Cet été, nous parrainerons 7 projets d’été en offrant une bourse de 6 000 $ par projet. La préférence a été accordée aux projets qui auront des répercussions directes sur le programme d’études ou qui permettront de l’améliorer.
La bourse servira à payer le salaire d’un étudiant choisi pour travailler sur le projet pendant une période de 10 semaines, entre le 25 mai et le 14 août 2026.
Medical education often addresses racialized health inequities poorly, frequently presenting race without social context thus reinforcing racialized biases. In 2022, the Antiracism Curricular Working group conducted a document-based antiracism curriculum audit of the clerkship component of the University of Ottawa MD Program.
The objectives of the curriculum audit were:
The audit identified specific content and categorized it into four themes: insufficient representation of racialized populations; race-based generalizations; cultural insensitivities; and reinforcement of stereotypes. The Clerkship committee received the results of the audit on two occasions, in 2023 and 2024. The committee instructed rotation directors and coordinators to make changes identified by the audit. The goal of this project is to repeat the antiracism audit of the clerkship curriculum to assess whether the initial audit process and subsequent guidance resulted in meaningful curricular change. By reassessing the curriculum using the same audit framework, the project will examine the extent to which identified gaps were addressed and recommendations were implemented.
The University is currently using virtual reality video tours of The Ottawa Hospital for transition to clerkship orientation. These videos were created during the COVID-19 pandemic, so focus on PPE and safe entry to the hospital. Therefore, these videos require a modern refresh, but still a valuable orientation medium. We are seeking a student who has some aptitude for video capture and editing.
Cameras will be provided, but the successful student will need access to a computer with video-editing software.
The objective of the project will be to help renew the current histology and pathology curriculum at the medical school. This will include reviewing objectives as well as content of all histology lectures with a "generalist" lense and providing opinions on what information is best delivered in person vs via electronic portal/e-learning. There will also be opportunity to create electronic e-learning modules for histology and continue previous work done on pathology electronic modules.
Translation services.
Faced with an increasingly diverse population, clinicians must be prepared to provide care tailored to patients from different cultures (Carballeira Carrera et al., 2020; Lee et al., 2024). Culturally appropriate care improves access to and quality of services, reduces certain chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, and decreases health inequalities (Koh, 2023; Ellis et al., 2022; Yarahmadi et al., 2024; Pilarinos et al., 2023). Despite these benefits, integrating cultural considerations remains challenging, particularly due to a lack of training for clinicians in cultural safety, which can undermine the therapeutic relationship (Cáceres Titos et al., 2025; Schenk et al., 2022). Cultural safety is a multidimensional concept that includes cultural awareness, sensitivity, competence, humility, and safety (NCCIH, 2024). A clear understanding of each of these dimensions is essential for its clinical application. However, a review of medical programs, particularly at the University of Ottawa, shows that training in cultural safety remains insufficient, both in terms of content and the teaching strategies and tools available to students (Abdulrahman, 2025; Natesan et al., 2020).
Study Design: This $50,000 AHSC AFP–funded project uses a convergent mixed‑methods design combining a quasi‑experimental approach and a case study. The video miniseries is currently in development.
Population and Sampling: A non‑probabilistic sample will be used. All third‑year interns at Montfort Hospital (n = 50) will be invited. For the qualitative phase, eligible quantitative participants will be recruited, with at least 12 needed for saturation.
QUAN component: Before the intervention (pre test) and after watching the videos and meeting a patient from another culture (post tests 1 and 2), students will complete validated questionnaires measuring their cultural competence knowledge, using the Cultural Competence Assessment (CCA) (Doorenbos et al., 2003). Because social desirability may influence responses (Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972; Blais et al., 1991), it will also be assessed with a 20 item true/false scale (Starr & Wallace, 2009) administered before the intervention.
QUAL component: Semi structured interviews will be conducted to explore students’ views on the clarity and usefulness of the videos, their awareness and understanding of the concepts, how these relate to their clinical experiences, and any anticipated changes to their practice.
Data analysis: Descriptive statistics will be reported. Cultural competence scores will be examined using a linear mixed effects model across three time points (T0, T1, T2). Qualitative analysis will be conducted using an inductive thematic approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006; 2021). The steps followed: 1) reading; 2) initial coding; 3) grouping into themes; 4) revision; 5) definition; 6) writing. Coding will be performed on Nvivo using an evolving grid until saturation (absence of new codes).
IMPACT Findings will address a curricular gap for University of Ottawa medical students. The cultural safety mini series can be shared nationally, supporting broader enhancement of medical education in Canada.
The research team for this project is composed of: Dr. Alireza Jalali, Dr. Marie-Hélène Chomienne, Dr. Salomon Fotsing, Dr. Gaëlle Bekolo, Dr. Kay-Anne Haykal, Dr. Aly Julien and Nina Kucheran, BSc, MSc, MD(s). Before data collection, an ethical approval request will be submitted to the Montfort Hospital REB, followed by an administrative review of the file by the University of Ottawa REB. To this end, a letter of support for the project will be requested from Dr. Alan Chaput, Vice-Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine.
Black Canadians experience persistent and well-documented health inequities, including higher rates of diabetes, significant mental health disparities, delayed diagnoses, and increased risk of misdiagnosis relative to other populations in Canada [1]. These disparities are not reducible to biological variation; they reflect the cumulative impact of structural racism, inequitable access to care, and biases embedded within healthcare systems. As the primary site of professional identity formation, undergraduate medical education (UGME) plays a critical role in shaping how future physicians understand and respond to these inequities. The Ottawa Declaration on Black Health in Canada articulates 24 commitments aimed at addressing anti-Black racism and advancing equity in healthcare, including the integration of mandatory anti-Black racism education within medical curricula and the development of strategic plans to eliminate racial health inequities [2]. These commitments serve as a national framework for action. Operationalization of these commitments within in UGME is evidenced in the launch of the Black Health Education Collaborative’s Black Health Primer [3], developed for learners and practitioners across health disciplines and professions, and through the work of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) Committee on Black Health, Innovation and Advancement (CoBHIA). Furthermore, the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) developed Black Health and Providing Anti-Oppressive Health Care Objectives which recognize the impacts of colonialism and racism on health outcomes of historically marginalized Canadians [4, 5]. However, emerging evidence suggests curricular gaps persist. For example, Bellicoso et al. identified underrepresentation of dermatologic conditions in skin of colour within a Canadian UGME curriculum and documented reduced diagnostic confidence among learners assessing patients with darker skin tones [6]. These deficiencies have direct implications for clinical competence, patient safety, and equity in care delivery. Moreover, insufficient attention to the structural determinants of Black health risks reinforcing biological essentialism while obscuring the systemic drivers of inequity. The Black Medical Students’ Association of Canada (BMSAC) have formulated recommendations to address these gaps in a recent report card [7]. This project proposes to conduct a curriculum analysis to evaluate the scope, framing, and distribution of Black health content within University of Ottawa (uOttawa) UGME. Using a structured analytic framework, we plant to assess: 1. representation of Black patients and conditions 2. extent to which content addresses structural determinants of health and anti-Black racism 3. alignment with the Ottawa Declaration. This project will function as a program evaluation, assessing implementation of recommendations made in 2023 to strengthen Black health education, via an internal survey undertaken to identify areas in which equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) could be improved in uOttawa UGME curricula. The anticipated impact of this work is twofold. First, it will generate empirical evidence to inform equity-driven curricular improvement, supporting the uOttawa Faculty of Medicine’s social accountability mandate, guided by recommendations set forth in the BMSAC report card [7]. Second, findings will be reported and shared with curriculum leaders to support sustainable implementation strategies. By advancing structurally informed Black health education, this project will contribute to the development of physicians equipped to deliver culturally safe, equity-oriented care.
The student will be consulting key UGME leadership during the summer, including the Assistant Dean, Curriculum, the Pillar Director for Medicine and Society, the Leads for Black Health, and EDI, respectively, the Senior Manager of Accreditation and Program Evaluation, members of BMSAC, and other stakeholders.
The study will take place over three months in the summer of 2026. Results will be synthesized and will be presented to the uOttawa UGME Curriculum Committee in the fall of 2026.
The plan includes sharing with local and national medical education networks and submitting abstracts to medical education conferences (e.g., International Congress on Academic Medicine (ICAM) and the International Association for Health Professions Education (AMEE) Conference).
Undergraduate medical education (UGME) necessarily includes content that is emotionally challenging. Learners are exposed to material involving death and dying, violence, abuse, reproductive loss, severe illness, structural inequity, and other forms of human suffering. While this content is essential for the development of competent and compassionate physicians, it can also provoke significant emotional distress in learners. Triggering content can be conceptualized in two broad categories. First, inherently distressing content refers to material that can reasonably be anticipated to evoke emotional responses in most learners, such as graphic injuries, intimate partner violence, and child abuse and neglect (Armstrong & Jaffray, 2021). Second, personally triggering content refers to material that intersects with an individual learner’s lived experience. Because trauma exposure is common in the general population, it is highly likely that medical students have lived experiences of trauma (Wathen et al., 2023; WHO, 2022). Faculty are typically unaware of these lived experiences, but may encounter the distress of students whom they teach and train. When learners are triggered, they experience trauma responses—physiological and psychological reactions to perceived threat, harm, or loss (Gerber, 2019). These may include anxiety, dissociation, emotional withdrawal, hyperarousal, or difficulty concentrating. Neurobiologically, trauma can impair higher-order cognitive processing and stress regulation, thereby directly affecting attention, participation, and learning (Ford-Gilboe, 2018; van der Kolk, 2003). In addition to re-traumatization, learners may experience secondary traumatic stress through repeated exposure to distressing material, associated with burnout and erosion of compassion (Kinker et al., 2018). These concerns are directly relevant to accreditation standards. CACMS Standard 3.5 requires a safe and respectful learning environment. Standard 6.3 addresses learner self-directed and lifelong learning, which includes the capacity for self-regulation. Standard 12.3 requires access to personal counseling, health, and wellbeing services. Failure to proactively address triggering content may have implications for educational effectiveness, learner wellbeing, and accreditation compliance. Trauma-informed medical education (TIME) offers a framework for addressing these issues through universal precautions, psychological safety, predictability, learner agency, and transparency (Government of Canada, 2025; Radwi, 2022; Brown et al., 2021). However, while conceptual guidance exists, there is limited local data on learner experiences of triggering content within our UGME curriculum and limited formalized processes to support faculty in prevention and mitigation. Furthermore, faculty members are likely to have their own lived experiences of trauma and may be triggered by curricular content which they teach and may be triggered by student distress resulting from exposure to difficult curricular content (Gillespie & King, 2024; Nedrow et al., 2013, Wathen & Varcoe, 2023). There is a pressing need to develop a trauma-informed strategy to prevent and mitigate triggering and re-traumatization of learners when presented with emotionally and psychologically difficult content (Okoli, et al, 2024). There is a parallel need to both support faculty when teaching challenging curricular material and to increase faculty capacity to anticipate and provide immediate and compassionate response to student distress during their teaching encounters (Government of Canada, 2025). This project proposes to explore how to operationalize trauma-informed approaches to triggering content within UGME.
Based on findings, the student would develop:
This project aligns directly with CACMS Standards 3.5, 6.3, and 12.3 by addressing the safety of the learning environment, supporting learner self-regulation, and strengthening connections to wellbeing resources. It advances educational quality without compromising academic rigor. Importantly, it positions the institution as proactive rather than reactive in responding to learner distress.
By systematically examining triggering content within UGME and developing structured, trauma-informed supports, this project has the potential to enhance learner engagement, protect wellbeing, and strengthen accreditation readiness.
The plan includes sharing with local and national medical education networks and submitting abstracts to medical education conferences (e.g., International Congress on Academic Medicine (ICAM) and the International Association for Health Professions Education (AMEE) Conference).
Intrasaccular devices, including the Woven EndoBridge (WEB), have emerged as promising alternatives to coiling and flow diverters, especially for wide-neck bifurcation aneurysms. These devices offer the potential for enhanced occlusion rates and reduced procedure-related complications. However, their long-term outcomes and comparative safety remain insufficiently studied. This retrospective study will investigate angiographic recurrence rates, device-related complications, and patient- or aneurysm-specific risk factors influencing the effectiveness and safety of these devices.
The treatment of intracranial aneurysms has evolved significantly with the introduction of intrasaccular flow-disruption technologies like the WEB device. Designed for challenging bifurcation aneurysms, these tools eliminate the need for adjunctive devices such as stents, simplifying procedures and potentially improving safety.
Despite early promising results, there remains limited data on their long-term angiographic outcomes and complications[1][2]. Understanding recurrence rates, device-specific failure modes, and the patient populations at greatest risk is essential for optimizing device design, refining procedural selection criteria, and informing post-market clinical strategies. Recent multicenter studies have demonstrated adequate occlusion rates of 77.9% at 5 years with retreatment rates of approximately 11.6%[1], though some single-center experiences report higher rates of adequate occlusion (83.7% to 92.6%) at long-term follow-up[2][3].
This study will comply with all applicable research ethics regulations and privacy legislation. Key activities include:
Results will be prepared for publication in a peer-reviewed neurointerventional journal. The manuscript will include:
This project offers an excellent learning opportunity for a medical student interested in neuroradiology, interventional radiology, or neurosurgery. The research assistant will gain hands-on experience in:
The research assistant will work closely with Dr. dos Santos, her statistician and the neurointerventional team, attending case conferences and gaining exposure to clinical decision-making in complex aneurysm cases. This experience is particularly valuable for medical students considering careers in radiology, neurosurgery, or neurology, and will strengthen residency applications with a publishable research project.
This study will provide vital real-world evidence for the long-term safety and efficacy of WEB and related intrasaccular devices at a major Canadian tertiary care center. Key deliverables include:
Understanding factors associated with device compression, migration, and recurrence patterns[4][5] will be particularly valuable for iterative device improvements and optimizing patient selection criteria. By identifying risk factors and long-term outcomes for WEB and other intrasaccular devices, this study aims to improve neurointerventional outcomes and contribute meaningfully to the growing body of evidence supporting intrasaccular device technology. This work will inform clinical practice guidelines and support evidence-based decision-making in the treatment of complex intracranial aneurysms.
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NB : Ces programmes sont distincts et indépendants du programme d’été pour étudiants, financé par le Bureau de la recherche.
