You can’t know everything, just accept it. There’s always more to learn, which is the greatest part about life.
Born and raised in Pierrefonds, on the West Island of Montreal, QC, Julia Phillipp is 27 years old and studying Medicine in the Class of 2024.
Describe yourself in one sentence.
Quirky, fierce and fun-sized.
I’m a very excitable person, and though it is certainly a slight generalization and maybe it is just me, but small people tend to be louder! I get intense about certain things, and I love to laugh, so I chose the word “quirky.”
Tell us about your journey to med school.
I guess my journey could be considered untraditional. I’ll start from CEGEP. I went to John Abbott and studied in the sciences. From there, I kind of had an idea that I wanted to do medicine but I wasn’t too sure. Research also sounded super cool too but I hadn’t yet had much experience. I applied to both McGill and Concordia for their anatomy and cell biology programs but didn’t make it into McGill’s program at the time. I did, however, get into Concordia’s program for cell and molecular biology. The same year, I was also interviewed for science college, which is a minor program in multidisciplinary studies in science. It turned out to be this really awesome minor that I took on and that opened many doors for me in terms of research and networking with supervisors. I finally had a chance to experience the research process and I did a bunch of it [in the fields of] biochemistry, doing plant-related work, synthetic biology through a student-led project [featured] in an international competition, cell cycle research, cardiovascular pathology, and psychosocial oncology. Truly many different areas. But I realized something was missing, and that was the social aspect. I was able to perceive the impact that research can have but it wasn’t as direct as I’d hoped.
I also had some family members who had undergone some medical treatment at the same time. It was hard to watch that happen and [feel like a] bystander. I wanted to do something more. I started volunteering, [more specifically], I volunteered with cancer patients in my psychosocial research. It was great to be able to talk to them and socially support them. But I wanted to become even more involved. I took time off school and instead of jumping into a Masters and directly applying to medical school afterwards, I decided to do some work in a clinical field. I started to do medical scribe work at the Jewish General Hospital Emergency Department to get a feel for whether medicine was something I wanted to do. And I really loved it; it was an amazing experience. I also did some medical receptionist work at a local clinic to see how General Practitioners function as well as Physician Assistant work in a pediatric clinic. I had a very fulfilling set of experiences in several aspects of medicine. All of those life experiences brought me to where I am today!
What has been your most impactful or memorable experience since starting medical school?
It is early to say for me, but since last year, club experiences and meeting all of you have been the most memorable for me. Being able to go to MedGames and getting involved turned out to be really awesome! It is really the people that have made my experience so memorable.
In your opinion, what has been the most impactful discovery in medicine or dentistry?
Honestly, the first thing that came to my mind was 1816 … the invention of the stethoscope. But [jokes aside], I would either say imaging or immunotherapy. Imaging is honestly something that I didn’t really realize was so important before medical school. My Osler fellow is a radiologist and he spoke a lot about it and I realized that in every aspect of every block, there’s always imaging. Without it, medicine would be completely different. It’s essential to every single medical specialty. Then there is also immunotherapy. It is new and it was created in the 1970s. It is a neat [approach] that acts endogenously instead of exogenously by harnessing our own functions to treat ourselves. There is a lot to be developed there and extends into the budding field of stem cell research in its use of our own bodies to heal ourselves.
What is something little known about you?
The first thing I thought of is that I adore hard rock music. And I absolutely enjoy horror movies and everything related to horror. [For example,] I am enthralled with all things spooky and the idea of visiting haunted houses. When I find someone who’s also into those things, I really connect with them.
What is one experience that you have had that you feel others can learn from?
I won’t get too much into the details as it is a bit personal to me, but I fell ill in 2017; it was quite sudden. It was really scary because one day I was fine and the next day I wasn’t. It just happened quite quickly. Everything turned out to be fine, and it was dealt with efficiently. However, afterwards, I reflected and realized that wow, things can change so fast. You may not have the time to put things together and find closure. It made me realize that if there's something you really wanna do, do it now. Take the time and make time for those things in your schedule, even if you’re super busy. The people you love and the passions you have, you should make time for these things. Because you never know when life may change quickly. Life is really short, so enjoy the time you have when you can.
What is something you wish you knew before entering Med/Dent school?
I wish someone would have told me that medical school is not just about studying, that there are so many opportunities and so much going on outside of [it] that is important in building you as a person and a future physician. Take note of those opportunities and prepare yourself to get involved by taking on more responsibility than you had initially thought you would so early in your academic path. Med school is a lot more than an undergraduate degree, it really affects many aspects of your life. Get the most out of your experience. There are lots of opportunities to shadow, to explore new fields that you didn’t know existed, and to take on new roles. But also [try to] find a healthy balance. Relax before you get started and don’t overpack your schedule. Don’t feel bad if you can’t make that night out, if you don’t get to go to that talk, or if you just need the time to relax. Don’t feel guilty [if you don’t always] do every single thing and fill every minute of your day. Other than that, I would have liked to know how to best organize myself. Major tip, make sure not to fall behind!
Do you have any advice you would like to give to future cohorts of medical/dental students?
There are a few things I think are important. I think one thing that a lot of people struggle with and I know that I did, was that initial shock of “what’s going on”. It’s a whole new system, a whole new schedule, and just getting used to that can be overwhelming at first. Like anything else, when you start a new program, it’s normal to feel this way. I also think that knowing how things work helps a lot. If there was any way to introduce the schedule earlier to students, that would have helped ease people more into structuring their life around academia and extracurriculars and finding a healthy balance. But also knowing what’s important and where to prioritize and spend more of your time - finding what’s more essential - is very helpful. Taking breaks is essential. Don’t tell yourself, “Oh I’ll take one eventually, but wait a minute, I don’t have time because I have to study.” Taking time for breaks is very important and can sometimes be even more important than studying. At the end of the day, without rest, you can’t be effective in your studying. Getting involved in clubs, sports and extracurriculars is a great outlet outside of studying. This is even more relevant today, where taking time to socialize is so crucial during COVID when it can be hard to meet with people.
Entering medicine requires a perspective change, in my opinion. When studying and looking at course material, it is not about looking at it with the mindset that you need to know this because you have to pass the exam. Try thinking of course material as something you’ll actually be using. I guess you only see it a bit later on, but it really is fun stuff because these are things we will use and put into practice. It’s neat to have a foundation, then actually be able to apply it to real life. I would say it is somewhat different to my undergrad, where I didn’t have the chance to apply much of the content I learned to reality. You could even think of the program as more of a training where everything builds upon previous knowledge. Finally, don’t take yourself too seriously. It’s ok to make mistakes; you don’t need to be perfect. There’s so much to learn, you can’t truly know every single thing! It is ok to pick the things that you like and focus a bit more on those things. You can’t know everything, just accept it. There’s always more to learn, which is the greatest part about life. If you knew everything, things would be boring, right? You want to leave some things out there, so you can keep learning. Do your best as that’s the best you can do. And no one is an imposter. I’ve been hearing it all around, but everyone belongs here. When you were chosen, it is because you are meant to be here.
If you had a superpower, what would it be?
I’m kind of a geek and I really like Marvel stuff. My superpower would be time manipulation. Most people would say “I want to be a healer”, but that's what we do anyway right? I would be Doctor Strange, because obviously he’s super cool, and also he’s a neurosurgeon, just FYI. First of all, you can go back in time and you can go to the future if there’s a current issue to find out how it was resolved and bring it back to the present. If you want to meet someone from the past, maybe you could meet Einstein, how crazy would that be! You can see things before they disappear in time, or recover old artifacts. We could advance ourselves sooner, hopefully in a sustainable way by going to the future and bringing novel information back, maybe even prevent bad things from happening. It would mess up the timeline completely though. What about if you really like a particular dish of food, you can eat it twice! The options are endless, it’s just amazing. If someone is super ill and it might be their last breath, you could pause things, try to figure out what you need, come back, and maybe make a bigger difference and save that person. Even getting to school, if class starts in two minutes and I’m still at home, I can pause time and not be late for class. Just those small things, they matter.
What is the funniest way that you’ve been injured?
I had gone on a ski trip with my graduating class in High School. We went to Mont Sainte-Anne. The conditions were not great, but we went skiing anyways. I had gone on a hill that was supposed to be intermediate level but ended up a double diamond. The terrain got progressively more aggressive as I went down. [Then] there was this patch of dirt and ice and I got stuck on it. Unfortunately, I tore my ACL. Getting injured was the not-so-fun part of it. One of my friends was like: “Haha you got stuck!”, but he ended up hitting a tree. But then I had to get rescued, and that was the funny part. There had to be either a helicopter or a rescue sled to carry me down the mountain. So they literally cocooned me inside this little tiny crib and I looked like a child inside it. I got carried down the mountain and saw my friends skiing down and staring at me all wrapped up. All they could see was my face bundled like a little burrito. I thought it was hilarious.
Note: The above is a direct transcript from a live interview with Julia Phillipp conducted by the Resonance Humans team.
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