Tues Jan 16, 2024 - 1230pm

Present: Lexyn, Maharshi, Jennifer, Andrea, Genevieve, Khushi, Maren, Kerry, Teresa, Rafael

Absent: 

Regrets: Shiva, Alam

Minutes

Updates

VP Communications - Lexyn

• Council has agreed on meetings 2x/month

• One during lunch hour (1230-130pm) - food NOT provided

• One during the evenings - food PROVIDED

• Jess (social media) onboarded and has fully taken over the IG

• Joweria (IT) working on website edits!

• Let me know if you have any ideas for changes :)

VP Academics - Shiva, Alam

• Represent class on Pre-Clerkship Committee (PCC), Student Evaluations Committee (SEC), Clerkship Committee (CC), RIME Pre-Clerkship Committee (RPCC) in January

1. The Unit 4 examination and OSCE from Block 1 will be made available to students in the next calendar week 

2. Block 2 exams can include content from any previous units. Card decks from previous weeks that are included in Block 2 will count as part of that unit for assessment purposes (example: Diabetes from Block 1 is in Unit 5 so it counts for Unit 5), and approximately 10% of the remaining questions will come from previous material (example: For Unit 5 test, the 10% of previous questions will come from Units 1-4) 

3. Flex Days: There will be a 6 half day flex policy that will be implemented instead of the current 3 full day policy. This is estimated to take 1 month approximately from now, although this is subject to change. After implementation, students can utilize this feature on Osler.

4. Exam Vote: We will be distributing a form for the class to vote on whether then last exam of the unit (typically shorter in length than previous units, predominantly questions from that unit with a few questions from previous units) should remain in the same format or the test content questions should be distributed more equally across all units (more like a cumulative block exam). 

VP Finance - Jennifer

• Pulled together a budget review deck to go through in the next CMSA meeting (will circulate it before then)

• Budget will be due March 1, each respective VP will have to put together a draft budget for 2024-2025 by mid-February 

VP Events - Anesa

• Winter formal total of 148 guests attended, with a $2400 surplus in profit that will go towards graduation budget (157 signed up) (please fill out feedback forms) 

• Currently working with Julia Z. to plan Jersey selection and Nicknaming ceremony. Aiming to plan this event in mid-February. Will coordinate with UME and the Professionalism Committee to get all nicknames approved before the bidding happens.

• Starting to plan Class of 2027 Orientation - will be meeting with Sarah Weeks/UME to facilitate more cohesion between the academic and student-led orientation events. Please let us know if you have any changes you’d like to see for the incoming class orientation!

• Will be meeting with MMI reps this week to discuss interview weekends. Interviews are happening in-person this year so need to coordinate in-person vs. zoom coffee chats as well as activities for interviewees while they’re in Calgary. Also need to communicate with the class ASAP to see if anyone can volunteer to help lead these sessions. Are there any ideas for interview weekend mixers that people might have? 

• Considering planning a ski trip with Umberto (Athletics Director). Not entirely sure of the feasibility because there would be no funding and students would pay for trip out of pocket. 

• Recruitment for Ice Bowl and Med Games is ongoing

• Will be starting to work alongside Kerry (EDI) to plan a multicultural event in the spring

VP Global Health - Genevieve

• Met with Dr. Amy Gausvik in December 2023 to discuss collaboration with Indigenous Local & Global Health Office 

• Currently no communications coordinator 

• For community engagement/advocacy/panels, etc. suggested contacting Lisa Yeo FIRST (and not reaching out independently) 

• Scheduling first of two Global Health Town Halls in February 

VP External (Provincial) - Maren

• Elected in a PARA representative - VP Provincial portfolio is now complete 

• Onboarded to CPSA council 

• AMA Committee on Student affairs 

• To meet with at the end of month to discuss launching a student led program to increase social media engagement for AMA advocacy

• AMA representative forum set for March 15th-16th 

• External affairs committee 

• With VP National sent out the final round of conference funding to students. We pulled from the VP provincial AMA stipend that I will not be receiving this year as the position switches to UofA - this means we will need to consider other sources of funding if the number of applications remains high. 

• To meet with Dr. Bromley to continue discussions with UME about reallocating funding sources. 

• Provincial Day of Action - date TBD in late April 

VP External (National) - Maharshi

• Pushing SIGs from CFMS for the rest of this month

• RRT Meeting

• Lots of difficulty getting programs to support current event-related initiatives.

• Clerkship variances across schools. It's getting worse at places like Queens. Our class has a clerkship event in March, and the Spinies got electives in February after an initial core block (this is the first class that got this). We should ensure that this carries forward for our class.

VP SAW - Khushi

• Student Run Tutoring Program is now up and running 

• taking in submissions from students and the goal is to hold 2 sessions a month 

• We care committee: Birthday parties each month + personalized card making for everyone 

• WAR meetings will be up and running soon once new reps are selected 

• Meeting monthly with SAWH team 

• Med lounge received a bunch of new supplies which is very exciting! 

VP EDI - Kerry

• Met with Dr. Naomi Lear, Dr. Amy Gausvik, and the Professionalism, Equity, and Social Justice Office (PESJO) to discuss incorporating EDI into the curriculum

• Recruiting for the admissions committee representative (I made the mistake of not having a word cap, and am currently regretting it)

• Meeting with Dr. Sarah Anderson later today to discuss incorporating more gender-inclusive language into anatomy

President - Rafael

• CMSA Advocacy Survey is being finalized and prepared for distribution to the class

• Would gladly appreciate help promoting and encouraging our classmates to fill it out!

• The responses gathered from students could help us brainstorm and plan future initiatives and projects, as well as formulate a strategic plan for our council

• Meeting with Dr. Amy Bromley (Associate Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education) - January 12, 2024

• Discussed several topics, among them including: 

• The “Calls to Action” and our statement, specifically the current progress of our statement and when we will be releasing it

• Considerations for improving the letter and modifying the language (i.e., making the letter less inflammatory, consulting with groups using a professional third-party facilitation service provided by the UME, concerns of faculty resigning from teaching positions and the strain this will put on our education, etc.)

• Considerations for overturning decisions made by previous councils (i.e., we are not bound by decisions made in previous meetings, so long as we agree on a new decision and direction—especially if we feel that our council has different needs/priorities than the previous one)

• Resources available for learning how to talk to the media (in case media outlets reach out to the CMSA for statements)

• Resources available through SAW for stress around leadership

• Some of my plans and projects as the CMSA President, specifically regarding interprofessional high school outreach initiative

• Accreditation Meetings on January 24-25

• Student volunteers have been assigned to the Pre-Accreditation Review sessions on January 24-25

• There was a lot of interest in attending these sessions, so unfortunately not everyone was able to attend. However, there will be plenty of future opportunities to get involved with the accreditation process, so if you are interested please let me know and I can keep you informed!

• iCAM/CFMS Spring General Meeting in Vancouver, April 11-13 2024

• UME will be funding 3 representatives to attend (President - Rafael, VP Academics - Shiva, VP SAW - Khushi) as per the UME Travel Policy

• CMSA will be funding 2 representatives to attend (VP External National - Maharshi, VP Community and Global Health - Genevieve) as per the UME Travel Policy

• Additional representatives can be funded through CMSA funds, external grants (UME Conference Fund, SU Travel Fund, CFMS Travel Equity Fund), or out-of-pocket

• Meeting with SAW (Dr. Carolyn Hutchinson - Assistant Dean of Student Advocacy and Wellness Hub, Dr. Naomi Lear - Associate Director) - December 20, 2023

• Discussed concerns in the Class of 2026 and how the SAW office can better support students in the upcoming block. Topics included:

• Supports for those affected by the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict

• Additional resources for mistreatment. Specifically, hosting a workshop/event that discusses what mistreatment looks like, how to deal with mistreatment at the moment/if witnessed, what mechanisms are in place to report mistreatment, etc.

• General concerns regarding the unpredictability of RIME and not knowing what to expect in the coming months, lack of communication with UME

• Interprofessional High School Outreach Initiative - Ongoing

• Contacted Undergraduate Research Initiative at UAlberta to get more information about their “More Minds Initiative”, and was referred to Parker Wengryn (MD Student at UAlberta and the lead of this initiative)

• I will be meeting with Parker in the following days to discuss his initiative and get ideas for how to start a similar project at UCalgary

• If anyone is interested in collaborating on this project, let me know!

• Upcoming Class President’s Meeting on January 30

• Will be discussing general class updates with the UME

• If there are any topics/questions you would like me to voice directly, let me know!

• Misc. Updates + Future Considerations

• UpToDate subscription access will be expiring in 2026. We will need to decide as a council if we would like to continue providing this service to students and, if so, re-negotiate funding with UME and external sources

• If additional representatives want to attend iCAM in Vancouver in April, we must look into external funding sources. 

• We will also need to discuss who we would like to send to the CFMS Annual General Meeting in September (location TBD), and the Western Dean’s Meeting in Winnipeg in October.

• We will have to update the CMSA Constitution to reflect that we now have 2 VP Event positions. Other constitutional updates/suggestions are also welcome for consideration.

Agenda

Previous Meeting Minutes Approval

2 minutes–Lexyn

• Mover: Rafael

• Seconder: Maharshi 

Introductions and Housekeeping

5 minutes–Lexyn

• Meeting minutes will be sent a few days prior to meeting. As a reminder of what to do for each section of the minutes:

• Minutes: Things you have done since the last meeting, but don’t necessarily want to discuss. Filling this out will be helpful for your section of the quarterly reports.

• Agenda: Important discussion points

• Action Items: To do’s post-meeting

• Did everyone get access to the meeting minutes folder?

• Minutes will be updated to the website by Joweria once minutes have been approved

• This means meeting minutes will be PUBLIC!!!!!!

January Elections

5 minutes–Lexyn

• Need to plan ASAP w/ Asees

Co2027 Orientation

10 minutes–Lexyn (as Director of Orientation) & Anesa 

• Should we add an orientation fee?

• CMSA budget line for orientation for our class was $7k

• not including med gala and stethoscope ceremony

• Bella said events went over budget for our orientation

• This could allow us more flexibility for food at events

• How much?

• Bella suggested around $20

• Optional?

• Could be hard to confirm who has paid vs not

• Wristbands?

• Con - they would have to wear it for a long time

• Any other ideas?

• Thoughts

• hard to implement in orientation specifically 

• idea - increase CMSA fee that is already implemented

• allocate increased fee to orientation 

• we need to be transparent about what that fee is for 

• con to this - can’t use this money for alcohol 

• might need to charge separately for amazing race alcohol

• idea - shift some med gala budget to orientation

• decision - no for now, revisit soon

• VP Finance in charge of organizing sponsors for t-shirts

• grey shirt to match our backpacks

• need to pay more for colored printing?

Meeting with Dr. Amy Bromley (Associate Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education)

5 minutes–Rafael

• Dr. Bromley has kindly welcomed the opportunity to meet with the CMSA council to introduce herself and discuss any concerns/questions that you may have

• She has asked us to provide some dates/times and whether we would like to meet in-person or over Zoom

• Estimated meeting time ~1 hour

• Determine availability with a poll or should I provide Dr. Bromley with some general times that we are not in class? (e.g., Wed-Fri mornings during asynchronous Professional Role)

Diversifying our Standardized Patients

2 minutes–Kerry

• Diversifying the SPs we have has been something the various people in the UME and students have been pushing for

• Medical skills is its own department, and they have been resistant to change

• There are plans to for a petition to call on medical skills to diversify their standardized patients

Calls to Action

10 minutes–Kerry

• What are our next steps regarding the Calls to Actions we have signed? We need to what we will be doing moving forward.

• WE NEED TO BE VERY VERY CAREFUL WHEN APPROACHING THIS LETTER

• Dr. Bromley said UME is offering professional facilitator to sit with us and advocacy groups to have mediated consultation (fully funded)

• Logistics of this?

• who is invited? how would we invite?

• UME can set up the meeting for us, but they will not be involved 

• To keep in mind, we represent the class of 2026, not 2025

• Encourage a Joint Calls to Action/Statement

• We need to determine what changes were made to this

• Decision to send out letter as is has been overturned by anonymous poll → 91% voted no, officially overturning poll completed in December with the Spiny council

Developing the 2024-2025 Budget - PUSHED

2 minutes–Jennifer

Student Run Tutoring Program - PUSHED

? minutes–Khushi

VP Events update - PUSHED

5-10 minutes–Anesa

• Winter formal - Success! :) 

• MMI mixer events - Ideas? 

• Ski trip - Input? 

• Jersey and nicknaming - ongoing! :) 

Action Items

• Check Rules about Students Attending CMSA Exec Meetings

• Talk to Dr. Bromley about setting up Calls to Action meeting with us, facilitator and advocacy groups 

• Invite her for the first half of our next meeting - Raf will coordinate

• Review slides sent out by Jennifer - budget due March 1

• Think of MMI mixer events!