Biography:

Dr. Karen Buhler is family physician, who has been practising in Vancouver for over 30 years, 25 of which were as a full-service GP, and the past 7 years as a specialized focused practice of maternity care. She completed her BSc, MD, and Family Medicine Residency at UBC. She has a strong interest in Quality Improvement, Appreciative Inquiry, interdisciplinary collaboration, and bringing mindfulness meditation practice into maternity care. Karen was instrumental in helping midwifery become regulated in BC. She is a former Head of the Department of Family Practice at BC Women’s Hospital and the Assistant Head Quality prior to that. She founded and continues to lead the Sue Harris Family Practice Research Fund, which provides competitive grants for new researchers in Family Medicine women’s health. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor and regularly teaches at meetings and conferences. She is a member of the Doctors of BC General Practices Service Committee Maternity Working Group and the Vancouver Division of Family Practice Maternity Committee. She has a passion for group prenatal care and leads the Connecting Pregnancy Program at BCWH. Currently she is a co-investigator on a FP resident project to understand family physician knowledge and attitudes about cannabis in pregnancy and lactation. Karen provides care to women for pregnancy, birth and postpartum and as a member of the Perinatal Addictions Service serves substance-using women and their babies. She is married with two adult children and loves to spend time outdoors.