Canadian Federation of Medical Students - Representation, Communication, and Services - Representation

Representation

The mandate to represent medical societies and students at the tables of national medical is tremendous. The CFMS relates with more than 25 national and international medical boards representing a variety of organizations. Much of the liaison work is undertaken by the Executive, especially its President and Vice President Education. The President has broad responsibilities as the student representative to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Medical Association. He or she also has a seat on the Board of Directors for Canadian Residency Matching Services (Carms). Several liaison roles are filled by students-at-large appointed by the CFMS.

The function of representation is to ensure student voices are heard among organizations that direct medical education policy and affect health human resources planning in Canada. Medical education issues are the primary focus of the work of the CFMS. The substance of most CFMS meetings is to develop policy in order to guide representation and advocacy efforts.

The CFMS is widely respected as the voice of Canadian medical students. It is no small task to define and agree upon policy perspectives. During the previous years, the CFMS has spent an exorbitant amount of time and resources on undertaking advocacy on the following issues:

1. Accessibility to medical education (tuition, loans, etc.)
2. Post-graduate training reform
3. Residency matching policy
4. Medical student wellness
5. International Medical Graduates
6. Romanow Report
7. Family Medicine
8. A Charter for Medical Students
9. Guidelines for Professionalism

Officials of the CFMS are routinely sought out by the media. The previous Presidents have been quoted extensively on the front pages of Canada’s national newspapers and are seen as an authority on the perspective of medical students. The CFMS has credibility in representing medical students among government, medical, and non-medical organizations. Because of its unique position of representation the CFMS is continually being asked for commentary on a host of issues by a miscellany of stakeholders. The President receives nearly all of these inquiries which define a large level-of-effort on his or her behalf (irrespective of the relevance on inquiries).