Strategic plan: Emerging opportunities and imperatives

Two months into the strategic planning process, opportunities and imperatives are starting to emerge. Dr. Chris Watling says that many bold and inspiring ideas about the School’s future have been raised and he’s seeing enthusiasm for a future where the School is known for forward-thinking education programs, high-impact research, and community engagement and leadership.

Sifting through all the feedback from the focus groups and analyzing the data from the soon to be distributed survey to settle on priorities will take time, however certain themes are already beginning to emerge.

According to Dr. Watling, groups have identified a number of strengths on which the School can build:

  • our people – engaged learners, and faculty and staff with a passion for their work and a spirit of collegiality;
  • our commitment to excellence – in patient care, clinical training, and research;
  • a high-quality learner experience in which learners are supported and valued;
  • a strong regional footprint.

There is also a convergence of opinion around certain imperatives that the School will need to work on to ensure success. To date, these include:

  • meaningfully embedding principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization in our vision for the future;
  • strengthening our connections with the community;
  • addressing chronic barriers to collaboration, especially in the research arena – our spirit of collegiality is often tested by cumbersome processes

“As we continue to engage people and to listen carefully, we’ll begin to assign priority to these directions and to build a foundation of key goals that must be achieved in order to bring these aspirations to fruition,” said Dr. Watling.

With several more focus groups to complete and a survey to distribute and analyze, there will continue to be opportunities for individuals to engage with the strategic planning process in support of the School’s future.