Daffy: Interview with Dr. Hosanna Au
Dr. Hosanna Au graduated from medical school and pediatrics residency from the University of Toronto and also completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Medical Education from the University of Dundee. Her primary clinical practice is in pediatric hospitalist medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Au is a clinician educator with a focus on undergraduate medical education. She’s involved with course leadership, curriculum design and implementation, assessment, and teaching.
Q: Please introduce yourself to our readers and how you are involved with Daffydil.
I'm Dr. Hosanna Au, a pediatrician here at Sickkids. I mostly do inpatient wards and a little bit of peds clinic. And then the other half of my job is in medical education. This includes teaching, curriculum development and course management for medical students, as well as doing a little bit of faculty development.
In the last couple of years as a course director for ‘Life Cycles’ in second year (because Daffy typically happens at the end of February), both the CPC-1 director and myself have been more engaged with the Daffy students. We'll meet with them in the fall and show them that we're here to support and encourage them. We also want to make sure that students are aware of their academic responsibilities and work to give students certain exceptions for that week in class so they can keep doing what they do. And I was in Daffy when I was a med student!
Q: What has been the most memorable part of being in Daffy so far?
I was part of Daffy when I was in second year in medical school (which was a long time ago—I’m not going to say when). I wanted to join Daffy because I had lived off campus for all of my first year—I was a commuter—and I never really connected with a lot of people. I wanted to participate for that reason. I also have an interest in music and singing. I tried out for a few roles on Daffy and was fortunate enough to be part of the sound and light crew. We got to experiment with what lights we wanted to put together with the music. I had never done this before, so there was a bit of a learning curve, but it was so much fun.
Q: What does Daffy mean to you?
I think I was in awe of my classmates’ abilities and I continue to be amazed every time I watch Daffy now. I think Daffy is a great way to showcase the amazing abilities of the students. And of course, it's a source of donations for the Canadian Cancer Society, which is amazing. I had a friend who passed away from cancer—she was my age—and another who is a cancer survivor. And certainly in my practice here, we see lots of children that have cancer and so I think it's definitely a worthy cause. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!
In terms of my life, I think music and the arts play a big role. For example, music is playing all the time at home, whether it's pop music, worship music, or the radio. During the pandemic, one of the ways that I relaxed was participating in virtual choirs. The Toronto physicians choir was one I participated in. We also play instruments at home, such as the piano or the guitar. Actually, I learned how to play the violin a few years ago as an adult!
