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.
Special thanks to the Task Force members who developed this training series:
Chair: Courtney Hardy (University of Toronto)
Co-Authors:
Sehjal Bhargava (University of Saskatchewan)
Mary Boulos (McMaster University)
Liam Cooper-Brown (McGill University)
Montana Hackett (Western University)
Jessica Hearn (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Liz Rowe (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Justin Shapiro (University of Toronto)
Jason Speidel (University of British Columbia)
Amelia Srajer (University of Calgary)
Contact us with any questions: [email protected]