Conference of Ontario Undergraduate Electives Coordinators

On June 8, Schulich Medicine & Dentistry hosted a forum for sharing best practices among the Ontario medical schools on clinical electives. The ultimate goal of the third annual Conference of Ontario Undergraduate Electives Coordinators is to benefit Schulich students who apply for visiting electives at other schools and in turn those students who come to Schulich for visiting electives.

"The Conference of Ontario Undergraduate Elective Coordinators is an exciting and important initiative among the six Ontario medical schools," says Dr. Maggie Rebel, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Medical Edcuation. "The elective coordinators from the six schools have an opportunity to meet and work on processes to streamline the elective opportunities for our medical students. Issues discussed included enhanced communications between schools, overseas electives and elective opportunities for international medical students, including Canadian medical students studying abroad."

Dr. Michael Rieder, past chair, Clerkship & Electives Committee says "There is a Canada-wide problem with availability of clinical electives. The meeting will help find a common approach to a collective problem. "

Dr. Robert Stein, current chair of the Clerkship & Electives Committee also commented "It is an opportunity for individual programs to highlight their successes and any novel approaches to the clinical electives period. It is also a forum for the coordinators to discuss common issues that arise with electives students. Meetings like this can only help to improve medical education for all students in Ontario."