Isabella Comtois Bona is a third-year medical student at McGill University with a background in neurosciences and a strong interest in mental health. As a traveler, poet, and visual artist, she believes that physicians are shaped as much by their lived experiences as by their clinical training. She hopes to draw on this fellowship to explore the human side of medicine through storytelling, reflection, and creative expression, and to integrate these insights into a compassionate, person-centered clinical practice in the future.
Larissa Chiu is a second-year MDCM–PhD student at McGill University, whose research focuses on AI-based innovations for global trauma care. Her conviction that communication, trust, and human connection are at the heart of healing is grounded by her experience in witnessing her grandfather’s limited access to care due to their rural community, and now responding to emergencies in remote areas as a ski patroller. Beyond her clinical and research training, Larissa enjoys being in the mountains, skiing, biking and running with her family and friends. She joins the DaP fellows to cultivate conversations on understanding how physicians balance their responsibilities to deliver care while remaining present and compassionate in both their work and personal lives.
Meriem Hamel is a third-year medical student at McGill University. She joined the Doctor as a Person program as an attempt to consciously exist in environments that challenge her assumptions and expose her to different perspectives on life. Through the program, she hopes to cultivate deeper self-awareness, learn from diverse lived experiences, and continue developing her voice within the medical community. Outside of medicine, she loves trying new matcha places, baking, binging any romantic books or TV shows, and going on long walks with a podcast.
Margaryta Chabab is an MDCM Candidate (Class of 2028) at McGill University. What first drew her to medicine was not science alone, but a curiosity about people: how we make sense of our lives, how we connect, and how we care. In Cégep, she completed a combined program in Sciences, Letters & Arts, where she found herself drawn to the humanities and the kinds of conversations that invite reflection on meaning, empathy, creativity, and what it means to be human. Those discussions sparked a lasting desire to bring that same sense of wonder and reflection into her future medical practice. Through the Doctor as Person Fellowship Program, she hopes to explore how meaning and humanism shape the way we heal and live, and to deepen her understanding of what it means to care for others as both a doctor and a person. Outside of medicine, she enjoys reading, learning languages, baking, figure skating, hiking, and spending time with her dog.
Dhwani Paul is a third-year medical student at McGill. As a first-generation immigrant, her lived experiences, faith and connection with others provide her with a strong foundation and desire to lead a life of service. Through the Doctor as a Person Fellowship, she hopes to explore how to excel as a clinician while continuing to cultivate a deeper understanding and appreciation for the human experience across cultures and life stages.
Diana Di Iorio is a third-year medical student at McGill University. Prior to medicine, she completed her Bachelor’s in Physiology and her Master’s in Experimental Medicine at McGill. She joined the Doctor as Person Fellowship to reflect intentionally on how a physician’s personal perspectives shape the patient’s experience of care and to learn how physicians can make each encounter one of dignity, quality, and genuine partnership. Through the Fellowship, she hopes to strengthen her ability to listen, connect, and create meaningful patient-centered interactions.
Geneviève Marceau is a second-year medical student. Before medical school, she studied music, with a special focus on classical piano, alongside science. She also adores listening to jazz music, visiting museums, dance and has a sweet tooth. She is interested in reflecting on emotional depth, nuances within relationships, internal life and openness to others. She was drawn to the Doctor as Person Fellowship by its unique approach to humanism and how it can shape medicine. She is curious to learn from others’ perspectives and to deepen her vision of the ways in which we can connect with the life surrounding us.
Melia Alcantara is a third-year medical student from Calgary. She completed a Bachelor of Health Sciences from the University of Calgary and a Master of Science in Epidemiology from McGill University, where she was involved in perinatal research. She was drawn to the Doctor as Person Fellowship to explore what it means to be human in medicine, the complexities of choosing medicine as a career, and how to honour both her professional and personal life. Outside of medicine, she enjoys pottery, gardening, travelling, and spending time with family and friends.
Cat Wang’s path in healthcare is grounded in a commitment to equity, access, and thoughtful communication, guided by the understanding that medicine is delivered human to human. She brings to the DaP Fellowship an educational background in Anatomy and Public Health, a bookshelf of reads on mortality, and a curiosity about the differing philosophical lenses through which we view the world. Through this fellowship, Cat hopes to expand her understanding of what life, health, and death can mean, in order to better understand patients and populations. She is currently in the first year of her medical studies.
Daphnée Sansregret is a first-year medical student at McGill University. Having previously studied biology, she completed a master’s degree in ethnobotany in the Arctic, exploring the relationship between Inuit and tundra plants. Engaging in meaningful discussions with community members during this experience profoundly changed her understanding of herself and her purpose, ultimately leading her to the MDCM program. She believes that being a physician is about more than just treating illness. It is about being human, showing genuine interest, and understanding the stories, environments, and emotions that shape people’s lives. This vision not only intersects with ethnobotany, but also with other areas of her life, such as music, art, and her love of nature and human nature. She is eager to grow into a future physician who is thoughtful and grounded, and who recognizes and values the human side of medicine.
Madison Odabassian is a fourth-year medical student who previously completed her BSc. and MEng. degrees at McGill. She joined the physician as a person fellowship as she felt she wanted to connect with like-minded individuals in her field and expand her horizons on philosophy and literature. She also joined as she anticipates the transition she will face from medical student to resident in the coming months, and the learnings she can take from the program with her into her career.
Andréanne Gagnon-Lozin
Doctor as Person 