Getting to know Dr. Katia Faustini, Clerkship Course Director
Dr. Katia Faustini, family physician and Clerkship Course Director has been a member of the McGill University community for over a decade. Admitted to McGill medical school in 2009, she received her MDCM in 2013. She subsequently completed her residency in McGill’s Department of Family Medicine in 2015 and joined the Department as a Faculty Lecturer based at the Queen Elizabeth Health Complex (QEHC) that same year. Also in 2015, Dr. Faustini became a Longitudinal Family Medicine Experience (LFME) preceptor, providing first-year medical students with early exposure to primary care. In 2017, she was named Faculty Development Site Director for the QEHC. Dr. Faustini was appointed LFME Assistant Course Director in 2019 and became the Clerkship Course Director in 2021.
“I joined the Faculty mainly because, having completed my medical school and residency at McGill, I always wanted to be involved in teaching and in improving medical education here,” shares Dr. Faustini, who is a family physician at her own patient practice. “I am passionate about Family Medicine and want to ensure students and residents have the best exposure to this field.” As Family Medicine requires building strong relationships with patients, Dr. Faustini saw a chance to put her extroverted personality to work. “I love interacting with others, so this line of work allows me to have that strong patient-doctor relationship that I believe is one of the cornerstones of good healthcare,” she says.
Dr. Faustini has consistently shown education to be one of her great passions. “I truly believe in giving back to others and the best I can see myself doing this, is by being able to give my time to students and residents and help them further their career,” she explains. “I have had a lot of residents become my colleagues once they graduated, and it is always nice to hear how they appreciated my time and effort in helping them get through their schooling.”
The LFME is an important component in the undergraduate MDCM program at McGill. Each medical student is paired with a preceptor and attends patient sessions starting in the first month of medical school. Dr. Faustini, who has been involved with LFME since she completed her residency, advocates for the valuable experience it provides students. “It allows students to see a glimpse of what a real doctor does, while they are still stuck in the book,” she explains. “It gives students an idea of what their careers can be like and exposes them to Family Medicine right from the beginning. Plus, it is a non-stressful type of experience where they are not graded and can observe and ask questions prior to them having to be in their own clinical rotations.”
Dr. Faustini, who works with students at the QEHC, highlights how unique the team is. “The best thing about the QEHC is the people. From the doctors, to the nurses, to the administration team and the entire residency program, everyone is involved in patient care and in resident care,” she shares. “There is this collegiality and teamwork, especially within the residency program, that creates a comforting environment for not only myself, but for all residents who come into the program."