Our Committee

As a subset of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada, we are a committee of medical students from across Canada collectively committed to supporting student interest in rural and remote medicine.  Our aim is to increase the visibility of and engagement in student-relevant rural and remote medicine initiatives nation-wide.

Our committee includes student representatives from medical schools across Canada. Committee members contribute to subcommittees working on specific initiatives, as student representatives on SRPC Physician Committees and as liaisons between their medical school communities and the SRPC.

Our growing committee includes liaisons from the schools listed below.

Check below to see which of your classmates represents your school.

Don’t see your school on the list? It is our goal to have representation from each of the 17 schools across the country, but we still need to fill some of those spots!  Contact us at chairstudents@srpc.ca if you know someone who could fill one of these vacancies.

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School Liaisons

• Alberta: Catherine Palme (2022)

• UBC (South): Emily Wiesenthal (2023)

• UBC (North): Caitlin Blewett (2022)

• Calgary: Gemma Percival (2021)

• Dalhousie: Sina Sedighi (2023)
• Manitoba: Corli Barnes (2022)
• McMaster: Elisabeth Fortier (2022)
• McGill: Patrick Mooney (2021)
• MUN: Emma Barlow (2021)
• NOSM: Erika Lau (2022)
• Ottawa: Marie-Ève Dufour (2021)
• Queens: Jehan Irfan (2024)
• Saskatchewan: Lauren Klammer (2023)
• Western: Courtney Fleming (2023)
• Toronto: Muskaan Sachdeva (2022)
• Western: Courtney Fleming (2023)

Our committee doesn’t stop there!  We have members working on numerous projects.  For more information, contact your school liaison above, join the student Listserv and get connected with us via social media!

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Upcoming Events

Events

   

Have an event you’d like added to the calendar?  Send us an email request

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Current Initiatives

We have been expanding our SRPC Student Committee team recently and are working to form connections with all Canadian medical schools. Below are some of the exciting projects that we are currently working on! 

Rural Outreach & Mentorship Initiative (ROMI)

The Rural Outreach & Mentorship Initiative (ROMI) offers free one-on-one mentorship for high school students from rural communities interested in exploring a career in medicine. 

ROMI is recruiting high school students to join our 2020-2021 program! We are looking for grade 9-12 students from rural or remote areas that are interested in being partnered 1-on-1 with a medical student mentor with the option of participating in our monthly virtual panel discussions. Interested? Please complete this Google Form. 

Rural & Isolated Support Endeavor (RISE)

The Rural & Isolated Support Endeavor (RISE) was created by a working group of the SRPC Student Committee with the goal to emotionally support clients who live in rural areas across Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our initiative partners medical students with clients in rural communities across Canada to provide weekly check-ins via phone and social connection.

We are looking for RISE program volunteers! For more information about RISE and to volunteer, please check out the recruitment form.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the RISE team at rise.srpc@gmail.com.

Rural Residency Catalogue

No matter what point you are at in medical school, it is never too early to start thinking about residency! With the number of rural options available throughout Canada, it can become overwhelming trying to learn about them all.

The Student Rural Residency Catalogue sub-committee has released its third version of the Canadian Rural Residency Catalogue for the 2021 CaRMs cycle. The catalogue includes some quick points about each program and demographic information for each city/town that hosts a rural residency program. This year we have included resident testimonials. Please see the survey listed below if you have a testimonial you would like to share, otherwise we will be reaching out again in the summer/fall!

Our student members have worked hard to keep this document as up to date as possible by contacting CaRMs and every program coordinator, but can sometimes miss new sites as they are created. A survey is linked on page 2 for any feedback you may have! 

While this has been developed with input from the residency programs, it is not designed in any way to replace the information that is available via CaRMS. If there is a contradiction between information presented in the catalogue and that presented elsewhere, then the information from CaRMS or directly from the school should be taken as correct.

Students of Rural Medicine Blog

This blog is designed for Canadian medical learners to reflect on their rural and remote experiences, share stories with others, and learn about the ways that the our national network of peers are engaging with rural medical practice and community. Click the link below to view the blog!

https://studentsofruralmedicine.wordpress.com/

Have a story to share? Send in your submission here.

If you have any questions, reach out to us at srpcstudentoutreach@gmail.com.

Rural Electives Catalogue **ON HOLD due to lack of visiting electives**

This is in the works. Picture this as your one-stop shop for planning rural electives as a medical student. This is meant to complement the AFMC student portal, focusing on rural and remote elective opportunities that may not be associated with a school.  Here you will find information about the various locations across Canada that accept learners, what specialties are available in each location, how to apply to them, and practical details about the areas. 

Additionally - a rural filter for the AFMC portal is coming! (Once visiting electives are opened again). In lieu of visiting electives, check out the National Events Calendar to learn about residency programs by joining virtual info sessions, resident academic days and meetings with the Program Directors.

Annual Rural & Remote Conference

Each year, the Rural and Remote course, organized by SRPC, offers a wonderful opportunity for medical students to learn about rural medicine. Unfortunately, this year's Rural and Remote course was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 29th Annual Rural and Remote medicine course will take place April 22-24th, 2021.

Since we were not able to see you at Rural & Remote 2020, we put together some slideshows for the presentations we planned on delivering! We know things will be pretty different for folks applying for electives and CaRMS this year, but we hope these slideshows can inspire some students about the future and motivate others to brainstorm while they have time. These are not meant to stress you out, just mix things up during a tumultuous time. Enjoy, and please let us know if you have questions or feedback. 

CaRMS Primer:  Tips for preparing for CaRMS as a rural applicant

Rural Elective Across Canada:  A sampling of electives, including one from each province!

Social Isolation handout, designed for the general public

 

Click on Image to print the PDF

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Contests

Rural Electives Photo Contest

It's no secret that one of the many benefits of rural medicine is the ability to experience the beautiful rural and remote parts of Canada. Share a cool picture of rural Canada for a chance to win a $25 gift card of your choice! The photo could be of the hospital or clinic that you worked at, some scenery you saw, an activity you participated in during your spare time there, or anything else you can think of! Please remember to always maintain patient confidentiality and receive consent from anyone featured in your photograph. 

Submit photos via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We look forward to seeing your submission soon!

Submission deadline: January 31st, 2021

Photo Contest

   

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Rural Student Leadership Award

The Rural Student Leadership Awards are presented to students and residents in good academic standing who have demonstrated a sustained interest in rural medicine. Find more information about application/nomination requirements here. Cash prizes of $250 will be awarded to the two student winners. 

Submit your application/nomination to jennak@srpc.ca.

Deadline for submission: January 31st each year. 

Entrant must be a member of the SRPC.  Find more information on this contest here.

Medical Student Essay Contest

Each year, the SRPC Nomination and Awards Committee hosts a rural essay contest for medical students.  Students are instructed to submit a nonfiction essay with a rural elective theme. The winners’ essays will be considered for publication in the Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine. The winner will also win a $500 Cash Prize.

Length: 500 - 1000 words. Contest opens September 1st each year. 

Deadline for submission: December 31st each year.

Print the #SRPC2021 Essay contest flyer here

Submit your essay to: jennak@srpc.ca

Entrant must be a member of the SRPC.  Find more information on this contest here.

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DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL MARCH 15TH, 2021

Rural Research Poster Presentation

Each year, a rural research poster session is hosted at the SRPC’s Rural & Remote Conference. Poster proposals must include a clear research purpose, objectives, methodology, summary of the research results, and conclusion. Posters will be judged on rural relevance, research methodology, impact, clarity of presentation and ability to answer questions regarding your research.  The winner of best student research poster will win $500 cash prize.

Deadline for submission: March 15, 2021.  Stay tuned for the contest open date each year.

Submit your proposal as a Microsoft Word or PDF document to: rrsubmissions@srpc.ca

Print the #SRPC2021 Research Poster flyer here

Entrant must be a member of the SRPC. Find more information on this contest here

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