Dr. Martina Kelly (she/her) 

Dr. Martina Kelly is a Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Community Health Sciences and a practising family physician. Originally from Ireland, she studied medicine at University College Dublin and worked at University College Cork before moving to Canada. She completed her PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, where she explored the role of touch in medical education.

Dr. Kelly has held a range of undergraduate and postgraduate leadership roles and is passionate about teaching, mentorship, and faculty development. Her research uses qualitative and interpretive methodologies, particularly phenomenology and hermeneutics, to explore how healthcare is experienced and understood. She is especially interested in doctor–patient relationships and nonverbal forms of communication, including embodiment, touch, presence, empathy, and silence. Her work also draws on arts-based approaches to foster more humane, relational, and reflective healthcare and health professions education.