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!

Discover how Dr. Piggott navigated the complexities of having three children at different stages of her medical career, from residency to staff.

Dr. Piggott, MD, MSc, FRCPC, is a staff geriatrician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and an Assistant Professor with the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation (IHPME). She completed her medical degree and completed subspecialty training in Geriatric Medicine at the University of Toronto. After completing her fellowship in 2018, Dr. Piggott pursued a Masters in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety with IHPME at the University of Toronto. She is now the director of Quality Improvement Methods in the QI Masters program at IHPME, the faculty co-lead for the Division of Geriatric Medicine Co-Learning Quality Improvement Training Program, and also co-built and teaches in the McMaster MacQIPS quality improvement certificate program.

Her story of resilience and balance offers valuable insights for anyone juggling family and professional aspirations.

In Episode 9, join Dr. Michael Ordon and Dr. Jamie Kroft as they share their unique journey through medical training, early career, and family planning. From meeting in medical school to welcoming their first child just six months into Jamie’s practice — while Michael was still completing his fellowship — they reflect on the challenges and rewards of growing their family alongside demanding medical careers. Their second child arrived when Jamie was still early in practice, and together they have navigated parenthood with three children in total.

They discuss timing, support systems, and the evolving landscape of parental leave in medicine, offering candid insights for other physicians considering when to start a family.

Dr. Kroft specializes in low-risk obstetrics and minimally invasive gynaecologic surgery, focusing on the treatment of endometriosis and fibroids. She is part of the fellowship training program at Sunnybrook, where she also supervises research. Dr. Ordon is a urologist specializing in kidney stones, minimally invasive surgery, and renal transplantation, with additional fellowship training in image-guided ablation for small kidney tumours.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation on balancing marriage, medicine, and parenthood — and what they’ve learned about thriving both personally and professionally.

Join us in this insightful episode as we sit down with Kat Butler, a final year anesthesia resident at the University of Toronto and incoming Pediatric Anesthesia fellow at SickKids. They are a white, non-binary trans and queer parent to a toddler, a qualitative researcher, and avid cyclist. Kat grew up in the territories of the Algonquin people and is now living and working on the traditional lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River.

They started a family during residency, taking 1 year off after the birth of their child between PGY3 and PGY4. Kat shares their experiences navigating medical training, family planning, and the challenges of being a non-binary trans parent.

Tune in to hear about their unique perspective on balancing a demanding career with personal life, and the systemic changes needed to support future medical professionals.

Ida-Maisie Famiyeh is a third-year medical student at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, and a practicing clinical pharmacist. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy (2014), completed her pharmacy residency at Women’s College Hospital (2015), and obtained her MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences (2017). Alongside her medical training, she is actively engaged in research spanning pharmacist scope of practice, medication reconciliation, cardio-oncology, perinatal mental health, and opioid-related harms in older adults. Beyond her professional work, Ida-Maisie is a mom of two and content creator, sharing insights that help patients and families navigate the healthcare system with confidence and compassion.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Giovanna Sirianni and Dr. Jeremy Edwards, a physician couple navigating careers in family medicine and cardiology. Dr. Sirianni shares insights from her extensive work in palliative care, medical education, and research, while Dr. Edwards discusses his path in cardiology and his passion for supporting medical learners.

We explore their journeys through medical training, family planning as dual-physician partners, and the challenges of balancing professional and personal lives. Tune in for an engaging conversation about mentorship, career growth, and the evolving culture of medicine.

Dr. Sirianni is a family physician with a focused practice in palliative care, an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, a medical educator and About Empathy Podcast co-creator. Dr. Sirianni has held multiple educational leadership roles including as Enhanced Skills (PGY-3) Program Director, Palliative Care Program Director, Faculty Development Lead and Workplace Based Assessment Lead for the MD Program at the University of Toronto. Throughout her medical education leadership career, she has been engaged in scholarship and research with publications in CMAJ, Medical Teacher and Canadian Family Physician among others. In 2024 Dr. Sirianni was named as an AMS Fellow in Compassion and Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Edwards earned undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and medicine at the University of Toronto before going on to complete postgraduate training in internal medicine and cardiology. Subsequently, he completed a two year fellowship in echocardiography at St. Michael’s Hospital. He joined the Department of Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto in 2011 as an Adult Cardiologist with a clinical interest in valvular heart disease and interventional echocardiography. He has held a number of medical education leadership roles prior to becoming Academy Director in October 2021. He is passionate about supporting and empowering medical learners to succeed at achieving their individual goals.

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