Projects
Medical Education Day of Action
What is MEDoA?
The Medical Education Day of Action focuses on advocating issues that pertain to the pipeline of medical training to medical practice. This lends to a broad range of issues pertaining to medical students, residents and physicians.
Issues of focus include: training positions and residency spots, barriers to accessing primary care, retention of healthcare workers, national licensure or workforce planning
The goal of MEDoA is to provide a collaborative approach with provincial and federal governments to highlight and address pertinent growing issues within medicine.
This year’s MEDoA topic: TBD
To learn more about the 2023 Medical Education Day of Action read our background and one pager below:
CFMS National Day of Action
About the CFMS Annual Day of Action
Each year, medical students from across Canada travel to Ottawa to meet with Parliamentarians and propose a positive health systems change. This event includes extensive advocacy training in advance of the meetings. It is an excellent opportunity for medical students interested in national health advocacy.
The Day of Action would not be possible without our dedicated team of medical students on the Day of Action Research Committee that puts together the ask document, backgrounder document, and coordinates the consultation process.
2024 Day of Action: Re-Thinking Health Care Spending in Canada
The Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) topic for the 2024 CFMS Day of Action on Parliament Hill on November 18th, 2024: Re-Thinking Health Care Spending in Canada
Committee on Health Policy
The Committee on Health Policy (COHP) is the division of the Government Affairs portfolio that is primarily responsible for: 1) overseeing the review process of past CFMS guiding documents (position papers and policy statements) with an emphasis on identifying and tracking progress on actionable recommendations; and 2) advising and supporting the development of upcoming guiding documents. Through such tasks, the Committee aims to identify, advise on and address emerging policy priorities for the CFMS, while ensuring a commitment to issues of equity and advocacy in medicine and health policy.
For more information, please see the Committee on Health Policy Terms of Reference.
Descriptions of Guiding Documents: Position Papers & Policy Statements
Advocacy is an essential responsibility of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS), which represents 8000+ students from fifteen medical schools across Canada. The CFMS advocates on behalf of these medical students to numerous stakeholders, including policy- and lawmakers, healthcare stakeholders, the general public, universities, and to medical students themselves, in order to influence the development of policies that affect both medical students and the overall health of Canadians.
There are two main types of guiding documents: position papers and policy statements. These documents are written by medical students, reviewed by CFMS committees, and both debated and voted on by CFMS members at general meetings. A third type of guiding document, discussion papers, are currently designated to be written by COHP members.
CFMS members are invited to submit guiding documents, which allow students to synthesize evidence and propose recommendations that aim to fill existing gaps related to pertinent issues ranging from medical education, global health, to political and health equity. Ultimately, these papers and statements provide a written foundation for the advocacy work of the CFMS. Please see the position papers database for past publications of position papers and policy statements.
Position Papers
Position papers are comprehensive documents that explore the current scope of an issue important to the CFMS, presenting an official stance, outlining existing gaps and proposing feasible and relevant recommendations as part of the follow-up strategy.
Link to guidelines and templates to be added soon.
Policy Statements
Policy statements are brief documents that represent the official stance of the CFMS on issues related to political or social movements, or organization and legislative material (i.e. government bills). These act as direct endorsements or rejections of official documents published by external organizations and institutions, and aim to provide support or alternative recommendations in response.
Link to guidelines and templates to be added soon.
Discussion Papers
Discussion papers are comprehensive research documents that present key contextual information on a health policy topic of interest, synthesizing different stakeholder perspectives and outlining future considerations and implications. These papers are meant to be used primarily for the purpose of evidence synthesis. They will not represent the official stance of the CFMS, but rather aim to explore pertinent health policy issues from various perspectives of the argument.
Timelines for 2022-2023
Authors are invited to submit for either the CFMS Spring General Meeting (April 2023) or Annual General Meeting (September 2023) depending on the current stage of their project.
Please fill in this statement of intent and email to nohp@cfms.org if you are interested in submitting for the upcoming general meeting.
*Please note that the deadlines above are meant to help authors understand what the overall timeline may look like; these are not hard deadlines and do not limit authors from submitting outside of the dates listed above. We welcome anyone interested in presenting at SGM and AGM to submit their papers to us, and will work with all authors to best support their work in preparation for the meetings.
Main Contact
If students are currently interested in learning more about the work of the Committee or in submitting a guiding document (explained below), please contact the National Officer of Health Policy, at nohp@cfms.org.
Figure 1. Comparison of the different types of guiding documents and their key distinguishing features.
Figure 2. Examples of ways in which different types of guiding documents are meant to effectively communicate recommendations or stances on the issue being discussed.
Longitudinal Advocacy Training Series
The CFMS Government Affairs and Advocacy portfolio is piloting an inaugural advocacy workshop training series offered virtually and at no cost to all interested Canadian medical students. The goal of this program is to provide students with early, essential exposure to patient advocacy and help develop tangible skills that can be applied across settings. This national initiative was developed based on extensive medical student and expert consultations and medical education research, in order to best meet the needs of medical students at all levels of training and experience.
CFMS Longitudinal Advocacy Training Series (LATS)
What: The Longitudinal Advocacy Training Series (LATS) provides Canadian medical students with an opportunity to develop tangible advocacy skills through interactive, expert-led workshops. Students who attend at least 3 workshops can receive an official CFMS certificate of completion!
Who: Any Canadian medical student can participate in the Longitudinal Advocacy Training Series.
When: Workshops will be run every month by various Canadian medical schools. Medical students can choose to attend any workshop virtually, including those hosted by schools other than their own. Please refer to this Facebook group's calendar for a complete list of upcoming workshops.
Why: As physicians, we will be required to advocate with/for our patients at patient, community and/or government levels. This elective will equip you with a variety of essential skills and knowledge required to enact lasting change, such as speaking with politicians, grassroots advocacy and engaging with the media.
Stay connected: Join our Facebook group “CFMS Longitudinal Advocacy Training Series” and join our mailing list (http://bit.ly/CFMSAdvocacyMailing) to stay informed of upcoming workshops!
Look for more information from your local school "Government Affairs and Advocacy Committee (GAAC) Representatives!"
CFMS Advocacy Training Toolkit
The Advocacy Training Toolkit consists of a variety of workshop topics, learning objectives, and resources developed based on expert consultations, student feedback, and medical education research. This Toolkit is a free, openly accessible resource to any health professional program interested in hosting advocacy training opportunities for their students. Advocacy training based on this Toolkit will provide learners with essential skills and knowledge required to enact lasting change, such as speaking with politicians, grassroots advocacy and engaging with the media.
Contact us with any questions: advocacytraining@cfms.org
Political Advocacy Follow-Up
Coming soon!
Committee on Health Equity Advocacy
Coming soon!
