC Hospital in Vancouver. He is also heavily involved in teaching medical students, psychiatry and neurology residents, and neuropsychiatry fellows - and is a Clinical Associate Professor at UBC.
Beyond the practice of medicine, he enjoys regular exercise, with a combination of cardio and weight training, and has maintained a lifelong passion for travel and learning languages, with a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics.
Dr Jade Dittaro is the first of hopefully many lifestyle medicine physicians in the Okanagan. She is a diplomat of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine and has a certification in plant-based nutrition from eCornell University. She has not only reviewed the evidence, but experienced personally the benefits of a whole food plant-based diet, and truly sees its potential to revolutionize our idea of "healthcare".
Job Titles:
- Chief Medical Office, Co - Founder
Dr. Jasdeep Saluja has studied medicine long enough to have reached a fundamental conclusion - that your health outcomes are predictable based on having the right tools and the right guidance. As your doctor, Jasdeep brings his innovative, people-first approach, and matches it with evidence-based and science-backed facts to help you live the life he knows you deserve. When he co-founded Aroga Lifestyle Medicine, he did it to provide programmatic, repeatable, and sustainable approaches for people to live their lives optimally, regardless of stressors and externalities. With that vision, he focusses on meaningfully connecting with his patients, guided by the fundamental underlying belief that patients have everything they need within them in order to lead healthy, positive lives.
Jenna is originally from Nova Scotia, but transplanted to British Columbia after moving to complete her residency training in Family Medicine in 2012. She is a physician who believes in a holistic approach to healthcare. She is committed to helping others (and herself) live more vibrantly, and enjoys learning about the many ways to heal and optimize one's health. This led her to gain additional training in Functional Medicine, Acupuncture, Somatics, Mindfulness, Compassionate Inquiry Therapy and other wellness modalities. She has respect for ancient and alternative health systems, and is curious about bringing elements of these to conventional medicine in a balanced way, focusing on what is evidence based and safe. Yoga is one of her main passions, and she is excited to deliver therapeutic yoga to patients. She is also a foodie and a nature lover, often found roaming the coastline or mountains.
Dr. Jennifer Purdy, CD, MD, CCFP, DipABLM, is a family medicine physician practising Lifestyle Medicine in Ottawa. She attended the Royal Military College of Canada, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1998. She obtained her Medical Degree from University of Ottawa in 2008, and completed her residency in Family Medicine at University of Ottawa in 2010. In February 2018, she retired from the Canadian Armed Forces, having served over 23 years. She opened the first Lifestyle Medicine clinic in Ottawa, Ottawa Lifestyle Medicine.
Dr. Purdy first heard about the link between food and health at a chronic pain conference in Ottawa in early 2011. Later that year she was posted to Petawawa, Ontario, and began seeing many soldiers with chronic pain. Looking for resources about diet, she stumbled on Dr. Neal Barnard's book "Foods That Fight Pain," and then "Forks Over Knives," and that was the moment that she knew she had to change how she practised medicine.
Dr. Purdy has the Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell, is board-certified in Lifestyle Medicine, and is a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
Josh is a Family Medicine physician in Victoria BC on a quest to understand health and fitness. His educational path began in 1998 as an undergrad in religious studies and philosophy at UBC, continued through post-graduate studies in biochemistry, and culminated in graduating from McGill in family medicine. Josh started off working in northern BC and Manitoba as a locum, where he learned the ropes of acute care medicine, and got acquainted with the beauty of rural Canada. Since then, he's undertaken coursework in nutrition and earned a diploma with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Josh is most inspired when he is found engaging with his patients in healthy lifestyle change, and helping them make informed choices about the risks and benefits of medical interventions. In his free time, Josh coaches and competes at a Master's level in weightlifting, practices yoga and mindfulness, and loves being out in nature.
Dr. McLean is originally from the prairies, where she attended the University of Saskatchewan for undergraduate studies, medical school, and internal medicine residency and then moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to complete a combined fellowship in respirology and critical care. In 1999 she relocated, with her husband, to the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, BC, where she has lived and worked ever since. She practiced internal medicine, respirology and critical care in Duncan and Victoria for 13 years before making the decision to do some more training and pursue an interest in sleep medicine in 2012. Since then, she has been working as a consultant physician in sleep disorders. Laura has experienced the benefits of sleep, fitness, plant-based nutrition, and mindfulness meditation in her own life, and she likes to share this with her patients, who also have taught her a lot over the years. In 2021 she had the opportunity to join the Aroga clinic as a sleep specialist, and she is excited to have become part of a team of health professionals who are passionate about empowering patients to live their best lives. When she is not at work, Laura enjoys hanging out with her family, cycling with friends, running, boating, cooking, and learning to play bass guitar.
Maria E. Theodorou MD PhD FRCPC is an Internal Medicine specialist with a passion for empowering patients to take charge of their own health. After spending many years on the medical wards and in the ICU treating patients with the end stages of lifestyle related disease, Dr. Theodorou became motivated to focus on the prevention and reversal of chronic disease through intensive lifestyle intervention, including evidence-based nutrition, physical activity, stress management, and social connectedness. In 2017, she was amongst only a handful of physicians in Canada to be awarded certification in Lifestyle Medicine by the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine, and subsequently launched an Internal Medicine/Lifestyle Medicine practice in Kingston, ON. She joined the team at Revive Lifestyle Medicine in 2019, and is excited to provide both in-person and telemedicine consultation in this multidisciplinary team setting.
Dr. Theodorou is a passionate teacher and mentor who is helping to lead the paradigm shift in medical education in Canada. As resident preceptor, and Faculty Advisor to the Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group at Queen's University, she is working to introduce nutrition and lifestyle medicine to the teaching of medical students and residents, and advocates for their inclusion in the medical curricula. At the beside, she helps learners to identify and treat the root cause of illness, rather than simply managing the symptoms of chronic disease, and emphasizes the importance of physicians leading by example in the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors
For over 16 years, Dr. Theodorou practiced both Internal Medicine and Critical Care at Quinte Health Care Corporation in Belleville, ON, where she served as Chief of Department of Medicine and Critical Care, and was instrumental in launching a Critical Care program. She continues to locum in the acute care setting, but her focus has now shifted to the teaching and practice of Lifestyle Medicine.
Dr. Theodorou obtained her PhD in Plant Biochemistry from Queen's University, and post-doctoral fellowship in Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford. She subsequently completed medical school at the University of Toronto, and her Residency in Internal Medicine at Queen's University. She resides in beautiful Kingston, Ontario, Canada, where she enjoys running, tennis, bodybuilding and spending time with family and friends.
Dr. Theodorou is licensed to practice medicine in Ontario and British Columbia.
Born and raised in Edmonton, A.B., Dr. Nicole Pewarchuk grew up camping, spending time outdoors and swimming. She loved being in the pool and spent a significant amount of her teenage year's training and competing in both National level synchronized swimming and waterpolo. She received her Bachelor degree with Honors in Physiology from the University of Alberta in 2005. She graduated from Medical school for the University of Alberta in 2009 and became a certificant of the College of Family Medicine in 2011. Dr. Nicole Pewarchuk has had a full service family practice in Victoria since 2013. She developed a special interest in Lifestyle Medicine in 2015 and has since attended numerous lifestyle medicine conferences and became a diplomate of the American Board of Lifestyle medicine in 2019. She is passionate about building relationships with patients and empowering them to prevent and reverse disease with lifestyle.
Job Titles:
- Internal Medicine Specialist
Dr. Riley Hicks is an Internal Medicine Specialist living in Victoria. Riley was born and raised in rural Northern BC, which allowed him to have a unique understanding of health and medicine throughout the province. He completed his medical training at UBC. Riley is passionate about using lifestyle measures to promote health, while recognizing the balance with individual needs. He is interested in preventative medicine, hypertension and diabetes. Outside of the clinic, Riley can be found resistant weight training, hiking with his dogs, or biking. He is also passionate about making high quality food with healthy ingredients.
Born in Montreal and raised in Saskatchewan, Dr. Sharp completed his undergraduate training in English literature and biology prior to graduating with his medical degree from the University of Saskatchewan. He returned to Montréal to complete his postgraduate training in Family Practice at McGill University. He became interested in preventative medicine and plant-based nutrition after stumbling upon T. Colin Campbells ‘ The China Study' and taking Dr. Campbell's course in plant-based nutrition. The rest as they say "is history".
Tom worked as a family physician and hospitalist in Manitoba. Now living and practicing in Vancouver, he has a special focus on plant-based nutrition, meditation, and sleep after experiencing first-hand how changes in these areas improve health.
Job Titles:
- Patient Experience Manager
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Medical Director
- Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine With the University of British Columbia
Jesse A. Pewarchuk co-founded Aroga Lifestyle Medicine in 2017 after a long journey culminating in realizing the immense power of lifestyle change as medicine. He delights in relating his own story of how the principles of lifestyle medicine have transformed his own health and scores of others.
Raised in Victoria BC, Jesse attended medical school at the University of Alberta, graduating on the Dean's Honor List in 2006. He completed his General Internal Medicine residency and fellowship in 2010. Jesse went on to become Chief of Internal Medicine for Victoria General and Royal Jubilee Hospitals, holding the position for 4 years during which he reorganized and expanded the department. Today, he remains the Medical Director of the Island Health Bariatric Clinic, allowing him to be involved in the full spectrum of obesity care - from lifestyle to medication to surgery.
Jesse has never fit in the mould of a typical physician, better fitting the archetype of a tech entrepreneur. He was involved in the development of advanced telemedicine from an early stage, playing a key role in the development of ConsultDerm, and later co-founding Medeo Corp. Medeo became the first distributed telemedicine provider in Canada and hosted the country's first unrestricted virtual care clinic before merging with QHR Corp prior to being bought by Loblaws Inc in 2014.
Jesse is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine with the University of British Columbia. He teaches medical trainees at all stages, lectures regularly at medical conferences and to the public. In addition to his board certification in Canada, he is double board certified in the United States by the American Board of Obesity Medicine and the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine.
In 2009, Jesse married Nicole who is his co-dreamer, soulmate and inspiration. Today, they have 3 children, a golden retriever and a large vegetable garden which provides him his sustenance as he continues to strive to transform how medicine is defined in his community, nation and the world beyond.
Ravneet was born and raised in Victoria BC and complete her cardiology technology diploma at the BC Institute of Technology. In her free time outside of work, she enjoys adorning brides with henna for their big day. She is also a huge Star Wars and Marvel nerd and loves the mission impossible series or any other good action movie. She also loves sewing, gardening, or playing with her puppy, Milo.
Job Titles:
- Health Coach & Registered Dietitian
- Registered Dietitian
Sarah is a Registered Dietitian with a professional philosophy of providing supportive guidance that helps people manage their health conditions through small, sustainable changes to their diet. She feels the main way to do this is through delicious food! Prior to joining the team at Aroga, Sarah worked as a dietitian in a grocery store where she was able to teach cooking classes and workshops to people living with chronic disease and digestive health issues. She loves this hands-on approach to food and is passionate about helping you find simple ways to include nutritious foods into your everyday life. When she is not working you will find her in the kitchen with her oldest daughter, or out and about exploring the trails and beaches on Vancouver Island.
Sarah grew up north of Toronto, Ontario and has just recently moved to beautiful Victoria with her husband and two girls. On her path to becoming a Registered Dietitian, she completed her Bachelor of Science in Food and Nutrition at Western University, and her Masters of Health Science in Nutrition Communication at Ryerson University. Prior to this she worked as a personal trainer and fitness instructor while completing her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. She has also worked as a Certified Craving Change Clinician helping others to understand how their thoughts and feelings affect their eating behaviours, and helping people to better manage these eating triggers to shift toward a healthier relationship with food.