AIMED – Accessibility in Medical Education

What is AIMED?
Why is AIMED Important?
AIMED Goals
Current AIMED Initiatives

1. Medical Students - Outreach Presentation and Handout
2. High School Students - Essay Contest and Bursary / Pre-Med Information
3. Links to Canadian Rural Programs
4. Rural Medicine Research

Contact Us

What is AIMED?

The CFMS Accessibility in Medical Education Program is a project developed by medical students designed to interest high school students in a career in Medicine.  AIMED works by encouraging medical students participating in electives outside of their home university city to contact a local high school and offer to give a brief presentation on the reality of a career in medicine.

Why is AIMED Important?

Canada is currently experiencing a shortage of physicians, particularly rural family physicians. Consequently, there have been initiatives across the country to increase the number of students in medical programmes.  An example of this is the newly opened distributed medical program at UBC and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Some medical schools’ curriculum now includes more exposure to family medicine and rural medicine.  Examples of this are mandatory Rural Practicums for undergraduate medical students and possibilities for electives in various areas.    

AIMED Goals

As medical students, we want to contribute to a national solution to provide first class health care to all Canadians.  The CFMS AIMED Program, similar to many outreach programmes, strives to encourage young students in all areas of Canada to consider a career in medicine.  By connecting with high school students through a brief presentation and informal discussion session, presenters will have the opportunity to highlight the path they took to arrive in medical school, and answer any questions that the high school audience might have.  This experience increases high school students’ exposure to a medical career, and also allows medical students and our future doctors to become more familiar with a different communities.  Increasing the interaction between the health care team and the community is an enriching experience for all involved.

The CFMS recognizes that some schools currently organize successful and well-received outreach programmes, and that medical students are eager to participate.  We want to bring this same opportunity to all medical students to broaden the effort to a national initiative, and to help encourage students and rural communities to continue working together.   We hope that Canadian medical students will reach many classrooms with a unified message: We are dedicated to a Healthy Canada, for many years to come.

Current AIMED Initiatives

1. Medical Students - Outreach Presentation and Handout

Are you a Canadian medical student?
Are you doing a placement outside your home university city in the future?
Are you interested in giving a presentation to high school students on a career in medicine?

1. Download the Powerpoint: AIMED Presentation 
2. If brochures are not available from your CFMS representatives, download and print copies of the accompanying brochure to hand out to students: AIMED Brochure
3. Contact a high school in the location of your placement to co-ordinate a presentation time.  
4. Contact the AIMED co-ordinators to give us feedback on your experience. We would also like to know the location of your placement and see photos, as we are looking to profile various Canadian communities on our webpage.
   
   Note: The prepared AIMED presentation takes approximately 15-20 minutes to present. Be sure to leave time for questions and discussion! This time is invaluable for the high school students. 

2. High School Students - Essay Contest and Bursary / Pre-Med Information

If you are a rural high school student and are thinking of going to medical school AND would like a chance to win $100, write us a brief essay  (approximately 200 words) on why you are interested in medicine and email it to aimed@cfms.org.  If your essay is chosen, it will be published on the AIMED website.  This award is supported by the Society Rural Physicians of Canada.

For information on pre-medical training and links to Canadian Medical Schools, check out the following website: www.cfms.org/pre_med/

3. Canadian Rural Medicine Links

• Society of Rural Physicians of Canada / Société de la médecine rurale du Canada:  http://www.srpc.ca/
• Canadian Rural Partnership (CRP): http://www.rural.gc.ca/crpfacts_e.phtml
• BC Rural and Remote Health Research Network: http://www.bcrrhrn.ca/
• Canadian Rural Information Service Directory:  http://www.rural.gc.ca/cris/directories/health_e.phtml
• Rural Locum Information: http://www.rural.gc.ca/cris/recruit/recruit_e.phtml#locum
• UBC Family Practice Club – Rural Medicine Initiative: http://www.familymed.ubc.ca/fpclub/initiatives.htm
• Alberta Rural Family Medicine Network: http://www.arfmn.ab.ca/
• Manitoba’s Office of Rural & Northern Health: http://www.ornh.mb.ca/partners.html
• Manitoba Medical Students Rural Interest Group: http://www.ornh.mb.ca/MMSRIG.html
• University of Toronto, Rural Health Initiative: http://maa.med.utoronto.ca/studentsupport/ruralweek
• Southwestern Ontario Rural Medicine (SWOMEN): http://www.swomen.ca/ruraluge.php
• Rural Ontario Medical program (ROMP):  http://www.romponline.com/
• Northern Ontario Medical Program (NOMP):  http://www.nomp.on.ca/index.asp
• Eastern Regional Medical Education Program (ERMEP): http://www.ermep.com/
• Rural Medicine Initiative at Queen’s (RMIQ): http://meds.queensu.ca/~qrmi/
• Rural Experience Access Program (REAP) for Quebec: http://www.srpc.ca/reapqueb.htm
• Rural Experience Access Program (REAP) for Atlantic Canada: http://www.srpc.ca/reapatla.htm
• Memorial University Rural Placements: http://www.med.mun.ca/comhealth/rural_placements.htm
• Dalhousie Summer Rural Program: http://www.medicine.dal.ca/clinical/studentships.htm

4. Rural Medicine Research

Journals:

• Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine: http://www.cma.ca/cma/common/displayPage.do?pageId=/staticContent/HTML/N0/l2/cjrm/index.htm
• The Rural News: http://www.srpc.ca/News/news.html

Articles:

• CIHR Rural and Remote Health research report. (2005)  
  http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/28890.html
• CFMS position paper on Family Medicine. Decreased interest in family medicine. Vishal Avinashi; Elizabeth Moeller (2005)
  http://www.cfms.org/representation/papers_view.cfm?id=13&what_section=representation
• Recommendations from the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada – Strategies to increase enrolment of students of rural origin in medical school. (2005)
• Canadian Family Physician.  Who gets into medical school? (2005)
  http://www.cfpc.ca/cfp/2005/sep/vol51-sep-research-2.asp
• Rural background and clinical rural rotations during medical training: effect on practice location. M. Easterbrook et al.  CMAJ (1999) 160: 1159-1163.
  http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/reprint/160/8/1159

Contact us

For more information please contact the AIMED officer at aimed@cfms.org.