The document describes a pre-med summer institute program that aims to promote and prepare Aboriginal students to apply to medical school in Canada. The 4-week program involves the students shadowing medical professionals, learning first aid skills, and getting mentored. It also helps the students explore a career in medicine and supports their medical school applications. Most students who completed the program decided to pursue a career in healthcare and some have now been accepted to medical school.

1. Pre-med summer institute
promoting & preparing Aboriginal students to
apply to medical school in Canada
Professor Michael Jong

2. Faculty/Presenter Disclosure
• Faculty: Michael Jong
• Relationships with
commercial interests:
None

3. Goal
• Social accountability
• Assist Indigenous students who have an
interest in medicine as a career decide if
medicine is a right career choice and prepare
them for application to medical school

4. Selection Process
• Ads through Aboriginal organizations and local
University
• Written application to Aboriginal Health Initiative
• Selection for interviews – to reflect equitable
representation from the 5 Indigenous
governments
• Interviews by the Aboriginal representatives &
one faculty
• Decision through consensus

5. Objectives
• Discover life as a medical student, resident and as
a physician
• Mentorship with physician/medical
resident/medical student
• Reflection on health, health care and indigenous
health including the need for physicians in their
own communities
• Learning about application to medical school
• Further interest in medicine

6. Description of Program
• 4 week program in a remote community with
predominantly Indigenous population
• Immersion – interdisciplinary rounds, helping
and shadowing
• Reflection
• Practice – first aid, CPR, simulation

7. Components
• Orientation with medical staff/trainees and
the health facilities including contracting and
welcoming
• Introduction to ethics in medicine
• Patient history taking, charting and patient
confidentiality

8. Components
• CPR
• Prehospital stabilization with medics
• Simulations including high fidelity

9. Components
• Shadowing of medical students
• Shadowing of residents
• Shadowing of staff physicians
• Working with other health professionals –
physio, nurses, etc
Telehealth and emergency

10. Components
• Indigenous health

11. Components
• Impact of healthy lifestyle and mental fitness
• Discus diabetes PBL – medical and socio-cultural
model
• You-tube on fructose - the impact of industry
& politics

12. Components
• Implementing and administering a health
lifestyle program – BEGIN
BEGIN
Active living – walking with patients with chronic diseases

13. Components
• Application to medical school
• Tips and practice for interview in medical
school application
• Cross-cultural training – Videos of relocation
• Unpacking determinants of health
• Multiple mini interviews & long interviews

14. Components
• Presentation of report on their experience of
the program – reflection exercise
• Camp experience

15. Outcome
• 12 of the 13 students decided to choose
medicine as a career. I nursing.
• I each proceeded to MPH, Masters in Nutrition
and Masters in Physiotherapy.
• 4 are in medical school. I stayed in nursing. 4
are completing their undergrad education. 4
are applying to medical school.
• All 5 Aboriginal organizations pay for their
students.

16. Reflections - Jeddore
• “All in all, I would not change any aspect of
this initiative. For being the first time running
this program, everything seemed to have been
put together amazingly and will prove to be a
very helpful tool for aboriginal students who
are thinking of pursuing medicine”.

17. Reflections – Dean Simon
• “My wish is that I can take what I have seen,
heard, touched, smelled and tasted, back to
my community, and have a true impact on
improving the lives of my people.We too
suffer. We too need healing. I want to
maximize my time, helping people, and this is
what I think being a doctor is all about”.

18. Reflection
A wonderful experience for both learners
and trainers; we learnt for one another –
not about one world view but many world
views - and our lives are all the richer from
having worked together.

19. Recommendations after 3 years
• Ownership by Aboriginal organizations.
• Role model with generalist physicians,
residents and medical students in an
interdisciplinary care setting.
• Unpack the broad determinants of health.
• Explore health care systems and issues.
• Practise admission interviews.