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Jill Konkin. Photo supplied.

When Mark Prins thinks back to the years he’s spent in rural medical education, his thoughts often go to Jill Konkin. “At rural medicine conferences, she was the person to go to if you had any questions about what was happening in rural education,” says Prins, director of the Office of Rural and Regional Health in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. “Every time Jill was introduced, it was always with a significant degree of reverence for her passion and dedication to rural education and medical practice.”

The Faculty is mourning the loss of Konkin, who passed away in mid-July. A respected family physician, educator and passionate advocate, Konkin was a professor in the Department of Family Medicine, where she had worked since 2000, at the time of her passing.   

Konkin grew up in a small town in rural Saskatchewan, and actually began her academic career by pursuing a degree in political science. Later, when she pivoted to medical school at the University of Calgary, she was encouraged to become a surgeon — but she knew that specialization wasn’t for her. “I thought about it a bit, but no, I wanted the full scope,” she recalled in a recent interview with the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada. That desire to serve community members from cradle to grave prompted a move to Ontario, where she completed a master’s in clinical sciences in family medicine at Western University.

Following her move back to Alberta, Konkin served as a rural family physician for 20 years in the mountain town of Jasper and as a regular locum in Fort Chipewyan. 

While she never imagined herself moving into academia, Konkin was one to follow opportunities when they presented themselves — and this turned out to be often, due to her reputation as a passionate advocate and dedicated champion for health, especially rural health care. She was the first associate dean of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and, at the º£½ÇÉçÇø, held the roles of associate dean in both community engagement and rural and regional health. During those years, she helped to establish the rural integrated community clerkship in 2007 and the preclinical networked medical education initiative in 2010, both transformative programs in the training of future family physicians. In a recent interview, the training programs she drove forward — including an Indigenous health rotation implemented in 2015 — were among the career highs she was most proud of and thankful for.

Konkin was instrumental in establishing what is now the Wâpanachakos Indigenous Health Program. “She was a deeply respected leader in medical education and a passionate advocate for equitable care,” says Wayne Clark, executive director of the program. “I am particularly grateful for her visionary leadership in Indigenous health, and her legacy continues to shape and inspire the work we do today.”

Konkin’s commitment to rural generalism and social justice was the foundation of her work. She brought clarity, energy and persistence to her leadership and to the many advisory roles she held. Her impact was felt across the province, the country and internationally. A natural leader and mentor, she was instrumental in advocating for medical education that is grounded in community and in improving care in underserved areas. “I’ve always been someone who was willing to speak up when others don’t,” she said, a quality that all who knew her admired. 

And that group is broad and varied. Konkin valued relationship and connection, in many ways especially with those who brought different perspectives from her own. These values led to decades-long collaboration with colleagues such as Paul Humphries, a fellow family physician and member of the Department of Family Medicine. As Humphries fondly recalls, “Her passion for medical generalism in rural settings matched my commitment to similar goals,” and they worked together in medical education for nearly 30 years. “I will miss most her persistent style and energy, which has been so effective on education and justice-related issues provincially, nationally and internationally,” says Humphries. This passion and her vision helped shape the way medical learners are trained and the careers of many in the Faculty.

When he thinks of how Konkin influenced his own career path, Prins remembers not just her work in rural health and education, but also what he calls her “clinical courage” and commitment to social justice. “Her ability to communicate links between guiding values and institutional outcomes has had a direct and lasting impact on my own set of guiding values,” he says. It’s safe to say that the strong guiding principles that lit her way now also light the way for countless medical students and practising physicians whose paths were shaped by her tireless work.

While her legacy can be felt in the many successful programs she launched and the next generation of passionate rural doctors, to Prins there is also a more intangible legacy — “all the programs and relationships she leaves behind are inspired by justice and courage.” And, to the many students whose lives she touched, the advice she gave in a recent interview is another powerful legacy: “If opportunities come along, grab them!”