Who’s Josh?

Joshua Liu is a 1st year medical student at the University of Toronto (Class of 2013). Prior to medical school, he studied Biomedical Sciences at York University for three years (Bsc 2009). With a strong passion for mentoring and educating young people, Joshua founded SMARTS: the Youth Science Foundation Canada’s national youth science network, which connects over 300 young people and 200 schools today. He has served on Shad Valley’s Board of Directors and currently sits on the Advisory Board for Youth Canada.

A presenter, panelist, and keynote speaker at numerous student conferences, Joshua has also shared the podium with the likes of Gerry Barr (Co-Chair of Make Poverty History Canada), Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies), and Toronto Mayor David Miller.

Joshua has received numerous scholarships and awards, including the TD Canada Trust Scholarship for Community Leadership and the CIBC Young Miracle Maker Award. He was also named as one of Canada’s “Top 20 Under 20" in 2005.

In August 2008, Joshua created MedHopeful, a blog to log his experience through the medical school admissions process and share what he's learned with other students. Now, Joshua helps run MedChatter so that even more young people can learn and get involved.

Why Medicine?

"Medicine is an interesting career in the sense that we are making a pretty significant life choice with imperfect information. We can shadow and observe all we want as medical schoolhopefuls, but regardless, it isn’t until many years, lots of dollars, and bucks of sweat later that we actually understand what it means to be a doctor. And by the time that day comes, it’s arguably too late to turn back.

Which is why it’s so important, particularly with medicine, to think about your reasons carefully. While you will find similar qualities and experiences in a variety of professions, you want to pick the career that has the right combination for you. At the time of my application, I felt that medicine was a good fit for me for the following reasons:

(1) It would force me to get up everyday and be productive
(2) I would be making a positive impact in the lives of others
(3) The potential for a more dynamic environment
(4) The opportunity to make difficult decisions that matter
(5) To satisfy my interests in neurology
(6) The opportunity to work with young people and children
(7) A stable, good-paying income is always nice"

Why MedChatter?

"I’m interested in medicine, mentorship, education, innovation, entrepreneurship, and youth engagement. So I started MedHopeful to share my ideas, many of which are applicable to the medical school, university, and scholarship application processes.

But that wasn't enough. I wanted to create something that got people more involved and connected. I thought it was important that other students interested in medicine, like yourself, had a platform to experience the same developmental process I have been and continue to go through. A platform for other students to give back to the community and help others succeed in the undergraduate and medical worlds.

Then I met three awesome people (Michael, Kevin, and Jerome), and MedChatter was born."