The annual Biomedical Youth Camp hosts students in Grades 6 to 12 who may not otherwise have the financial means to attend summer programs.

In just two months, the undergraduate medical education (UGME) program in the Max Rady College of Medicine will undergo accreditation.

The rigorous UGME accreditation occurs every eight years by the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).

This is the first of several blogs in the lead up to our UGME accreditation site visit April 28-May 1, 2019.

UGME accreditation is a collaborative effort by the Max Rady College of Medicine, the Rady Integrated Accreditation Unit and all levels of stakeholders: faculty, students (who work extremely hard on their Independent Student Analysis [ISA]), WRHA/Shared Health, senior leadership, administrative supports.

Thanks to the many faculty and staff who have been preparing for our accreditation site visit since our last accreditation –and to our dedicated students who’ve put in hundreds of hours to complete the ISA survey and report. Activity has ramped up since our mock accreditation in 2018. In the last year, we have held an accreditation town hall, Accreditation Boot camp for a cross section of leaders, faculty and staff and will be holding the second boot camp April 2.

Accreditation is a comprehensive process to ensure that we deliver and provide high quality education to develop and train high quality health-care professionals to serve our community.  In order for us to reach ‘fully accredited’ status, we must follow and meet 96 elements in 12 standards.

I want to highlight a few areas of strength at this time and encourage all faculty, staff  and students in the Max Rady College of Medicine to review important information, our data collection instrument (DCI) and all of our accreditation documents:

1. A focus on social accountability at the learner and organizational level (STANDARD 1 Mission Planning, Organization, and Integrity):

• As a commitment to being accountable to the social realities of our community, the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences Social Accountability Committee was created to identify initiatives, recommend implementation strategies and monitor the outcomes of social accountability priorities.
• The Rady Faculty of Health Science established an Office of Community Engagement in February 2018, tasked with coordinating community engagement, service learning and volunteer opportunities for learners across the faculty. It has developed partnerships with 85 organizations. In 2018, 425 students participated in visits to community partners
• Med students in first and second years are required to fulfill 46 hours of service learning, which engage learners with community organizations and agencies addressing the social determinants of health. U of M leads the country in mandating service learning as part of the curriculum.
• Additionally, our UGME curriculum includes the longitudinal Population Health and Indigenous Health courses, which run for the first three years of the UGME curriculum.
• As a college and faculty, we have supported socially accountable projects in Winnipeg, such as Habitat for Humanity of which the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences has participated in four builds over the past six years. Other projects include the Biomedical Youth Program, CanU Reach program, Sunshine House and the Winnipeg Interprofessional Student-Run Health (WISH) Clinic.

2. A commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (STANDARD 3 Academic and Learning Environments):

• The Max Rady College of Medicine has an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) policy and Faculty-wide committee. The EDI Committee works to advise upon, maintain and incorporate concepts of equity, diversity and inclusion into the faculty’s learning and working environments.
• The Max Rady College of Medicine promotes diversity in its student admissions by giving special consideration to historically under-represented groups, including those of Canadian Indigenous ancestry, disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, rural upbringings and diverse backgrounds (e.g., ethnic, gender, sexual orientation).
• The Max Rady College of Medicine/Rady Faculty of Health Sciences provides resources and supports for all its students, including through UGME Student Affairs, Services for Students at Bannatyne Campus (SS@BC), Ongomiizwin – Indigenous Institute of Healing, and Student Interest Groups run by the Manitoba Medical Students’ Association, such as LGBT2SQ+ Interest Group and LGBT2SQ+ Mentorship Group.
• In June 2018 the Max Rady College of Medicine’s Prevention of Learner Mistreatment policy was approved. One of our tools towards evaluating our learning environments is a Speak Up link which provides opportunities for reporting cases of unprofessional behaviours and learner mistreatments. These confidential reports are managed by the Associate Dean, Professionalism. We also have a Keep it Up link for acknowledging the positive, impactful work of our faculty and staff.

3.   Expanded and improved services to meet the needs of students, staff and faculty (STANDARD 5 Educational Resources & Infrastructure):

• A new Bannatyne Health Clinic is currently in construction in the Pathology Building and will open in January 2020.
• In the fall of 2018, a needs assessment identified a strong need for a daycare facility on campus. We are now in the planning phase for this infrastructure, and it is anticipated to be complete by 2025.
• As of February 6, 2019, the Brodie Centre renovations for expanded food service have been complete, offering more variety and healthy options for dining.
• By April 2019, a new student lounge in the basement of the Brodie Building will offer study/relaxation space for Max Rady College of Medicine students.

We have many strengths as a college. What are some of the strengths of which you are most proud?