Class of 3T0: The road to medicine

The Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s newest MD students from the Class of 3T0 reflect on the experiences that led them to medicine, the people and communities that inspire them — and what they hope to bring to their roles as future physicians.

Hira Fatima

I didn’t have much interest in medicine or science until grade 10, when my aunt was diagnosed with late-stage uterine cancer. Sadly, she passed away just six months after her diagnosis.

My family and I watched as the disease transformed my aunt from a lively, bubbly soul into someone we barely recognized. It was heartbreaking, and we felt like we had no answers. I remember thinking, “How have we sent humans to the moon, but we still can’t cure this one disease?” My naïve 15-year-old self decided that I was going to find the cure for cancer, as if there was some magical elixir waiting to be discovered.

That curiosity grew into a fascination with understanding disease at a molecular level. I began researching cancer on my own, became more engaged in biology, and ultimately pursued a double major in molecular biology and psychology, followed by a master’s in medical biophysics, where I conducted cancer research investigating how RNA modifications contribute to cancer.

At the same time, I became increasingly aware of how people like my family navigate the health-care system. As a first-generation immigrant, I often found myself acting as the “health-care manager” for my parents, translating appointments, helping them understand medical information, and reminding them about preventive care. I also saw how language barriers and cultural stigma, particularly around mental health, can make health care feel inaccessible and isolating.

These experiences showed me that medicine requires both scientific curiosity and an understanding of the person behind the disease. I hope to become a physician who can bridge those two worlds, providing evidence-based care while making patients and families feel understood, empowered and included.

Health literacy is something I am especially passionate about. I recognize how privileged I have been to spend the past decade studying science, but for people like my parents, who are first-generation immigrants, the health-care system can feel daunting and isolating. Growing up in Scarborough, I have seen firsthand how language barriers and the lack of cultural competency can make care harder to access and understand. Medical terminology, preventive care, and self-advocacy can feel overwhelming, especially with regards to mental health, where stigma and limited culturally safe resources further discourage people from seeking help. I believe empowering patients with knowledge is a powerful form of preventive care. From my time as a cancer researcher, I learned how early detection can significantly improve outcomes.

I’ve had the opportunity to work in hospitals in many different capacities, as a researcher, volunteer, and rehabilitation assistant, but I’ve never had a direct role in caring for and supporting patients. I’m most excited to finally be on the other side of that relationship, learning how to translate everything I’ve studied into meaningful, inclusive and compassionate patient care. I am especially excited to do so through the new Scarborough Foundations Experience, and to learn from and support the community that raised me.

Rui Yan Gao

Growing up, I often wondered why things happened the way they did. Instead of accepting what I saw at face value, I continued to ask questions from different angles until I could piece together an explanation for what I observed. This persistent curiosity, which some might describe as a little stubborn, is what drew me toward human biology. I am particularly fascinated by how the human body works as a complex and highly coordinated system. Our body can adapt to many different environments, yet even small changes in one biological process can have significant effects on our health.

Before joining Temerty Medicine, I completed my undergraduate degree in translational and molecular medicine, as well as a master’s degree in biochemistry at the University of Ottawa. Throughout my academic training, I gained a deeper understanding of how diseases develop at the molecular level, how researchers use the latest scientific technologies to study them, and how such knowledge can be used to design targeted treatments.

At the same time, I wanted to explore how the science I had learned could be applied to the care of individual patients, which is why I began working at a local walk-in clinic. Here, I encountered patients who navigated the health-care system with language barriers, travelled long distances to receive care, or managed chronic illnesses, often without family members who could accompany them to their appointments. These experiences have taught me that effective health care involves more than determining the objectively best treatment option.

Beyond the clinic, I also volunteered at the emergency department of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario to learn how decisions made at the system-wide level would shape current health-care practices. I worked with research assistants to help physician-scientists recruit patients for multiple ongoing clinical studies. In this context, I recognized physicians’ broader role as leaders in their fields of practice, gathering the latest evidence to advocate for and implement systemic changes.

Reflecting on my journey so far, I see medicine as an area that brings together the things that have always motivated me: learning how things work by asking questions from different perspectives, applying evidence-based practices when approaching new problems, and above all, working with people. As a future physician, I want to use my medical expertise to support patients in making informed decisions about their health, while also contributing to a health-care system that is more accessible, equitable and effective for everyone.

Camryn Kelly

A major step of my personal journey to medicine was a lesson from one of my elders, who taught me about the intersection between trauma and disease. I learned that trauma can cause permanent damage to the brain, increasing the risk of dementia. In fact, dementia rates are 34 per cent higher in First Nations populations than in their non-First Nations counterparts. As a proud member of Moose Cree First Nation, I have witnessed such health inequities through my grandfather, who passed away with dementia in late 2024. I view medicine as an opportunity to address the social determinants of health — such as the trauma of historical injustices — affecting marginalised groups through a safe, compassionate, and healing health-care environment.

My most memorable experience before joining Temerty Medicine was working as the health systems navigator at Tungasuvvingat Inuit, an Inuit-specific non-profit organization. In this role, I connected Inuk clients and their families in Toronto and the GTA to health services. By supporting clients who were far away from the North for medical reasons, I deepened my understanding of the systemic barriers that Indigenous Peoples face. At the intersection of these two worlds, the North and the South, lies a gap in health care — a space where traditional medicine, ceremonies and cultural healing practices are missing. Overall, this experience strengthened my commitment to advocacy and advancing Indigenous health care.

An aspect of medicine that I am most passionate about is lifelong learning. As a first-generation student, I have come to greatly respect and value education, especially since my grandfather faced racism and was denied access to it. I am drawn to medicine, an ever-evolving field in which physicians must adapt to new information and changing clinical practices. A career in medicine will allow me to pursue my goals of honouring my grandfather’s legacy, empowering myself with knowledge and continuing the pursuit of learning that was unjustly denied to him. 

I am most looking forward to the practical application of clinical skills in clerkship. As an exercise coach with Revved Up, a community-based program for persons with a disability, I realized that chronic conditions don't always present the way that they're described in textbooks. I believe that the patients' unique voices, perspectives, and lived experiences will be among the most valuable aspects of my medical training.

Ben Laxer

My decision to pursue an MD/PhD came from being exposed to incredible mentors I hope to emulate.

It started with a fairly simple curiosity about how things work. I played competitive soccer growing up, and training to get faster and stronger led me to read about the science behind it. I found it remarkable that we could explain something as physical as sprinting down to the cellular level. That's what took me to medical science (physiology and pathology) at Western University, where I learned not only how the body works but how it goes wrong, and it's what pushed me to apply for a research internship after third year. I was fortunate to land a position at The Hospital for Sick Children in Dr. Cynthia Hawkins' lab, working on paediatric brain tumours. That year was formative enough that I came back for my MSc, studying diffuse midline glioma.

What I saw in that time changed what I wanted to do. I worked alongside clinician scientists, my PI among them, who have reshaped the fields they practise in, and I got to watch how a finding in the lab eventually becomes a diagnosis made differently, a treatment given differently, a family told something different than they would have been told a decade ago. At conferences and fundraising events I presented my work to patients and families living with tumours that are still incurable, and I understood what the research meant to them: longer survival, gentler treatment, and the knowledge that someone is working on their behalf.

Being part of that, actually moving medicine forward while also treating patients, is what drew me to pursue a career as a clinician scientist. I want to treat patients, and I want to work on the problems that limit what I can offer them. I feel incredibly lucky to be doing that at Temerty Medicine.

Alongside my schooling, I've worked as a 3D animator. That has included anatomical animations for publications and lecture content, character animation, a commercial that ran on the billboard over the Eaton Centre and Union Station, and a set of virtual reality tools now used at Western to teach anatomy through immersive learning.

I’m very interested in science and medical communication. My family and friends have always come to me with news stories and medical terms they've run into for explanations, and somewhere in doing that I got interested in the problem of taking a complicated idea and finding the version of it that lands. That feels increasingly worth doing, people have more medical information in front of them than ever, and not much help sorting the reliable from the rest.

It's a large part of what doctors do day to day, explaining what a diagnosis means, what a treatment involves, what someone's options are. A patient who understands what's happening to them is more likely to trust the person treating them and more likely to follow a treatment plan correctly. It's also how research findings actually reach the people they were meant for.

Mujeedat Lekuti

In high school, I worked as a research assistant at York University's Lassonde School of Engineering, studying how physics could improve fire safety in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. I noticed prevention and emergency education existed, but access to it wasn't equal. That gap was costing lives. So, we designed an app framework to help close it. That work taught me a principle I'd carry forward: a scientific solution only works if it reaches and responds to the people it is meant to serve.

That realization drew me to Queen's Health Sciences, where I could study the science of the human body alongside the social and systemic factors that shape health. I saw firsthand how those factors shape clinical decision-making when someone close to me underwent a surgical procedure that pathology later confirmed had not been medically necessary. Black patients undergo this procedure at disproportionate rates, often when less invasive options exist, a disparity that stems in part from systemic barriers to culturally competent care. Watching it erode their trust in the health-care system inspired me to enter medicine, determined to make patients true partners in their care and to advocate for health equity.

Research has given me a place to act on that commitment. As part of the Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation (CAN-Sim) team, I helped develop a virtual simulation tool that trains future clinicians to intervene as active bystanders against racism in classroom and clinical settings, now used in health professional programs beyond Queen’s. Through it, I saw how the field can work to make diverse individuals feel safe and respected. Within the Chung Lab, I helped expand interdisciplinary education across Queen's Health Sciences, where I saw that teamwork between disciplines leads to holistic solutions for patients. Both experiences taught me the same lesson: medicine needs science, but it also needs someone who can listen, advocate and collaborate. I'm going into medicine to deliver individualized care while helping transform the systems that shape it.

I am passionate about advocacy and education in health care.

Systemic inequities create barriers to care, fuel mistrust, and worsen health outcomes. As Commissioner of Social Issues–External in Queen's student government, I learned how advocacy can challenge barriers in education by listening to equity-deserving communities to collaborate on meaningful changes. I hope to bring this approach to medicine, providing care grounded in patients' lived experiences while working to dismantle barriers within the health-care system.

One well-designed lesson can multiply its impact by shaping how future clinicians care for their patients. These experiences have inspired me to become a physician-educator one day, designing lessons that not only transfer knowledge but also shape how care is delivered.

Sahil Patel

Growing up, I was always inspired by my grandmother and the way she cared for people around her. She often shared Ayurvedic and traditional home remedies with family, friends and members of our community. I saw how much people valued her support and trusted her when they were going through a difficult time. Seeing the impact she had on others first sparked my interest in health and well-being.

As I got older and started learning more about physiology and the human body, that curiosity grew. However, it wasn’t until university where my experiences working with people of different ages and abilities changed how I understood health. I began to see that someone’s health affects far more than their physical symptoms. It shapes their independence, relationships, routines and how they experience everyday life.

That broader understanding of health is what ultimately drew me toward medicine. I wanted to pursue a field where I could combine my interest in the science of the human body with the opportunity to support people through the many ways health affects their lives. In some respects, becoming a physician feels like carrying forward the same care for others that I first saw in my grandmother.

Before joining Temerty Medicine, I studied kinesiology at York University, where I became interested in how movement and health intersect. Sports have always been a big part of my life. I’m an avid volleyball player and was a member of York’s dragon boat team. Through my experiences I saw how sport helped me build community and form some of my closest friendships.

Recognizing how meaningful those opportunities had been for me, my peers and I started AblePlay TO, an initiative focused on providing accessible sport programming for youth from underserved communities across the GTA. Through AblePlay, I had the chance to help organize and deliver programs in sports like basketball, volleyball and soccer.

I also became involved in research with the Prescribing VRx Lab, where I explored how virtual reality can be used in health care. Much of my work focused on individuals living with dementia and their caregivers, looking at how VR experiences might support engagement for the person with dementia while also creating moments of respite for caregivers.

I’m passionate about the intersection of medicine, research and technology. I’m excited by the idea of becoming a physician-scientist and using the experiences I gain through patient care to help identify questions that research might address.

Right now, I’m particularly interested in how emerging technologies can support health outcomes and improve the way care is delivered. I like the idea of working both with patients in the clinic and alongside researchers, engineers and other health professionals to develop and evaluate new approaches to care.

Deisha Paliwal

Growing up, my mom, a pedorthist, showed me what it meant to find purpose in caring for others. I watched how helping people regain their mobility made her lose track of time. Inspired by the example she set, I knew I wanted a career centred on helping others, but I did not know that this career would be medicine until much later. 

The summer after my second year of undergrad, my dad was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Until then, I had never experienced loss; all four of my grandparents were still alive, and I moved through life with a sense of stability and certainty. Almost overnight, everything changed as I took on a new role as a caregiver for my dad. Accompanying my dad to his radiation appointments and surgeries, supporting him as he lost his ability to work, drive, and walk, and helping him navigate decisions like whether to continue pursuing treatment brought me face-to-face with a level of suffering and vulnerability I didn’t know existed. 

While these experiences were deeply painful and at times incomprehensible, they shaped my resolve to pursue medicine. I witnessed how a thoughtful physician can help patients and families navigate the most uncertain moments of their lives. I also saw how research-driven advances, including a new form of image-guided radiation that my dad received, could improve patients’ quality of life. After losing my dad, my heart continued to ache for patients and families navigating cancer. This ache drove me to pursue my master’s in medical biophysics while based at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, where my supervisor helped me see myself as someone who can contribute to research advances, like those that my dad benefited from. As well, through the encouragement of my family and friends, I began to see myself as someone capable of providing patients with the same compassionate care my dad received from his physicians. 

I am passionate about improving the lives of patients with cancer, both through equitable patient care and research. 

My commitment to equitable patient care is shaped by reflecting on how my dad’s journey could have unfolded under different circumstances. What if my dad had been diagnosed 30 years ago, when he was a new immigrant to Canada without his family or a support system here? What if we didn’t live close to a hospital equipped with the image-guided radiation machine that helped preserve his quality of life? What if he didn’t have insurance coverage for the medications and supportive services he relied on? What if my mom, siblings, and I couldn’t adjust our work and school schedules to support my dad’s care needs? These “what ifs” I grapple with are realities for many people, which I have come to understand through volunteering with the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. As a support group host, I have heard the stories of patients who, despite having the same diagnosis as my dad, experience their illness in vastly different ways because of factors like their financial circumstances, geographic location, and social support. I am passionate about providing care that recognizes and responds to the circumstances that shape patients’ lives.

I am also drawn to improving cancer care through research. During my master’s, I came to appreciate the value in asking patient-centred questions and thoughtfully applying advances in areas like artificial intelligence and molecular profiling to address these questions. Although I’ve learned so much during these past few years, I know I’ve only just scratched the surface. I’m excited to continue pursuing research that improves our understanding and treatment of cancer. 

Yein Chung

I wanted to become a doctor because I fell in love with science first. Growing up in Korea, Australia, and Canada shaped the way I see the world. In Cairns, exploring the Great Barrier Reef sparked my curiosity about biology. During the pandemic in Sudbury, I became fascinated by immunology and started doing research on cardiac development in children with Down syndrome. That experience showed me that research can improve care for medically marginalized communities. Later, shadowing a physician at SickKids and conducting research at Massachusetts General Hospital helped me see how physician-scientists connect patient experiences with scientific discovery. That intersection is where I hope to build my career.

Before medical school, I completed my undergraduate degree in immunology and mathematics at U of T. I wanted to explore as many research opportunities as possible. Those experiences led me to computational immunology, where I enjoyed using large-scale biological data to answer research questions. I was also fortunate to learn from an incredibly supportive community, especially my mentor, Dr. Matthew Buechler, who helped me grow as both a scientist and a person.

I'm most passionate about caring for people during their most vulnerable moments. As the oldest of three daughters in an immigrant family, I learned how much kindness and clear communication can ease uncertainty. I also care deeply about improving care for medically marginalized communities. My early research with individuals with Down syndrome sparked that interest, and I hope to use both research and clinical practice to make health care more equitable.