STUDENTS' CORNER

KATIE PHILLIPS - FIGURE STAKER DRAGON BOATER

Katie Phillips

Katie Phillips became interested in surgery following the "One Day Matters" program. She shadowed vascular surgeon Ian Forrest at North York General and helped in a femoral bypass and other operations. Peter Stotland met her there and invited her in to participate in some general surgery procedures, including holding the camera for a laparoscopic procedure. She realized that she could do things that were helpful and came to feel that she belonged in the surgical suite.

As she continues her studies, she feels relieved that she has found where she will be in her future career. She had done cardiovascular science research with Jagdish Butany and was delighted to find that vascular surgery has started a direct entry residency. She clerked with Helen MacRae and others at Mount Sinai Hospital and with Andrew Pierre and the thoracic surgeons at Toronto General. She did a vascular surgery rotation with Graham Roche-Nagle and has

subsequently started a research project with him, looking at radiation monitoring in vascular surgery patients undergoing interventional treatments. On her thoracic surgery rotation, she flew to Ottawa for a lung harvest and scrubbed on the transplant.

As a committee member for the Department of Surgery’s Life in Surgery group, she’s worked with Carol-Anne Moulton and Ron Levine to organize events for undergraduate medical students interested in surgery, addressing issues such as lifestyle, gender and balance in surgery. In her role as undergraduate surgery course representative, she has enjoyed working with George Christakis and Shibu Thomas in their energetic, student-centered approach to re-shaping the undergraduate surgery program at the University of Toronto.

Katie has been a competitive athlete throughout her career and currently coaches the University of Toronto Varsity figure skating team. She also trains with a competitive Dragon Boat team that has been invited to compete at the World Dragonboat championships in Hong Kong this summer.

M.M.