Dr. Stephanie Zhou is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto where she created the financial literacy curriculum and is the Director of Addiction Medicine at Sunnybrook Hospital. She sits on the board of Toronto Public Health.

Dr. Zhou immigrated to Canada and grew up in subsidized housing, which led to her investing in education and housing initiatives through philanthropy.

She founded the annual Physicians Financial Wellness conference, a national, philanthropic conference for physicians on financial education and practice management. The ticket proceeds were used to establish The Equity Award, an endowment fund supporting students with financial need.

Dr. Zhou received Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women award and the Ascend Canada Social Impact Award for her work in improving economic mobility through financial literacy. Dr. Zhou is a nationally invited speaker on personal finance and runs a popular financial education blog on Instagram and Youtube called Breaking Bad Debt. Her biggest accomplishment is being mom to a former NICU baby named Eleanor.

In this episode, Dr. Zhou shares her personal journey through an unexpected high-risk pregnancy and her daughter's preterm NICU stay, all while balancing a diverse career spanning clinical practice, administration, and teaching.

We also dive into the financial realities of maternity leave for physicians and the often-overlooked strategies she used to fund her leave, including insurance, investments, rental income, and creative revenue streams.

If you're navigating pregnancy, planning a family, or trying to build a fulfilling career in medicine while raising kids, this episode offers both inspiration and practical insights to help you thrive, not just survive.

Episode Resources:

• Pregnancy and Parental Leave Benefit Program (PPLBP) for Physicians: How to Apply & New Updates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z103-1PTSiY
• PPLBP Website:

https://www.ontario.ca/page/pregnancy-and-parental-leave-ontario-physicians

• Maternity & Parental Leave in Canada (Residents):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF4ybpVmZ3Q

• Planning for Pregnancy & Infertility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvfNpcc8MaU
• El Benefits & Childcare in Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0jOcsK14dg

Advocacy Updates:

• OMA updates:

https://www.oma.org/practice-professional-support/running-your-practice/operations-and-practic

e-management/human-resources-management/pregnancy-and-parental-leavel

• Parental Leave Facebook group advocating to extend leave to 22 weeks for physicians on the old PPLBP. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1729207944684550

Dr. Hiraki shares her journey of balancing a demanding medical career with family planning, highlighting the challenges and support systems that helped her along the way. She discusses the importance of perseverance, the role of a supportive partner, and the cultural differences in maternity leave between the US and Canada.

Dr. Linda Hiraki is a Clinician-Scientist in the Division of Rheumatology and Scientist in Genetics & Genome Biology Program at SickKids Research Institute. Hiraki completed her medical degree at Queen’s University, and her clinical training in paediatrics and rheumatology at SickKids. She is certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in the specialties of paediatrics and paediatric rheumatology. Dr. Hiraki went on to pursue research training at the Harvard School of Public Health where she completed a Masters and Doctor of Science in Epidemiology. Dr. Hiraki holds a Canada Research Chair in Genetics of Rare Systemic Inflammatory Diseases.

In Episode 11, we dive into the inspiring journey of Mimosa Luigi, an MD-PhD student at McGill University. Balancing her fifth year of training with the joys and challenges of motherhood, Mimosa shares her insights on integrating family planning into a demanding medical career.

Mimosa Luigi, MSc, is an MD-PhD candidate at McGill University, currently in year 6 of the physician-scientist program. Her doctoral research in the Department of Psychiatry focuses on the prevention and management of violence in forensic psychiatry, with an emphasis on optimizing the clinical utility of risk assessment tools and the implementation of collaborative approaches between service users and the multidisciplinary professional team. She also conducts research on MD-PhD education in Canada.

Thanks for listening!