Philipp was born in Germany in 1965 and came to Canada as a one-year-old with his family. He grew up in Saskatoon where he was fascinated with animals from a young age. Philipp first did a bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Saskatchewan before deciding to go into veterinary medicine there. Philipp met his wife, Lorraine, at the veterinary college and when they graduated in 1990 they moved to Winnipeg, Lorraine’s hometown. Philipp started at Birchwood that summer, planning to stay for a couple years. Those “couple years” turned into 35! He retired from seeing patients in August, 2025, but remains a partner in the practice.

Philipp is using his retirement to further his writing career. His first book, ‘The Accidental Veterinarian’, was published by ECW Press in 2019. It’s a collection of stories from his practice. It became a best-seller, and has been translated into Polish, Russian, Hungarian, Czech, and Chinese. Since then he’s published two sequels, ‘How to Examine a Wolverine’ and ‘The Battle Cry of the Siamese Kitten’, a novel, ‘The Willow Wren’, based on his father’s experiences in Nazi Germany, and several titles in a Dr. Bannerman Vet Mystery Series. If you’re curious about his writing, check out his website at www.philippschott.com.

Philipp and Lorraine have two children, Isabel and Alex, a cat named Lillie, and a Shetland Sheepdog named Newton. When he’s not writing, Philipp loves to travel, read, cook, cross-country ski, run, and hike, among many other things!