Strategic Goals

Three photographs showcasing the Strategic Plan

One of the goals in the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry’s 10-year strategic plan “Optimizing Life-Long Health”, is to position our distributed education (DE) models as the leading distributed medical education program in Canada.

In order to achieve this goal, the School undertook an extensive review of its current DE programs identifying strengths and opportunities for improvement, while considering the landscape of DE offerings across the region and the province, as well as the management and funding of distributed medical education to medical schools across the province.

Extensive research, analysis, engagement with leaders, physicians, and faculty across the School’s DE network was undertaken. The information gathered along with a strong eye to the School’s mission and vision informed the preparation of a new Strategic Plan for DE. 

The Plan has six strategic directions each with its own set of goals, deliverables and timelines for achievement.

The work required to execute the goals of the Strategic Plan began in early February, 2014.  Work will be done through the formation of stakeholder committees who will develop tactical plans to achieve each of the goals. The stakeholder committees will be comprised of leadership, faculty and staff and will be representative of our DE network and support programs such as Communications, Information Systems, as well as our Education programs.

Schulich Medicine Distributed Education Strategic Plan - video


Strategic Directions and Goals

Establish and strengthen partnerships to support a regional medical education model that delivers across the education spectrum (Admissions, Undergraduate Medical Education (UME), Postgraduate Education (PGE) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD))

Goals

  • Create a leadership model that delivers quality while ensuring alignment of curricular principles and practices across Schulich Medicine DE learning sites
  • Increase awareness of the Western University and Schulich Medicine brands within our DE region
  • Embed DE leaders in our present educational leadership and governance processes.

Become a model of distributed learning that attracts Canadian and International medical learners

Goals

  • Lead in the delivery of DE across the spectrum of medical education
  • Attract an increasing number of elective learners from Canadian and international medical schools for elective learning in our regional sites
  • Demonstrate our success with reported metrics and scholarly publications and presentations

Ensure seamless communication throughout a regional DE network to facilitate quality and consistency in education delivery

Goals

  • Address barriers to delivering and receiving medical education through effective and strategic use of learning technology
  • Create a meaningful and informative online Schulich Medicine DE process
  • Report annually on DE site evaluations
  • Communicate faculty feedback in a timely manner while respecting learner accreditation standards
  • Ensure seamless communication across the DE network of learning sites

Advance quality and collaboration in DE research and curricular innovation

Goals

  • Facilitate collaboration across the region to produce a broader research and curriculum innovation model in DE
  • Build research capacity through outreach, CPD workshops and mentorship to support quality DE research programs
  • Partner with existing Schulich Medicine processes to develop regional research opportunities in translational, population, clinical, education and leadership research
  • Produce novel and collaborative models of learning with other health professionals
  • Lead in the development of a socially accountable education mandate in the DE region that could lead to improvements in our regional challenges in determinants of health

Deliver DE in an era of challenging fiscal targets

Goals

  • Optimize the use of available resources through efficient and cost effective practices
  • Develop a process with transparency to communicate funding allocation and results for DE
  • Create models of academic leadership and staff support to drive efficiency and eliminate duplication in DE
  • Ensure all DE initiatives undergo a cost impact analysis while being supported with evidence, necessary human, financial resources and reported quality outcome measures

Measure, report and recognize success and excellence in DE

Goals

  • Create Schulich Medicine recognition awards for staff, faculty and sites
  • Communicate these awards annually through central resources and with local site visits to acknowledge in local and regional communication tools