Iulia Cornila is a second-year psychiatry resident at Victoria Hospital.
February 10, 2025
At London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), medical residents are integral to providing high-quality patient care, driving research and innovation, and shaping the future of health-care education. Each February, hospitals across Canada celebrate Resident Doctors Appreciation Week to recognize the vital contributions residents make. This year, we celebrate residents from February 10-14.
Medical residents are physicians who have completed their medical degrees and are now undergoing specialized training in a chosen field or subfield. As one of the country’s leading teaching and research hospitals, LHSC provides residents with exceptional opportunities to contribute to groundbreaking discoveries and innovative care. With over one million patient visits annually, the hospital supports approximately 780 residents actively training in 16 departments and 37 divisions.
“Resident Doctors Appreciation Week is a chance for us to show our gratitude to the residents at LHSC for their indispensable role in patient care,” says Dr. Adam Dukelow, Integrated Vice President of Medical and Academic Affairs for LHSC and St. Joseph’s Health Care London. “I would like to personally thank these dedicated individuals for their tireless efforts to enhance health outcomes for patients, all while committing themselves fully to their journey as learners."
For Iulia Cornila, a second-year psychiatry resident at Victoria Hospital, the journey to her chosen specialty has been a path of self-discovery. Reflecting on her career choice, she admits that psychiatry wasn’t initially on her radar.
“Looking back, I realize my interest in psychiatry was there all along, even if I didn’t recognize it at first,” she explains. “This field offers a unique opportunity to engage with the complexities of the human mind—an effort to categorize, understand, and measure what often seems indefinable.”
As she navigates her residency, Iulia finds profound fulfillment in the balance between building expertise and staying humble in the face of the unknown.
“What I find most rewarding about being a resident is the tension between expertise and humility that defines this stage of my career,” she shares. “I bring a foundation of knowledge, yet I am also acutely aware of how much there is still to learn.”
Iulia credits the supportive environment at Victoria Hospital for her growth as a resident.
“I’m eternally grateful to the place and people that allow me the opportunity to refine my skillset,” she says. “While I have the privilege of being featured by LHSC during Resident Appreciation Week, there are thousands of other residents who are essential to the hospital and Canadian health-care system with whom this recognition is shared.”
With her passion for psychiatry and her dedication to learning, Iulia is an inspiring example of health-care professionals who are shaping the future of mental health care.