Medicine student honoured with prestigious national award

By Danica Hidalgo Cherewyk

Third-year Max Rady College of Medicine student JJ Mao has received a 2026 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF) Award for Medical Students. The award is presented to 16 exceptional medical students across Canada and recognizes academic excellence, leadership, communication skills and a commitment to advancing medical knowledge.  

“I had to read the email a couple of times because I couldn't believe it,” she said. “It's heartwarming to know people recognize my work.”

Mao received a $5,000 cash prize and a travel subsidy to attend the 2027 CMHF Induction Ceremony in Montreal, where she will network with newly inducted CMHF laureates who are Canadian pioneers in medicine.   

A path home to medicine

Mao was teaching Grade 9 students science and math in Toronto when she decided to pursue medicine.

“I applied to the University of Manitoba,” she said. “I wanted to come home. My family is here, and I really wanted to support my community in Winnipeg that helped shape who I am today.”

Mao, who grew up in Toronto, lived in Winnipeg while earning her high school diploma and then returned to Toronto to complete a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in education at Queen's University. 

Mao pursued medicine because she enjoys helping and working with people.

“It's a real privilege to be with someone during some of the scariest moments in their lives and to help them through that,” she said.

Mao has founded grassroots initiatives and supported organizations dedicated to improving the mental health and well-being of youth in marginalized and racialized communities.

“I'm truly inspired by youth,” she said. “They have so much creativity. They haven't been bogged down by so many systems for as long, so they aren't confined in the same way that we are. There's so much beauty in that — in being able to see things clearly, speak incredibly freely and love so purely.” 

Exploring teamwork in health care

Mao recently completed her B.Sc. (Med.) summer research project, part of a two-year research program. Her research was supervised by Dr. Joanne Hamilton, director, office of innovation and scholarship in medical education (ISME) Max Rady College of Medicine, and Dr. Christen Rachul, director of research, ISME.

“We looked at interprofessional collaboration in Manitoba team-based care settings,” she said. “We explored what learners need to know about team-based practice and how that can be incorporated into curriculum development.”

Mao said their research findings confirmed that interprofessional collaboration is critically important, as previous studies suggest. Their most significant finding was that students should focus on being receptive to learning from others.

“What we found is most important is that students like me approach teams with an open heart and an open mind and are willing to learn from everyone, including health-care professionals who are not physicians, such as nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other members of the health-care team,” she said.

“We're trying to shift the curriculum from focusing on what a nurse does versus what a physician does to focusing on how we can better work together as a team and learn from one another.” 

The power of mentorship

One aspect of medical education that Mao particularly appreciates is the abundance of mentorship opportunities.  

“There's always someone to work with and talk to,” she said. “People share their knowledge so generously.”

As a marginalized person herself, Mao said she sometimes feels at a disadvantage.

Mentors in the college, including Dr. Faisal Siddiqui, associate head of educational affairs in anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine; emergency resident Dr. Marissa Antoniuk; and fourth-year medical student Akhil Ramdoyal, a recipient of the 2025 CMHF Award for Medical Students, have helped her overcome those doubts.

Mao is also grateful for ongoing support from Dr. Lee Airton and Dr. Thashika Pillay of Queen’s University, and Sofia Melendez of Toronto Metropolitan University.

“My mentors have really helped clear that out of my mind. They have opened doors I never would have thought to open myself,” she said.  

“To have people support me regardless of what I end up choosing, and simply support me for being myself, is an incredibly beautiful thing.”