MedEdPublish (Dec 2018)
Shifting the paradigm in outreach to under-represented groups
Abstract
The Community of Support (COS) is a longitudinal and collaborative initiative that enables students who are Indigenous, Black, Filipino, economically disadvantaged, or who self-identify with having a disability to join and receive support at any stage of their medical school journey. The goal of COS is to increase diversity in the fields of research and medicine, as a diverse physician taskforce is essential to meeting the needs of Canada's patient population. Our program supports students at various points in their academic careers, beginning from first year of undergrad to end of PhD and into the workforce. We offer a variety of support systems that aim to address gaps and empower students. Our three-pronged approach provides COS members with support at the levels of i) admissions information, ii) mentorship and experiential opportunities, and iii) application support (including MCAT prep). Over the past 3 years, we have grown to include over 1,100 participants at various stages of their medical school journeys, from first year undergraduate students to university graduates from institution across Canada. As a result, in just three years, we have supported over 80 students with successful admissions to medical school, and alumni from CoS are now represented in 11/15 Canada's medical schools, with a growing number of US schools, such as Yale University, George Washington, Michigan State and Wayne State.
