Date: Wednesday, December 17th

Time: 5:00 - 6:30pm

Location: Zoom

Interested in learning more about hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) in children and adolescents? Join us with Dr. Samiha Mohsen, Dermatology PGY1 Resident at the University of Calgary!

"📚 Topic: Comorbidities of HS in Pediatric Patients

🗓 Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2025

🕖 Time: 8:00 PM EST

🔗 Registration link below and in the @dermdigestcanada instagram bio!

Dr. Samiha Mohsen will present key findings from her recent JAMA meta-analysis and share a practical approach to evaluating intertriginous rashes, an important skill for recognizing HS mimickers in skin folds.

Don’t miss the opportunity to learn how this work is advancing care in pediatric dermatology. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYxVX2OVpMAY231IyXk7BQYS7JnO3qrq56suKLa4RYcuscFQ/viewform?usp=header"

Contact: Vvrao@ualberta.ca 

Are you a medical student or resident with a creative side? Submit your work to the Creative Writing and Visual Art Contest for the 2026 Canadian Conference in Health Humanities (Creating Space 16)! Prizes available. See the poster for details!

Link to the contest: https://uottawacpd.eventsair.com/QuickEventWebsitePortal/hum2026/abstracts/ExtraContent/ContentPage?page=5 

Deadline: January 15th, 2026

Contact: Keith.Wong@uottawa.ca

Applications are now open for the Canadian VIGOUR Centre (CVC) Scholar Program, a unique training initiative dedicated to enhancing the research expertise and academic careers of early-stage investigators focused on cardiovascular disease.

The Scholar Program offers trainees supportive mentorship, research opportunities, and a collaborative environment to advance their skills and career goals. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis from those planning to pursue or currently enrolled in Master's/PhD, Fellowship, or Residency programs. The program runs for a 1 or 2-year term, with flexible start dates. Additional program information, including the application link, is available here: https://thecvc.ca/programs-and-development/cvc-scholar-program/ 

Contact: cvcschlr@ualberta.ca

The Pediatric and Physiology Graduate Students’ Association (PedsGSA/PhyslGSA) are pleased to announce that applications for mentees are now open in our collaborative Mentorship Program. As a mentee, you will have the opportunity to learn from senior graduate students, medical students, MD/PhD candidates, and faculty members. You will have the chance to ask questions about your mentor’s experience as a late-stage researcher in areas including, but not limited to: academics, lifestyle, career development, and planning.

Mentee applications for this program are now open! Please take a look at this google sheet to see the biography of the mentors (mentors are listed in no specific order). Please fill out this google form by December 15th if you would like to apply to be a mentee. Mentee spots are limited (please use your UofA google account to gain access to the materials required to participate)!

Should you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to reach out to the Mentorship Program Coordinators:

• Si Ning Liu (sliu@ualberta.ca) VP Mentorship, PedsGSA

• Ibrahim Khodabocus (khodaboc@ualberta.ca) VP Mentorship, PedsGSA

Please see what a fellow mentee had to say about her experience with the program!

Deadline: December 15th

Contact: Si Ning Liu (sliu@ualberta.ca), Ibrahim Khodabocus (khodaboc@ualberta.ca)

Open to all students, postdocs, clinicians, research staff & faculty involved in global health research.  Four abstracts will be chosen for a 15 minute oral presentation at the 2026 Global Health Fair, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, 9 am - 5 pm (hybrid event).  Abstracts should contain unpublished research/data.  More information & register for the Fair at uab.ca/GHF.

Send abstract (250 words max.) to ghfomd@ualberta.ca

Deadline: Monday, January 12, 2026 at 12 pm

Contact: Patricia Grell (ghfomd@ualberta.ca)

Date: Wednesday, January 14th

Time: 5:00 - 6:00pm

Location: Online - Zoom/Google Meets

This talk will cover pregnancy & child loss, how healthcare providers can offer compassionate support, & community resources for grieving families. Medical students will gain valuable insights, whether they choose to specialize in obstetrics, pediatrics, mental health, or any field of medicine.

The event features a panel consisting of the founders of two pregnant and infant loss support programs in Greater Edmonton and Calgary!

Contact: csc@ualberta.ca, awethere@ualberta.ca, clschult@ualberta.ca

Date: January 21st - 23rd, 2026

Location: United Nations Conference Center, Bangkok, Thailand

More information is available via UN Relief Web

Contact: sakura.armstrong@humanitarianaffairs.asia

Date: Friday, January 30th - Sunday, February 1st

Location: Olds, Alberta

RhPAP-sponsored Let’s Go Rural! Post-secondary Event provides medical students with the opportunity to experience the rural lifestyle and see how health-care is delivered in Olds, Alberta. 

Over two days, participants connect with local health care providers, tour health facilities, and experience everyday life in Olds. Designed for learners interested in rural healthcare, this immersive visit will showcase Olds local health services, community spirit, and quality of life. Participants will gain firsthand insight into the unique opportunities and rewards of living and working in a rural setting. Transportation, meals, and accommodations are covered, making it easy to explore how your healthcare career can grow in a welcoming and supportive rural community.

Contact: uofa.rmig@gmail.com 

Date: Tuesday, February 5th, 2026

Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm

Location: ECHA 4-001 (with Zoom link available)

The annual Global Health Fair focuses on global health education and research relating to biomedical science, individuals and communities. It provides an opportunity for researchers, clinicians and educators to share their medical knowledge and scholarship on various topics related to global health, as well as provide an opportunity for networking and bridge-building across disciplines. As with previous Fairs, the 10th Annual Global Health Fair will be held in conjunction and in collaboration with the Biomedical Global Health Research Network (BGHRN) and International Education + Enrolment (IEE) International Week events Feb. 2 - 6, 2026. 

Contact: Patricia Grell (ghfomd@ualberta.ca)

We’ve officially launched a Partners for Life team with Canadian Blood Services (CBS)!

Every time you donate blood under our team, you help us save lives and boost our chances of winning Peace Collective and Patagonia merch for all pre-clerks. Learn how to sign up here.

Using the CBS app, join these teams under the "Partners" tabs: 

UNIV0128472 → University of Alberta – Medical Students

 (new team — the med school with the most donations wins Peace Collective hoodies)

CANA008957 → Canadian Federation of Medical Students – Edmonton

 (This counts toward the CFMS Phlebotomy Bowl for Patagonia sweaters)

We also have group donation opportunities that you can access through our Partners for Life tab on the CBS app. We will be booking more group donations, so fill out the form (linked below) to choose dates that work for you.

If you prefer to donate alone, that's okay too! Just make sure you register under our Partners for Life teams so your donations count towards our totals.  

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KC4EUFN729-Skwj259XC1aPhNmAnZQ8llcnZimJm8nE/edit 

Contact: hdean@ualberta.ca, poeze@ualberta.ca 

🎧 Intro episode is out now — check it out here: https://youtu.be/xOtYnm2gpBY

📺 Subscribe to the channel for future episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe7OwIv8PNRNNSpvX8XdVNg

The AMA Medical Student Advocacy Committee is a student-led initiative dedicated to promoting advocacy efforts and spotlighting advocacy-worthy causes across Alberta’s medical student population. To date, our work has primarily taken shape through social media (Instagram) and article publications on our website. These posts highlight pressing issues in medicine from a student lens, outline areas that may benefit from further advocacy, and share existing efforts while offering ways for peers to get involved. We believe this type of engagement is essential in raising awareness and fostering a culture of positive change among trainees—one that will persist into future clinical practice.

However, as impactful as these efforts have been, we’ve encountered a challenge that limits reach: time. Many students—and even physicians—don’t always have the bandwidth to read through full articles or scroll through lengthy posts on social media. Recognizing this gap and inspired by successful models from both the University of Alberta and University of Calgary medical schools, we decided to expand our platform by launching a podcast.

This podcast is a collaboration led by Kaiden Jobin, Adam Bubelenyi, Abdullahi Mohammed, Sana Samadi and — medical students from the University of Calgary and Alberta. Sana Samadi and Abdullahi Mohammed will serve as the primary hosts, also contributing to the editing and development of episode scripts. Kaiden Jobin and Adam Bubelenyi will assist in writing and preparing scripts for the podcast with occasional hosting. This effort highlights an important spirit of inter-university collaboration and reflects the diverse perspectives within Alberta’s medical student community.

Episodes will feature topics that mirror the themes explored in our past articles and social media posts, such as the primary care crisis, accessibility in medicine, rural and Indigenous health, social accountability in admissions, and structural inequities in medical training. But we won’t stop there. The podcast will also create space for new conversations that go beyond written formats, bringing in guest speakers, experts, policymakers, and physicians to add nuance and broaden perspectives.

Crucially, this format allows listeners to hear voices they might not otherwise encounter—those of students sharing their lived experiences, preceptors unpacking the historical roots of today’s issues, and leaders offering insight into how change is made at policy and system levels. This kind of dialogue is often lost in written media but is essential for humanizing healthcare challenges and creating meaningful engagement.

We are medical students entering the profession during a pivotal moment in Alberta’s healthcare landscape. As we witness shifts in team-based care, physician workforce planning, and evolving patient needs, we also recognize that early-stage trainees can sometimes feel distanced from the ability to influence these systems. Our podcast aims to bridge that gap by showing students—and anyone interested in the next generation of doctors—how we think, what we value, and where we believe healthcare should be headed.

This is not just a podcast for medical students. It’s also for physicians curious about how today’s learners are approaching the future of medicine. It’s for policy leaders who want to understand the emerging priorities of tomorrow’s physicians. And it’s for fellow students who may not yet see themselves as “advocates” but are ready to take their first step toward action.

Ultimately, our vision is to help cultivate a generation of physicians who view advocacy not as an optional add-on, but as a fundamental aspect of what it means to practice medicine. Through this podcast, we hope to not only inform but inspire—giving listeners the context, confidence, and motivation to engage with healthcare issues that affect us all.

By expanding our committee’s work from Instagram and written articles into the podcast space, we are embracing a format that resonates with how people connect and learn today. The podcast will be published on our official student advocacy website www.amamedicalstudents.ca and shared through the Alberta Medical Association’s main site at www.albertadoctors.org, helping us reach a broader audience across the province and beyond.

Contact: ssamadi2@ualberta.ca 

A research study has received approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board (Approval ID: Pro00151609). This qualitative study aims to amplify the voices and lived experiences of Muslim individuals in Canada, particularly in the context of rising Islamophobia and hate crimes. I am seeking to connect with participants willing to share their perspectives through confidential one-on-one interviews via Zoom (approximately 60–90 minutes). 

Contact: marefin1@ualberta.ca 

Towards Affirmative Intersex Health Communication in Canada, accessible for free download and distribution here.

We would be grateful if you could forward this announcement to any staff, students, and colleagues whom you think might be interested in this guide. The guide is a primer for healthcare providers interested in learning about accessible, supportive, and inclusive health communication with intersex patients. It is the first specifically written for the Canadian context. Content was shaped by original interviews with intersex adults and healthcare providers from diverse areas of care, as well as a comprehensive literature review. Towards Affirmative Intersex Health Communication in Canada is the final component of a multi-year SSHRC-funded project. The heart of this research initiative was to help work towards improving health communication practices with intersex people in Canada via interdisciplinary research and community engagement. While there have been important inroads in medical reforms in recent years, people with intersex variations continue to face stigma, discrimination, and pathologization in healthcare, as well as significant disparities in access and outcomes. Health communication forms a crucial component of positive health outcomes and wellbeing.This project contributes to a small but vital and growing body of work that centers intersex voices regarding the Canadian context for intersex healthcare. It is also the first to include perspectives both from intersex adults experiencing health communication in Canada and people trained and working in the Canadian healthcare system on what is needed towards affirmative health communication as the status quo. This work was carried out by members of Professor Joly’s research team at McGill University’s Centre of Genomics and Policy, containing people from various disciplines, academic and applied, with experience in intersex advocacy. The guide was peer reviewed by interested interviewees, a BC-based intersex advisory group, and Intersex Canada is a co-author. The guide discusses four key aspects of affirmative communication between patients and providers: patient-centered care, shared decision-making, culturally responsive trauma-informed care, and accessible and relevant medical information. Further, the guide provides notes on terminology and concepts, highlights needs for different life stages, and offers suggestions for welcoming healthcare environments, and addresses structural barriers to access. Towards Affirmative Intersex Health Communication in Canada also has two companion articles: a qualitative paper centered-on interviewee insights, perspectives, and experiences, and a comparative legal paper arguing for a more proactive approach to legal and medical reforms and protections in Canada. 

We are currently conducting a study designed to inform curriculum design principles that will help prepare learners to effectively navigate the novelty, uncertainty, and complexity of today’s evolving healthcare landscape. Given the critical role that medical student associations play in supporting trainees, we respectfully reach out to your organization for assistance in sharing information about our study with your members. 

By participating, students will have the opportunity to test their knowledge while contributing to a growing body of evidence that aims to inform more effective training, guide institutional policy changes, and ultimately enhance the learning environment for future physicians.

Key Details:

• Eligibility: Current medical students at any Canadian university in year 1 and year 2 of training.

• Participation: 

  • Completion of knowledge acquisition and diagnostic tasks, online - using their own computer, remotely.

  • Dedicating 3.5- 4 hours in total to complete the cases (the total amount of time to answer the cases can be broken down into separate blocks of time)

• Confidentiality: Responses will remain confidential, and no identifying information will be shared outside the research team. Participation in the study will have no bearing on academic status or grades.

• Potential Student Benefits: Students will learn about eight neurology conditions, knowledge acquisition and diagnostic abilities will be assessed, and you will receive immediate feedback on the screen indicating whether the response is correct or incorrect. 

• Potential Societal Benefits: Insights gained from this research may guide improvements in medical education, contribute to improved training approaches, and inspire supportive educational policies.

• Token of Appreciation: Participants will earn $50 for taking part in the study and will receive a gift card of their choice (either Amazon or Uber One).

You can learn more about our team and research goals at: https://www.theexcellab.com/research

Contact: ellena.andoniou@uhn.ca