About the CFMS
The CFMS is an organization representing over 8,000 medical students from 15 Canadian medical student societies from coast to coast. We represent medical students to the public, to the federal government, and to national and international medical organizations.
Instructions :
Medical societies and meeting delegates are invited to put forward resolutions for discussion and debate at the CFMS Annual General Meeting during the Members Resolutions Session (tentatively scheduled for Saturday, September 22, 2018). Resolutions should reflect an understanding of ongoing and past work, and resolutions must pertain to new work of the Federation. Members are encouraged to review resolutions submitted at the previous meeting, available on the CFMS website under the AGM 2018 meeting documents section.
Resolutions that include significant spending should be discussed with the CFMS VP Finance prior to submission ([email protected]). Resolutions can be submitted with or without an accompanying position paper, policy statement, or discussion paper.
The Resolutions Committee will evaluate each resolution with respect to appropriateness and language. Resolutions will be ranked for debate according to congruence with mandates and priorities. If interested in learning more about previous CFMS work, do not hesitate to contact one of your local representatives or executive members.
All position papers, policy statements, and discussion papers, are to be sent to the CFMS National Officer of Health Policy ([email protected]) for review by the Committee on Health Policy (COHP). Feedback will be provided to authors. As such, authors are encouraged to submit their documents as early as possible to have an opportunity to incorporate such feedback into their documents and re-submit a final copy. All Position Papers and any other similar document must be accompanied by a written Resolution.
A Resolutions Marketplace will be held on Friday, September 21, 2018. This is an opportunity for authors to have more one-on-one discussions with other attendees and answer questions they may have about their work. This will also be an opportunity for authors to network with other students that may be interested in their work.
Non-Guiding Document Related Motions (i.e. Position Papers, Policy Statements, Discussion Papers) can be on broad topics or areas with general support that might not need a lengthy position paper. Examples where this may be appropriate include:
- Support (or stand against) of a cause or idea, such as “professionalism” or “in support of refugee health care access”
- Asking the executive to look into a specific topic, e.g. “look into possible sources of cost reduction for 4th year medical students”
- Calling for the creation of a task force to work on a topic, Motions such as these can be supported by a 1-2-page explanatory document; these are not expected to be of the same quality and in-depth research typical of a policy paper. These may be a particularly effective way of asking the organization to take a stance on a broadly agreed-upon idea, a topic you’d like more work done on but have not been able to take time to do so yourself, or topics that might not need specific action but that a position taken may itself be effective.
Deadlines:
Resolutions must be received by Dr. Ali Damji, CFMS 2018 AGM Chair, by e- mail at [email protected] on or before Friday, September 7, 2018 at 20:00 EST to be pre-circulated to AGM delegates via our website. Additional written resolutions may be tabled if emailed to the AGM Chair by Friday, September 21, 2018 at 12:00 noon EST.
Based on the total number of resolutions received, there is no guarantee that resolutions will be given agenda time at the AGM but every reasonable effort will be made to do so. Business will end promptly as scheduled in the agenda, and remaining resolutions will be referred to the Executive for consideration.
Please note that, as determined by the General Assembly at SGM 2014, any proposed motion that includes spending of $1000 or more must be submitted to the CFMS at least 14 days in advance of AGM, i.e. by Friday, September 7, 2018 at 20:00 EST.
Resolution Guide:
Each resolution submitted should contain 6 elements and clearly tabled using the following headings:
1. Whereas . . .
This section discusses the substantive rationale for the resolution. The reader should gain a clear understanding of why the CFMS should act.
2. Be it resolved that the CFMS….
The resolution should reflect a policy-level decision and not overly operationalize its implementation.
3. Financial cost (estimate)
This is essential. The mover should sufficiently have considered the financial considerations of the resolution. Please consult with the CFMS President and VP Finance if you have any questions. The VP Finance can be reached at [email protected].
4. Source of funding/Line item
Please consult with the VP Finance if you have any questions.
5. Level of effort of volunteers/staff
Please feel free to discuss this with the President, members of the Executive, or Officers related to the resolution. A clear statement(s) of level of effort and time should be provided.
6. Moved and Seconded by
Provide the names of the voting delegates of the CFMS who are willing to move and second the motion. These delegates should be present at the SGM.
New and Revised Protocol for CFMS Guiding Documents:
The CFMS updated its guiding document submission process in 2018 to encourage feedback between authors and the relevant CFMS committees. Though not mandatory, this dialogue will strengthen papers, thus increasing support for their adoption. This new and revised protocol and accompanying documentation and resources is available on the CFMS website https://www.cfms.org/what-we-do/advocacy/position-papers.html. For additional information please contact Shanza Hashmi, National Officer of Health Policy ([email protected]) or Yipeng Ge, VP Government Affairs ([email protected]).
For more information, please do not hesitate to contact the SGM Chair.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ali Damji
Chair, Annual General Meeting 2018
Canadian Federation of Medical Students
267 O’Connor Street, Suite 401, Ottawa, ON K2P 1V3
Office: 613.565.7740 / Fax: 613.288.0524
[email protected]