Accepted Type
Dedicated Poster
Code
P4 - 08
Acceptance Declaration
Accept
Additional Information
I declare I have no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this program.
Was this work accepted for CCME 2020?
yes
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Poster
Sub Type
Education Innovation
Will the presenter be a:
Other
Presenter Other
Rural Pre-Medicine Program Coordinator
Affiliation
Title
Rural Medicine eMentoring BC (RMeMBC)
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
The RMeMBC program connects Rural Pre-Medicine Program (RPM) students at Selkirk College with medical students in the Rural Medicine Interest Group (RMIG) at UBC. Due to geographic barriers, it is difficult for rural students to find "near peer" mentors. Likewise, medical students interested in rural practice are often studying in urban settings and feel disconnected from rural communities. The RMeMBC program provides a platform where these students can form mentoring relationships online.
Summary of the Innovation
In collaboration, RPM, RMIG and the Rural Education Action Plan (REAP) developed a curriculum of eight modules highlighting the transition from undergraduate studies to medical education training. Once mentoring matches have been made based on common interests and experiences, students access the curriculum through an eMentoring software platform, and it helps to guide their conversations.
Conclusion
Early results from the program indicate that mentors and mentees find the experience valuable. Interactions on the platform are generally focussed on the topics students identified as being important to them: the transition to medical education training and the needs of rural communities. One challenge which has presented itself is that portions of the curriculum are sometimes left unaddressed. Currently, we are exploring ways to encourage greater engagement with the curriculum while still allowing for organic conversations driven by participants' interests. Upon review, all partners view RMeMBC as successfully providing a resource that supports participants with rural backgrounds or affinities, and it could be replicated to support rural students across Canada.
Keyword 1
Mentoring
Keyword 2
Rural
Keyword 3
Undergraduate Education
Level of Training
General
Abstract Themes
Undergraduate
Additional Theme (First choice)
Student Affairs
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Distributed Medical Education
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Professionalism
Authors
Presenter
Takaia Larsen
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
