UGME 2023 Annual Report

We are thrilled to share with you the UGME 2023 Annual Report! This comprehensive report encapsulates the remarkable achievements, research opportunities, and transformative educational endeavors undertaken by our faculty, staff, and students throughout the past year. From innovative curriculum enhancements to impactful community outreach initiatives, the report showcases the McMaster University Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine’s unwavering commitment to excellence in education, research, and patient care.

BMSA Black History Month Events Foster Community

The McMaster Black Medical Students Association (BMSA) recently hosted a series of successful events in celebration of Black History Month. These included a speaker event featuring Dr. Anya McLaren-Barnett, Dr. Nwachukwu Nwebeube, and Dr. Ryan Williams, as well as a special screening of Coach Carter with Dr. Bell. Additionally, students gathered for a lively Paint & Sip Night at the WRC and a Talent Showcase on February 26th, highlighting the talents of Black artists and creatives. These events not only celebrated Black history and culture but also fostered connections and camaraderie among attendees. For more information on future events and initiatives, be sure to check out the BMSA Instagram page.

MMMP: Enhancing St. Joe's Through Art

The Mac Med Mural Project (MMMP) is dedicated to enriching St. Joe's environment with decorated ceiling tiles aimed at promoting wellness and creating a soothing atmosphere. You can make a difference by sponsoring last year's tiles here, supporting patients and healthcare workers while fostering creativity among McMaster University medical students. Welcome to the new chairs, Amanda and Felix, overseeing the creation of 32 vibrant tiles from over 60 talented student participants.

Join our Student Advisor Program

The UGME program will be looking for faculty interested in joining our Student Advising Program in September 2024. As an advisor, you will be paired with 2 students from the incoming class each September and work with these students longitudinally until they graduate. It is a lovely opportunity to get to know students on a more personal level and provide guidance as they navigate learning medicine while selecting their career path. Advising is a voluntary position, with educational activity hours credit. For more information, please contact Michelle Hall in Student Affairs or our Director of Student Advising, Dr. Heather Whittingham.

Share Your Research and Achievements

The UGME program invites you to share your recent research, awards, and achievements with us. We want to highlight the hard work and world-class research being done by faculty in our program. Your contributions will be spotlighted on our social media platforms and newsletters. To have your accomplishments featured please email a summary of the accomplishment, a photo, and any relevant links.

Addressing Disability in Medical Education

Shira Gertsman (c24), Yasmin Dini (c24), Devon Wilton (c23), and Shane Neilson (Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct), Family Medicine) published their research, “Tackling barriers in Canadian medical school admissions for students with disabilities”, in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. They found that the inclusion of students with disabilities in medical education can enhance health systems, yet technical standards and rigid admission criteria often overlook capable individuals. The absence of publicly available data on medical students or applicants with disabilities in Canada perpetuates discriminatory practices, highlighting the need for consistent, transparent accommodations policies informed by lived experiences and intersectionality. Read their research here.

Celebrate Your Medical School Journey at the Dean's Dinner

Class of 2024, join us on Thursday, April 25, 2024, for the Dean's Dinner. Embrace this opportunity to commemorate the milestones achieved during your medical school journey. Two McMaster alumni will be joining the event to share their experiences in the medical profession. Having successfully completed our UGME program, one of them continued their journey with our PGME program. Together, they offer valuable insights into both stages of medical education. A formal invitation will be sent your way shortly, ensuring you don't miss out.

Additionally, take advantage of the opportunity to share your wisdom and insights with the incoming class through the tradition of the White Coat Note. This tradition is highly valued as it allows graduating students to offer guidance and advice to the next generation of physicians. Your note will be a meaningful gesture of support, tucked into the pockets of their white coats during the White Coat Ceremony, marking the beginning of their medical school journey. 

Call for Abstracts for MMSRD 2024

The McMaster Medical Student Research Day (MMSRD) is now accepting abstracts for the conference on May 1, 2024. The MMSRD is an annual conference that highlights the importance of research in medicine by providing a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue, research networking, and a celebration of the research successes in the McMaster MD Program.

The MMSRD is an opportunity for medical students to present their research findings, receive feedback from expert judges, and to learn from experienced clinicians and researchers! To celebrate the 15th Annual MMSRD, the organizing committee has put together an exciting program of keynotes and workshop events.

Submit your abstracts to the Google form if you are interested in presenting your research. Submissions close on March 22, 2024 at 11:59pm. Please note you are also able to submit research done within the past 2 years in a previous degree or research that is not yet completed!

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding the conference or the submission of abstracts.

Recognizing Learning Environment Champions

The Office of Learning Environment and Mistreatment (OLEM) is a stand-alone office in the Faculty of Health Sciences; its purpose is to identify and address mistreatment experienced and witnessed by UGME, PGME, or PAEP students in a learning environment. McMaster UGME learners can confidentially or anonymously report student mistreatment. More information can be found on the OLEM website or by contacting OLEM via email.

UGME learners can also visit the OLEM website or access the nomination form HERE to let the program know if an individual has gone the extra mile to enhance their med school experience, such as a faculty member, a resident, a peer, or a non-physician hospital employee. Your nominee could receive a commendation letter and a custom pin!

Mach-Gaensslen Foundation 2024 Undergraduate Summer Research Award

The Office of Learning Environment and Mistreatment (OLEM) is a stand-alone office in the Faculty of Health Sciences; its purpose is to identify and address mistreatment experienced and witnessed by UGME, PGME, or PAEP students in a learning environment. McMaster UGME learners can confidentially or anonymously report student mistreatment. More information can be found on the OLEM website or by contacting OLEM via email.

UGME learners can also visit the OLEM website or access the nomination form here to let the program know if an individual has gone the extra mile to enhance their med school experience, such as a faculty member, a resident, a peer, or a non-physician hospital employee. Your nominee could receive a commendation letter and a custom pin!

Share Your Research and Achievements

The UGME program invites you to share your recent research, awards, and achievements with us. We want to highlight the hard work and world-class research being done by learners in our program. Your contributions will be spotlighted on our social media platforms and newsletters. To have your accomplishments featured please email a summary of the accomplishment, a photo, and any relevant links.

Class of 2024

We were thrilled to see the very strong student turnouts for our two virtual interview tour preparation LGS sessions led by SA at the end of December and early January that had a variety of first-year Resident guest panelists who had completed their virtual tours the year prior and also the strong turnout for the final virtual LGS for your class of 2024 on Tuesday night, February 6th entitled "The Home Stretch" where information was shared regarding rank-order list decisions and what happens both the day before (opt-in/opt-out), on, and after Match Day on March 19th.

With the final rank-order lists due to be submitted no later than the afternoon of Feb. 29th, we encourage you to thoroughly explore the available Ranking Decision resources on Medportal — if you haven't already! Please follow this thread: Undergrad > Student Affairs > Your Career Journey > Tab 7 Ranking and the Match

Also, our annual post-interview tour survey request has been sent out - thank you very much to everyone who has had the opportunity to complete it already and for those who haven't had the chance to do so yet, please find the time when you can to complete this important survey to support future classes allow us to continually enhance our Student Affairs programming.

Class of 2025

A variety of 30-minute career counselling appointments are available to book online using the Jane app. anytime. Once the c2024 class match cycle has ended in April, we will begin having opportunities for longer, more in-depth first and second-round career counselling appointments of an hour-long for every student in support of their upcoming CaRMS application cycle.

Class of 2026

A variety of 30-minute career counselling appointments are also available to book online using the Jane app. anytime.  A career counsellor would be happy to discuss any career-related questions you might have in your first year such as career and specialty exploration, building up a stronger CV, and how to network most effectively as a medical student. Also, please make sure if you haven't already to check out the updated Professional Development Resource Document (updated Nov. 2023) which lists helpful and important information on aspects such as specialty-specific and other types of society/association memberships available to medical students and related events such as annual conferences and meetings. Please follow this thread: Undergrad > Student Affairs > Your Career Journey > Tab 4 CV's and Documents > Professional Development Resource Document (PDF document, 20 pages in length) 

Career Counselling

For individual support on any career-related questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to your Career Counsellors! Click here to book your appointment with us!

Learning Assistance

Study tips for the OSCE, NBME, and more can be found on the Learning Assistance page, under Other Assessments 

Do you use Lecturio or Deranged Physiology? If so, what do you think about these resources?

If you don't already follow Liz and Mollie on social media, you might give them a look; deceptively simple illustrations that put complexities in context with spot-on perspective-taking and humor (procrastination, progress, success, feedback, friendship, and much more)

C2024: for the MCCQE, use resources directly from the the MCCQE website, and AMBOSS' free MCCQE study guide; we have a link to it on our Learning Assistance page in Medportal, find it under 'Other Assessments' (FYI, we get no kickbacks from AMBOSS).

Franco Info

Do you know how to talk about the residency match in French? Explore le jumelage and les descriptions des programmes by visiting the CaRMS website, en français.

Do you know how to say health advocate in French? Hint: it is not 'avocat de la santé'! Explore the CanMeds roles en français.