OUR DOCTORS & TEAM
OUR VISION STATEMENT
To provide the most comprehensive patient centered care with preventative health measures as the key element of healthy living.
Dr. Maryam Zeineddin
BSc, MD, CCFP
Dr. Maryam Zeineddin was born in Tehran/ Iran and has lived in Athens, London and Stockholm prior to moving to Vancouver to attend university. She attended UBC and completed her B.Sc. in honors physiology. Her passion for medicine led to volunteering in Honduras with the Canadian Development Agency at a children's hospital. This experience became one of the deciding factors for Dr Zeineddin to become a physician. During her medical school years at UBC, she took advantage of traveling, volunteering and playing intramural sports such as ice hockey . Dr Zeineddin completed two years of family practice residency at the St. Paul's UBC program and started her family practice office the day after the completion of her residency program. Together with her friend and classmate Dr Nicole Barre, they built and currently manage Ambleside Medical Centre.
We both had a vision to create a warm and welcoming family practice clinic, which would be convenient in location for residents of all ages and a place where the staff is extremely friendly, professional and service oriented” explained Dr Zeineddin. Dr Zeineddin has a full practice with interest in all facets of family practice including preventative health and lifestyle counselling. She is an avid teacher and clinical instructor for UBC family practice residency programs and has been faculty for the UBC Coastal program and continues to present and teach to medical students and residents of UBC.
She is married to a local West Vancouver dentist and together with their two children they enjoy skiing, biking, playing tennis and socializing with friends and family. Dr Zeineddin’s new obsession is her road biking and improving her Grand Fondo time and hopefully try to beat her husband one day.
A letter to my patients; please click here.
Dr. Farah Ramji
BSc, MD, MHSc, CCFP
Dr. Farah Ramji completed her Bachelor of Science degree at McMaster University. Her interest in community health and disease prevention lead her to obtain her Masters in Health Sciences in Community Health and Epidemiology from the University of Toronto. Dr. Ramji moved to Vancouver where she obtained her medical degree at the University of British Columbia and completed a Family Medicine Residency.
She has a special interest in women’s health, chronic diseases and the care of the elderly. In addition to her family practice, Dr. Ramji also works at a residential care facility in Vancouver. Dr. Ramji is passionate about comprehensive family medicine including preventative care.
Originally from Toronto, Ontario, Dr. Ramji enjoys outdoor activities and exploring the many scenic areas in Vancouver. When she is not in the office, she looks forward to spending time with her family and friends.
Dr. Hamid Sadri
MD, CCFP
Dr. Sadri has moved.
As of May 2nd Dr. Sadri's new location is:
Persis Clinic
Park Royal Village - Unit J3 -
The Village at Park Royal
604-281-1545
Michelle
Office Manager
Michelle was born in Dawson Creek, BC, a small town in the cold, far north. Her family made their way down to the lower mainland and lived in too many cities to mention but eventually settled on the North Shore when she was thirteen.
She graduated from Carson Graham and had her first job at sixteen doing clerical filing at a travel insurance company. Passing through other odd jobs, she eventually became a licensed insurance agent. Although selling car insurance was enjoyable; she always had a longing to be in healthcare. She landed herself a job working for Dr. Anderson in 2005. Dr. Anderson moved into the Carestation Clinic on Esplanade, and this is where she met Dr. Zeineddin. It was here Dr. Zeineddin said to Michelle, “One day I want you to come and work for me.” As fate would have it, she started working with Dr. Zeineddin and Dr. Barre in April 2009.
In her spare time you'll find her going for walks with her boyfriend and dog, hanging out with her friends and family, and watching the Canucks.
Her patients are like family, and they keep her coming back to work every day with a smile.
Gayla
Nurse Co-ordinator
Gayla was born in Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. She also lived in Saudi Arabia from 2004 to 2008. She was working as a registered nurse in the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. Her speciality is in the medical surgical unit.
She married her husband, Jeffrey, in 2000. They gave birth to their beautiful daughter Finkle Doreen on March 30th, 2002. Finkle has achieved honour roll every year in school. She has also been named Validictorian every year.
Gayla moved to Canada in 2008 to work as a care giver. She had the fortune of becoming a nanny for Dr. Zeineddins family. Gayla being the loving mother she already is, bonded well with the family as they grew.
To Ambleside Medical Centre's luck, Gayla wanted to work in the health care field again. She happily joined the team in July 2013.
Kira
Medical Office Assistant
Dr. Nicole Barre
BSc, MSc, MD, CCFP
Dr. Nicole Barre was born and raised on the North Shore. She attended Westcot Elementary and did her high school at Sentinel. She then went on to study Life Sciences at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. She graduated with a BSc (Honors) in 1998. Next for Dr. Barre was a trip across the pond, and she studied Medical Microbiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London, England. She earned a MSc in 1999. Immediately after completing her Masters Degree, Nicole enrolled at UBC Medical School.
It was during medical school that Dr. Barre developed a passion for family medicine, and after receiving her MD from UBC in 2003, she moved back to Kingston to start a 2 year family medicine residency program. This was a fantastic experience for Dr. Barre, and she had the opportunity to do most of her residency in smaller, rural communities. She even got to spend 2 months in Moose Factory which is on James Bay in Northern Ontario (in January and February- very, very cold)! After graduating with her family medicine certification in 2005, she decided to stay in Ontario and practice for a short time. She worked around much of South Eastern Ontario doing locums in small communities, and then worked for 2 years at Queen's University at the University Health Service.
In spring 2007, she drove her belongings across the country and began her journey back to BC. She took over Dr. Zeineddin's practice for a short time during Dr. Z's maternity leave, and then in August 2007 she decided to open her own practice with Dr. Zeineddin. She also worked part time at UBC Student Health Service. In 2009, Dr. Zeineddin and Dr. Barre opened Ambleside Medical Centre.
When she is not practicing medicine, Dr. Barre spends time with her husband, and 2 young children. She has always been active in sports, and continues to play recreational soccer and ice hockey, as well as golf. She continues to be an avid Canucks fan, and now that she is back from Ontario, she is happy to be watching games at a reasonable hour.
Dr. Jessica Palmer
BSc, MSc, MD, CCFP
Dr. Jessica Palmer could not be happier to be practicing family medicine on the North Shore where she has lived for most of her life. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta but moved to North Vancouver when only a few months old. Dr. Palmer went to UBC for her undergraduate degree in Microbiology, followed by a Masters of Science in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. For several years, she worked at LifeLabs heading their molecular diagnostics department and as a technical consultant on the X-Files. After the birth of her first son, who had a heart transplant at the age of 7 weeks, she decided to switch careers and become a physician. Two more boys and a dog later, she started medical school at UBC in 2010. She recently completed her Family Medicine residency at the new UBC Coastal site based out of Lions Gate Hospital.
Now Dr. Palmer is thrilled to be back at Ambleside Medical Clinic where she trained as a resident. She is keeping very busy as a locum for Dr. Ramji and has happily accepted Dr. Reineking's patients. If not watching her boys play hockey or supporting their mountain bike adventures, Dr. Palmer loves to trail run and hike on the North Shore mountains.
Dr. Joanne Larsen
MD
Dr. Joanne Larsen has retired. Her replacement Dr. Celia Ling-Hu has taken over her practice as is available to book appointments for Dr. Larsen's current patients.
Dr. Anne Marie Thomsen
MD, CCFP
Dr. Thomsen grew up in a small town in Alberta. She was inspired to become a family doctor by a childhood friend’s father who was an amazing individual and dedicated physician. Dr. Thomsen completed her Medical Degree at the University of Alberta in 1990. A highlight of medical school was to receive federal funding for a research project in Papua New Guinea. She completed her first year of family practice residency in Edmonton and then transferred to Dalhousie University in Halifax to pursue a residency in internal medicine.
She met her husband, who was born and raised on the North Shore, while training in Halifax. After one year of internal medicine residency, Dr. Thomsen left to start practicing in rural Nova Scotia and then in the interior of BC before working for a time in rural Oklahoma. In 1996, she returned to the North Shore with her partner to raise their family and practice medicine.
The local mountains have provided a superb setting for Dr. Thomsen to enjoy her love of the outdoors and you may have run in to her hiking, biking or running on the trails. Dr. Thomsen has been practicing on the North Shore for over twenty years and is excited to join the Ambleside Medical Group. Her wish is to continue to provide comprehensive care for her patients in a welcoming environment.
Dawn
Office Manager
Dawn was born and raised in Red Deer, Alberta. She moved to Vancouver Island at the young age of 10 years old. She lived in Perth, Ontario for a few months at age 14 years old. Then back to Alberta for several years. She finally settled in West Vancouver in 2006.
She started working as a manager at Subway. She then decided that she would like to take the Medical Administrative Assistant Diploma at MTI Community College. She took her practicum at Ambleside Medical Centre and then became employed full time in June 2010.
She enjoys her time off by hiking Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver or walking along the seawall near her home in West Vancouver. She also enjoys shopping, watching movies and working out at the gym. She loves children and hopes to start a family sooner or later.
Kira was born and raised in Europe, moved to the states for her education with her family and then started her life in Vancouver, BC in 2017.
In college she studied early childhood education, and truly enjoyed it. However, she really enjoyed seeing what her sister was accomplishing in the health care field and that’s when her interest to work in the health care blossomed.
Kira knew she always wanted to work with people and after she graduated as a Medical Office Assistant she knew this was her calling. Now she feels she works in an amazing and hard working environment where her love to help people in need shines through. And she hopes to keep making people feel more comfortable in their most vulnerable selves.