Celebrating Dr. Paula Renee Fayerman z”l

By Sandy Fayerman

(Calgary) – Dr. Paula Fayerman, of blessed memory, was a physician, musician, campus radio den mother, spiritual practician, lover of life, mentor to many and innovative, mix-it-up conjurer of entrancing musical experiments. She loved music, medicine and enlivening the community through volunteering.

Paula passed away on Thursday, February 15, 2024, at the age of 59 years. She left an indelible mark on the lives of those she touched as a physician, a member of the yoga and meditation community, a pioneer of integrative medicine, and a valued innovator of the creative arts. She empowered people simply by her true dedication and love for life. The best of us wants to do for others as we do for ourselves; it’s a filament that helps us burn brighter. Paula Fayerman was that kind of person.

Paula’s primary familial relationship was with her partner Doug Harkness, with whom she shared her life for 39 years. She was the only child of parents, Jack and Mildred, and was raised largely by her father and her grandfather Abe, who came from Russia and settled in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan with his other brothers.

Throughout her life Paula had twenty second cousins. She connected with each one in her own incredible “Paula” way. She would walk into a room with any of her family members and light the place up. She had such an aura about her, with those cute dimples in her cheeks, her big brown eyes and her magnificent white thick hair (a testament to the Fayerman men’s genes) and of course, her boho fashionista flair for gorgeous clothes, scarves and shoes. Her cousins savoured and loved hearing about her adventures in traveling the world, always willing to share little snippets of stories. She was ever so humble about her accomplishments, but she had a zest for life and lived it to the fullest.

Paula studied medicine at the University of Calgary, after finishing her Bachelor of Science degree in 1985. She went on to complete her Doctor of Medicine in 1989 and did her Family Medicine residency at the U of C – Foothills Hospital. Her professional work was practiced at public health clinics including Mount Royal College, Alexandra Community Centre Youth Clinic and, most enduringly, Alberta Health Services Sexual and Reproductive Health. At the Sexual and Reproductive Health Clinic, Paula had a huge impact on the lives of her patients and colleagues with her grace, wisdom and soft approach. She brought a high level of compassion into her care of patients, and as well as being a fierce advocate for patients and for human rights.

This compassionate intention was fed by her lifelong engagement with alternative methods of wellbeing and health. These included yoga, meditation, somatics, psychotherapy and energy medicine. Paula’s spiritual practice was bedrock to her life. During the final months of her life, Paula truly embodied the lifetime of seeking that she had pursued. Years of dedicated practice to Loving Kindness and Compassionate Being, meditation had become a part of Paula’s essence and became an inner resource that nourished her and her loved ones though the journey of her passing.

She was a Fellow of the University of Arizona’s Program in Integrative Medicine. More recently, she began teaching in this field, with a particular focus on trauma-informed therapy.

As if she wasn’t busy enough, Paula wrote an unpublished memoir called “Both at The Same Time,” which she described as “a personal memoir of a doctor’s transformative personal experience and her audacious attempt to solve the unsolvable questions about the nature of healing and what it means to be human.” As with all else, her spiritual path embraced wide-ranging learning about open-minded and psychologically oriented philosophies.

As a radio broadcaster and supporter of the music scene, Paula hosted the NOISE music show at CJSW for over thirty years. She established the Calgary Music Festival’s medical tent in the late 1990s and ran it for more than 25 years, co-ordinating other doctors and nurses and annually serving a daily audience of 13,000 over four days. When she wasn’t at the tent, she was helping others discover new bands, always finding some time to flat-out dance, too. “We can all learn from Paula’s well-roundedness, which was so important to her as a devoted volunteer, talented healer, music lover, traveller, innovator, and lifelong learner,” says Festival artistic director Kerry Clarke, a close friend for more than 30 years. “The Folk Festival medical tent was a marriage of her three loves — medicine, music and community.”

Paula, who was so often a transformative force for others, could eagerly morph herself from healer to an in-the-moment musician when opportunities arose. Her healthy lifestyle also encompassed hiking and skiing in the mountains with friends, and she deeply appreciated nature in all its fine detail. Her dedication to life was so empowering and her energy for all things was simply remarkable. May she now rest in peace, knowing that she has left a very impactful and memorable legacy to all those who had the fortune of knowing her and loving her.