Alumni Profile: Maya Biderman on allyship and building a life of learning

For Maya Biderman (MD ’24), education has always been about growing understanding through connecting with others. From Nova Scotia to Fiji to Spain to British Columbia, Biderman has intentionally sought out experiences that expose her to different ways of thinking, living and healing. Whether through her advocacy in Indigenous health education or her clinical work in obstetrics and gynaecology, she approaches medicine as a lifelong learner and ally — someone who listens first, leads with humility and embraces discomfort in pursuit of growth and continuous self-improvement.

Originally from Toronto, she completed her BSc in kinesiology as well as her MSc in psychiatry research at Dalhousie University, where she was a Killam scholar and received the 2020 Board of Governors' Award — the university's top student life achievement award. One of her most significant contributions was as a collaborator, facilitator and later the course coordinator of the interprofessional Indigenous cultural safety course, which was integrated into the Dalhousie’s health professions programs including the medical school.

Along the way, Biderman also studied at summer institutes at McGill University and the University of British Columbia, and participated in a one-term undergrad exchange program at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville, Spain.

As an MD student at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Biderman extended her medical education with certificates in Global Health Education and Narrative Based Medicine. All the while, she continued to contribute to Indigenous health curriculum development at Dalhousie and within the Temerty Medicine Foundations curriculum under the guidance of Indigenous theme lead at the time Chase McMurren (PGME Family Medicine). She was named valedictorian of her graduating class in 2024.  

While at U of T, Biderman received the Bernard Lau Memorial Scholarship, an acknowledgment of her commitment to Indigenous allyship. The financial award was established by another Temerty Medicine alumnus, Ching Lau (MD ’84, PGME Cardiology), in honour of his late brother Bernard, a fellow physician who spent much of his time working with Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario. Setting up the award was a way for Lau to give back as well as pay it forward, as he himself received a scholarship as a medical student and credits Temerty Medicine faculty for supporting him throughout his career.

Now, as she completes her second year of obstetrics and gynaecology training at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, Biderman hopes to one day finish the certificate program she started through the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health.

We chatted with Biderman to find out what fuels her passion for education and allyship.

Your educational journey has taken you across Canada and beyond. Was that intentional?

Absolutely. Growing up in Toronto, I saw university as an opportunity to go and live somewhere different. I’d only been to Halifax once as a child, but it felt like the right place to build a life of my own and Dalhousie offered me a chance to explore that. The exchange in Spain was also such an amazing opportunity to learn a new language and culture. I came back with this desire to continue learning in different contexts as much as possible and try and seek out opportunities to do this wherever I can.

How did your connection with Indigenous culture and allyship begin?

It started with an academic interest in how trauma and collective experiences shape relationships and identities. My grandfather is a Holocaust survivor, and that has shaped how our family and I exist in the world. I reached out to professors at Dalhousie about intergenerational trauma research, and they connected me with Dr. Amy Bombay, who was researching residential school survivors. She suggested I consider joining a student group focused on Indigenous health education. I found kinship there with many of my Indigenous colleagues through our shared experience of wanting to sit in stories and feel more connected to our families’ histories.

A year and a half later, I had the honour of acting as co-president of the club, then working for them, then doing my master’s focused on Indigenous health work. It could have been a casual connection — but it turned into six years of my life.

What inspired you to pursue medicine, and specifically the MD Program at U of T?

I remember being fascinated by the doctor’s office as a child. I liked that doctors had answers to my family’s questions, and I liked the purple latex gloves they wore. We recently found my sixth-grade yearbook, and it says I hope to grow up to be a paediatrician — or a French teacher. Obviously, I didn’t become the latter, but I do speak French with my patients.

I did not get into medical school on my first try, so when I was accepted I felt very fortunate. Especially so to study at U of T, to be closer with my family and to learn how to show up for my community in a new way.  

I had an incredible experience as an MD student. Some days were hard, but I felt overall well supported, well educated and well prepared for each phase of training. I also think being a student at the Mississauga Academy of Medicine (MAM) gave me a strong clinical foundation. I got to work directly with staff and had an early, graduated level of responsibility. I came out of U of T feeling competent and well trained.

I met the most amazing people during my time in the Temerty Medicine MD program, many of whom are now my colleagues and mentors. My classmates at MAM especially were some of the most intelligent, generous people I have come to know. They have not only shaped me as a person but have also provided me with this incredible community of support that I will carry forward.

Another highlight for me was (the annual musical) Daffydil. It was the best — especially during COVID. It's hilarious to think about all of us in our bedrooms on a video call trying to learn a choreographed dance together. It offered us solidarity at a time when it was hard to meet people, and forged friendships that lasted throughout the rest of our time in medical school.

You’re now training in OB-GYN at the University of Calgary. How does Indigenous allyship fit into your current work?

It’s still a huge part of my interest in life, and I hope to always be contributing to Indigenous health work and education. Right now, its showing up for my Indigenous patients with humility and recognition of the legacies of harm that exist in health care. I wear a beaded orange shirt on my lanyard, made by my brilliant colleague Nic Blinn. I hope my Indigenous patients see it and feel like I’m someone who wants to hear their story. I try to apply a trauma-informed lens to every patient I see — especially in OBGYN, where there’s so much opportunity to cause harm, but also to be safe for people.

As a non-Indigenous person, I will always struggle with my relationship to this work. I don’t want to do it because it makes me feel good or impose my own objectives. I endeavour to approach it with humility and support voices with lived experience. For now, while I’m new to Alberta, I’m in that phase of trying to learn and build connections. If my colleagues and collaborators invite me to do so, I’ll keep working in this space for as long as I can be of value.

What’s on the horizon for you?

I’m continuing to explore medical education, abortion care and reproductive justice as key parts of my career. This work remains deeply important to me, especially in today’s political climate. I plan to continue supporting reproductive autonomy and access throughout my career — as an educator, researcher and clinician.