Academic Enrichment Program | Aesculapian Society | School of Medicine

Academic Enrichment Programs (AEPs) are a significant collation of extracurricular academic activities undertaken by Queen's UGME students in addition to (sometimes extending from) the required curriculum, that are not otherwise formally recognized. Students who complete all requirements for an AEP are eligible to receive a certificate from the UGME office.

AEPs are approved by the Curriculum Committee, through the Teaching Learning and Integration Committee (TLIC). There are currently seven approved Academic Enrichment Programs:

QIPEP

QIPEP seeks to develop and enhance the patient safety (PS) and quality improvement (QI) competencies of participating students. Students complete a series of online modules and are then matched to existing projects at one of three hospital sites (Kingston General, Hotel Dieu, and Providence Care) based on interest, academic backgrounds, and previous training. These interdisciplinary teams are supervised by a Faculty of Health Sciences clinician with expertise in PS and/or QI. Projects begin in September and conclude in April of the following year.

Applications are advertised and accepted over the summer and students begin their project in September of their first year. For more information about QIPEP, visit their website (https://www.queensihi.com/qipep-overview/) or contact Bryan Franco at bfranco@qmed.ca.

Global Health

The Global Health AEP provides knowledge and training on how to work within global health contexts, through clinical practice, partnership building and resource sharing. The Global Health program fosters students’ commitment to community responsibility and social justice. Upon completion, students will have the necessary skills to be strategic advocates for individuals and communities that experience marginalization, and impact systemic changes for health equity.

Program Components:

Online Modules
Service Learning
Attendance at Educational Sessions
Global Health Practicum
Healthcare Ethics, Culture and Safety in an international setting course
Post-Travel Debrief and Reflection

To register please email globalhealtheducation.qmed@gmail.com. Enrolment is accepted on a rolling basis and there is no penalty for deregistering from the certificate at any time. It is highly recommended that students complete the certificate components prior to clerkship.

For a detailed explanation of the GH AEP please click here.

Health and Humanities

More information to come.

Information sessions are held in the Fall semester. For more information about the Health and Humanities AEP, contact Palika Kohli at pkohli@qmed.ca.

SSTEP

The Surgical Skills and Technology Elective Program (SSTEP) is an one-week boot-camp that runs between preclerkship and clerkship. SSTEP started as a student-initiative to increase undergraduate engagement with surgical skills and the various surgical sub-specialties. Recently, we have added an AEP component. This addition allows students to explore an individual research initiative related to the program. Examples of research projects include left-handedness in surgical education and the role of PoCUS in undergraduate medicine.

As part of the AEP, students must complete the SSTEP curriculum which runs over the first week of June. More information will be provided to each class during their second year. Questions and concerns can be directed to the SSTEP executive team at qmedsstep@gmail.com.

MSSC

The Medical Student Scholar Certificate aims to provide interested students with the opportunity to engage more deeply in critical thinking and scholarly endeavours. The certificate supports student scholarship and research output through a multimodal approach, including advanced training modules, active research and/or scholar curriculum involvement and a culminating presentation in both written and oral formats. For more information, contact siro@qmed.ca.

QMed LEAD

QMed LEAD is a student-run physician leadership initiative designed to give students the opportunity to enhance their own leadership compentencies using a guided, multimodal approach. Students will explore health care structures and processes, health care policy, economics, and management, clinical informatics and health information technology, population and public health, value-based care, and health system improvement through (1) seminars led by guest physician leaders, (2) CMA leadership modules, and (3) a volunteer consulting engagement. For more information, contact qmedleadership@gmail.com.