Doctors Nova Scotia has named its president for 2024-25.

Dr. Gehad Gobran of Bedford was installed during the association’s annual meeting on June 8th.

Born in Egypt, Gobran practiced as a cardiologist there for 12 years.

He moved to Canada in 2003 and first became a clinical associate in cardiology at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.

Gobran has practiced as a family physician at the Duffus Health Centre in Halifax since 2008 and is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Dalhousie University.

He takes shifts in community walk-in clinics and practices at the Newcomer Health Clinic in Halifax and is the medical director for the Sagewood Continuing Care Community in Sackville.

President will continue to focus on stabilizing primary care for Nova Scotians

Dr. Gobran says, “I think we lose sight of how good Nova Scotia’s medical system is when we only focus on the problems. We need to continue to focus on working with our partners to fix the system issues for patients.”

According to a release, Gobran credits his colleagues and the health-care system for saving his life in 2013, when he suffered a serious medical issue as he was leaving a church service.

“Had the paramedics arrived just five minutes later, I would have died,” said Dr. Gobran. He thanks the paramedics and Emergency Health Services system for keeping him alive until he reached the emergency department and his colleagues for treating him.

Gobran appreciates the health-care system, but recognizes it is under considerable strain, with a shortage of family physicians and under-resourced hospital services. “Wait times for certain investigations and surgeries are long. It’s concerning for patients and it’s also concerning for the physicians who are working so hard under these circumstances.”

Also on Saturday, DNS members endorsed Dr. Shelly McNeil as president-elect.

Her term as president will begin in June 2025.