Accepted Type
Oral
Code
OA2-3-1
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?
no
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Oral
Sub Type
Education Innovation
Will the presenter be a:
Student
Affiliation
Considered for Poster
yes
Title
Conference on Health Advocacy Toronto: Building a national academic forum and community of practice for health advocacy in Canada
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
Advocacy is an important educational competency in medical training as physicians are well-positioned to champion innovative solutions to health and health care challenges. Academic forums are important facilitators of knowledge exchange, skill development and networking, however such opportunities focusing on health advocacy are limited. The Conference on Health Advocacy Toronto (CHAT) was founded with the mission to recognize and share health advocacy work at the local, provincial, and national level and the vision of creating conversations among health care stakeholders.
Summary of the Innovation
CHAT was a full-day conference developed by a team of eight medical students which featured a keynote address, two oral presentation sessions, and two advocacy skill-building workshops. Due to COVID-19, CHAT 2020 was reconfigured and delivered virtually using Zoom within three weeks of the event prompting a 4.5-fold registration increase. A total of 180 individuals attended; participants included health professions students, graduate students, and physicians from eight provinces. Thirty-eight initiative and research abstracts were accepted for presentation. All survey respondents (n=23) rated each session they attended as 'excellent' or 'good' on a 5-point Likert scale. Participants expressed a desire for additional events related to health advocacy in the future.
Conclusion
CHAT is a novel pan-Canadian academic forum in health advocacy which fosters knowledge sharing and mentorship. The event has provided a launching point for a national network and community of practice for trainees and health care professionals. Future directions should include a needs assessment of the community to inform future programming.
Keyword 1
advocacy
Keyword 2
interprofessional conference
Keyword 3
mentorship
Level of Training
Undergraduate
Abstract Themes
Inter-professional Education
Additional Theme (First choice)
Leadership
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Undergraduate
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Authors
Presenter
David Wiercigroch
Hilary Pang
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
