Dr. Loredana Di Santo is a family physician who has been practicing in Maple, Ontario for 20 years. After running her own practice for 18 years, she transitioned into a role at Mackenzie Health’s Family Health Navigation Clinic, which supports unattached patients by providing transitional care after emergency visits and helping connect them with community family physicians. She works across the organization’s two-site model—Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital and Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital—while continuing to contribute to her original clinic in a locum capacity.
Q: How did your involvement with the Foundation begin?
I first became involved with FMPE early in my career, when I was part of a small group that frequently received invitations to join Foundation roundtables. At that time, one of those opportunities caught my attention, and I decided to participate.
I found the discussions stimulating, collaborative, and educational. Over time, the Foundation team became familiar with my work and perspective, and eventually invited me to join as a module author in 2012. The evolution felt natural—each role building on the next and deepening my connection to the work.
Q: How would you describe your role as a module author?
When the Foundation identifies new topics, they reach out to authors to lead the development of specific modules. I tend to select topics I’ve encountered in practice and that also spark my curiosity. I want to bring meaningful experience to the module, but also stretch my own learning—and that combination helps me step into the process with clarity about where the practice gaps are, both for myself and for other clinicians.
We begin by forming a core writing team, reviewing the topic, and identifying the major challenges clinicians face. I draw on real patient cases to anchor the discussion and frame the learning objectives.
Once the initial structure is drafted, we move to roundtable discussions with physicians from across the country. These conversations are invaluable: they help us test whether the cases feel realistic, whether the challenges resonate with daily practice, and whether we are addressing the questions clinicians truly grapple with.
Afterward, I refine the cases using all the insights gathered, while the medical writer brings forward the evidence—from diagnostic pathways to treatment strategies, including pharmacological and non-pharmacological care. The editor on our team ensures accuracy and evidence-based rigour. Our goal is always the same: a module that is grounded in evidence yet practical enough for clinicians to take directly into their practice.
We want members to walk away with a clearer sense of where their knowledge gaps are, where their strengths lie, and what evidence-based approaches they can adopt to enhance patient care.
Q: Can you share a favourite module you’ve worked on?
One of my favourites was the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease module, which I authored in 2019. At the time, it was still a relatively new area for many clinicians, and there were limited resources to guide primary care management.
Our challenge was to create an approach that would help physicians quickly and confidently identify which patients were low, intermediate, or high risk—and understand appropriate next steps for each group.
Developing that clinical pathway from the ground up was both challenging and exciting. We built it case by case, carefully layering in evidence and shaping it through roundtable feedback.
The result was a truly practical tool that helped clinicians understand how to think about the condition, how to prioritize risks, and how to manage patients in a structured and evidence-based way. Of course, things have evolved quite a bit since that module was written, but that kind of creative, solutions-focused work is one of the aspects of authoring I enjoy most.
Looking ahead, I’m also excited about how AI could support module development—helping us maintain strong evidence foundations while streamlining some of the work involved in gathering, synthesizing, and presenting clinical information, and even assisting in the creation of practical tools that clinicians can use at the point of care.
Q: What makes the module development team special to work with?
One of the things I value most about being an author is the collaborative environment. Every module brings together a medical writer, an author, and an editor, and we support each other throughout the entire process.
There’s never a sense of working alone—if a challenge comes up, we tackle it together, each bringing our strengths to the table. The team is thoughtful, engaged, and fully committed to producing high-quality modules that will make a difference for clinicians and their patients.
It’s an environment built on mutual respect, shared purpose, and genuine enthusiasm for the work. That combination makes every project not just productive, but truly rewarding.