Black medical students at University of Toronto launch an Outreach Program for high school students

BY PAUL JUNOR

The University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine is one of the oldest in Canada and was founded as a school of medicine in 1843 (mdutoronto.ca/ history). In order to deal with the low numbers of Indigenous and black students in the medical school, it launched the Indigenous Student Application Program (ISAP) in 2012, and the Black Student Application Program (BSAP) in 2018 to increase their numbers. In 1999, Dr Sean Wharton formed the Black Medical Students Association (BMSA) as reported by medicine.utoronto.ca.

According to its Facebook page its mission is, “To help students from underrepresented backgrounds, primarily African and Caribbean backgrounds, to become successful medical school applicants through undergraduate student outreach events, resource dissemination, mentorship and community building.”

Among the many initiatives it has launched to coincide with Black History Month is an outreach program targeted to high school students who are interested in a career as medical doctors.

Since its inception, BMSA at U of T has been very active in advocacy and activism primarily awareness of pertinent issues to the black community. On June 29^th, 2020, Black Law Students Association (BLSA), Black Student’s Association at U of T and BMSA met with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland to discuss anti-black racism in Canada. They subsequently released a briefing document about each organization, which can be seen at: https://tinyurl.com/ydz7yj9f.

On February 4^th and February 11^th, 2020 it hosted two Black Mental Community Speaker Series # 3 and # 4 at the University of Toronto Medical Sciences Building. Its Facebook page on February 11^th, 2021 states, “We strive to continue to create spaces for our community where we learn alongside each other, from partnership, to developing solidarity, to creating powerful networks.”

On March 2^nd, 2020, BMSA launched the first Black Mental Health Day in the city of Toronto and it focused on tackling issues around the stigma of mental illness, mental health and wellness.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it collaborated with Care Mongering-TO to launch a new series, “Talk with a Doc” on May 18^th, 2020. The goal was, “To hear from frontline health care providers about #COVID19, how their work is impacted, and what is needed for healthier communities.” It featured health and human rights activist, Dr.Naheed Dosani.  BMSA promoted the work of the Public Awareness COVID-19 Campaign specific to the African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) community on in its Facebook page on July 3^rd, 2020. This was a campaign designed in partnership with Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (BCAP), the Black Health Alliance (BHA), as well as the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit.

BMSA has provided a list of resources to help black students thrive during COVID-19 at:

# BlackCOVIDResilience, and shorturl at/iwMW2. There is culturally appropriate encouragement, support and help available there. It provides access to healthy, culturally relevant food at https://shorturl.at/bhoyL.

Parenting and educational resources are available in Toronto at: https://but.ly/2Ev4c95.

The Secondary School Outreach Program offered by the Toronto District School will be in partnership with the BMSA. It is titled, “So you want to be a doctor?” It will be offered on February 17^th and February 24^th, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. It will be presented in a workshop format. The following topics will be covered:

• Major components of applying to medical school
• How to prepare in high school and university for medical school
• Day in the life of a medical student and doctor
• Interactive mock patience cases

Students enrolled in a Specialist High School Major (SHSM) can learn Communication and Portfolio Development certifications. High school students who are interested in this workshop can SCAN QR link to register or use link: https://forms.gke/mfugC3Fm2jASEQeB8.