About us
Ottawa West Travel Medicine is run by a dedicated
group of health professionals with combined
experience of over 60 years in the field.
John O. Lee, M.D., C.C.F.P., F.C.F.P., Certificate in Travel Health, member CATMAT
I am a Family Physician who has been practicing Travel Medicine since 1993. I graduated from the University of Alberta Medical School in 1990 and finished my Family Medicine Training at McGill University in 1992. I worked years of Emergency Medicine and Surgical Assist. I decided to spend 1993-1996 working overseas in Africa. I served as a volunteer doctor with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in Zaire, Rwanda, and Burundi shortly after the Rwanda Massacre. I have also worked with World University Service of Canada, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World Health Organization, and the John Hopkins University School of Epidemiology. I have personally treated malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, amebiasis, giardiasis, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, hepatitis A, B & C, AIDS, tuberculosis, tetanus, measles, meningitis, and polio. I am a member of the Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel (CATMAT) - a national committee of epidemiologists, infection disease specialists and public health leaders who set national policy on travel medicine.
My practical approach is based not only on the current evidence but the experience of having lived, worked, and treated those who have been ill abroad. I continue to maintain a busy family practice but will always make room for Travel Medicine patients. I also maintain privileges at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital doing surgical assist, newborn examinations, and acting as Education Director for the Department of Family Practice. I received my certificate in Family Medicine in 1992 and my Fellowship in the College of Family Physicians of Canada in 2011. I earned a Certificate in Travel Health through the International Society of Travel Medicine in 2003. I have served as a member of CATMAT since 2019.
Tanja Puchala, R.N., B.Sc.N., Certificate in Travel Health
Tanja received her Bachelors in Nursing with Honours at the University of Saskatchewan. She has practised in the field of Travel Health since 1999. She passed her Certificate in Travel Health (CTH) of the International Society of Travel Medicine in 2013. Until the summer of 2011, she worked as a Travel Health Nurse Specialist in Edmonton, Alberta. Tanja also served as President of the Alberta Association of Travel Health Professionals. She is passionate about global health and helping those who have a need or desire to travel abroad.
Growing up in Carrot River, Saskatchewan she learned the value of good insect precautions, avoiding animals with potential rabies, and that injuries and accidents are the number one reason you enter the medical system. She has lived in Japan, backpacked in Southeast Asia, climbed Mt. Fuji, trekked the Inca Trail, camped through Europe, cruised the Caribbean, did a medicinal tour in the Amazon, visited their sponsor child in Calcutta, India, toured Southeast Asia in Vietnam/Cambodia/Japan, did safaris in Botswana and Zimbabwe and most recently did a mission trip to Gambia. Tanja lives to tell you that all travel, big or small, is worth the adventure.
Jackie Levere, R.N., B.Sc.N. and B.Ed., Certificate in Travel Health
Jackie received her Bachelors in Nursing from Trent University in 2005. She also has a Bachelors in Education from Queen’s University. She has been working in Travel Medicine since 2010 - first at the Riverside Travel Medicine Clinic then eventually with Ottawa West Travel Medicine Clinic. She passed her Certificate in Travel Health (CTH) of the International Society of Travel Medicine in 2017. She is passionate about travel and advocating safe adventures.
Jackie grew up in Merrickville, Ontario and caught the travel bug early. While a nursing student, she went on a medical mission to Honduras with Friends of Honduran Children. She has lived in Killarney, Ireland which allowed her to travel around Europe. She has backpacked in Southeast Asia with the highlight being volunteering at an organic farm in Laos where they produced silk. She has kayaked and hiked in New Zealand, trekked around Uluru in Australia and most recently explored the beaches and forests of Costa Rica. She loved of canoe camping and hiking in addition to travel means she is well versed in insect precautions. She most recently visited Mexico, enjoying the culture, crafts and delicious cuisine of Oaxaca, and the old world charm and horseback riding opportunities around San Miguel de Allende.
Contact Us
We’re located on the 2nd floor of the Real Canadian Superstore in Kanata
| Monday: | 8:30 am - 4:00 pm |
|---|---|
| Tuesday: | 8:00 am - 8:00 pm |
| Wednesday: | 8:00 am - 3:00 pm |
| Thursday: | 8:00 am - 8:00 pm |
| Friday: | 8:00 am - 12:00 pm |
