Meet Julia F. Taylor, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the UVA School of Medicine.
This post is part of a series of interviews with new/junior faculty. Stay tuned for more interviews with your colleagues!
Q: How long have you been at UVA and where were you before you came to UVA?
I have been a faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics and the Center for Biomedical Ethics & Humanities for 4 years, but I’m not new to UVa. I was a pediatric resident and chief resident here and then spent three years in Indianapolis at Riley Children’s Hospital completing my fellowship in adolescent medicine and MA in bioethics.
Q: Is there something that you’ve worked on or accomplished in your career that you’re particularly proud of or glad you were able to experience?
Finding a way to incorporate my love of ethics with my career in academic medicine is something that I’m particularly glad I pursued even though the path forward wasn’t always clear or easy. Not everyone understands why an adolescent medicine fellow might want to get a Masters in bioethics and complete a fellowship in clinical ethics. It made perfect sense to me and now I get to both practice adolescent medicine and contribute to the ethical life of the hospital and wider UVa community.
Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A pediatric neurosurgeon. I found out that there were very few women pediatric neurosurgeons and decided that they obviously needed me to join their ranks. It turned out that in every area of medicine there were too few women and that I didn’t love being in the OR. So, adolescent medicine turned out to be the exact right fit for me because I still get to work with pediatric patients but I also get to watch them grow and develop in to awesome adult humans.
Q: A favorite spot to grab lunch during the day?
I usually bring my lunch and one of my favorite spots to eat it is the Battle Building third floor outdoor sundeck (it probably has a different name, but it is a great place to get outdoors and soak up sunshine during a busy clinic day).
Q: Do you have any children or fur babies at home that you would like to tell us about?
I have two amazing kiddos. A first grader and a three year old who have both taught me to take myself a lot less seriously and to enjoy getting messy and acting silly. I also have a chocolate lab that I have – seriously- considered cloning because he is so happy and easygoing.
Q: Do you have a favorite local restaurant or hangout spot?
That list is pretty long, but Dr. Ho’s and Now and Zen are in my top 5.
Filed Under: Faculty Interviews, Interviews, Junior Faculty Interviews
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