MMSC President - Candidates
Nicky Dunn
BIO
Hi, y’all! I’m Nicky Dunn (he/him) and I’m excited to be running for our class’s MMSC. I came to Mac after completing my third year in the French Immersion Nursing program at uOttawa, where I was Class Representative and Vice-President on student council. I strongly believe in working to foster a safe and inclusive space for all, and foster a collaborative environment where students and faculty are working together towards shared goals. Outside school, I love coaching kids in skating and hockey; cutting my friends’ hair (check out Scott’s haircut for reference 😎) and entertaining my family and friends with movie quotes and impressions, especially Austin Powers! Feel free to message me (FB or IG) if you have any questions, or if you’re looking to connect or get a haircut. I’m so glad to have met many of you and I look forward to our next three years together. PLATFORM I’m passionate about supporting an environment where students and faculty co-create a culture based on shared values. I want to work closely with all of you and the VPs of Indigenous Health and EDI to ensure that our policies and expectations are inclusive, representative, and can adapt to the evolving and diverse needs of the communities we will serve. Another main priority would be to advocate for more effective communication from the School, especially when it comes to emails that got lost in our inboxes. I would work closely with the School to establish a year-specific email hub on Medportal where we can easily find important documents. It would be a huge privilege to represent all of you as President and champion the betterment of our program. I’ve loved being in student leadership and would be honoured to serve as a resource, support, and advocate for our program! Nima Behravan
BIO
Hi everyone! <3 I’m Nima (he/him)! I’m one of your friends from the Hamilton campus! Cool facts: I love playing basketball with my friends, and I'm super down to ball with you sometime! Also, I'm going to be buying my very first pet soon! ahhh! (guess what pet?) When I did my undergrad at McMaster in biochemistry, I was the Caucus Leader of the Science Student Representative Assembly! As Caucus Leader, I led our amazing student council, actively asked for feedback from the students whom I served, and advocated for tangible changes that they wanted to see. Given how much I enjoyed student council and how many wonderful student-centered changes we were able to make at McMaster, I hope to recreate that experience with you all! Lastly, I have some good news: The only 4-digit attendance code you’ll be needing from now on is: N-I-M-A. Vote Nima for President! <3 PLATFORM (A) Improving communication & transparency between administration, instructors & students. (B) Creating a 1-on-1 mentorship program that matches medical students to residents. Having a resident mentor early on allows us to feel more confident in our residency decisions later! (C) Creating a safe-space for feedback: My goal is to create a platform for centralized feedback, so you can voice your concerns to the program in an anonymous way. (D) Adding a new MMSC exec position called "VP Opportunities" to present you with a central hub to opportunities in research, employment, & external scholarships! (E) Increasing the number of fun/social events for all campuses. We need to have more opportunities to mingle & socialize throughout medicine! (F) Advocating for the needs of ALL students (Hamilton, Waterloo, Niagara, MD/PhD, etc.), including gym memberships & bus passes. |
Jamie Halperin
BIO
Hey c2025! My name is Jamie and I am so excited to serve you on MMSC! I hail from Montreal and got my BSc in Physiology at McGill. After completing one year of an Accounting program, I spent the past year working full-time as a medical secretary and gained invaluable experience in the healthcare field. Student leadership holds a special place my heart. I was Student Council President in elementary and high school, and then served as U1 Rep, Communications Director and Vice President on McGill’s Physiology student government. I have extensive experience leading and collaborating with teams, eliciting student feedback, planning social/academic/fundraising events, allocating budgets, and bringing student concerns to the forefront of the conversation. Outside of MacMed, I love to play violin, listen to Rock music, go on hikes, sing karaoke (badly), and watch Netflix. Fun fact: I am the most talented napper you will ever meet, period. PLATFORM When I was in seventh grade, a small group of students, backed by teachers and administrators, tried to introduce school uniforms. The student body was overwhelmingly opposed. I joined the uniform committee to be a voice for them. I fought not only against the implementation of uniforms but also provided input to ensure uniforms (if introduced) would be designed with student concerns in mind (such as not making skirts mandatory for girls). I share this story to illustrate one point: I take representation seriously. If you have concerns, I am willing to have difficult conversations with the Faculty in order to make them heard. This isn’t just a bullet point on my CV. Over the past decade, I’ve used my positions on student government to repeatedly and passionately fight for student interests. If elected MMSC President, I hope to be a powerful voice for the class of 2025. Bret Walsh
BIO
Hi there, I’m Bret! I just finished up my medical sciences degree at Western and have been loving it here at McMaster so far! I’ve had the immense privilege to have been engaged in a variety of rewarding leadership and advocacy positions before coming to Mac Med. Among other roles, I’ve served as Student Council President of my high school and as a board member at the Salvation Army Centre for Hope as part of the Canada Life Young Leaders Program. Joining MMSC will be an opportunity to use what I’ve learned from these experiences to help make Mac Med as awesome as we all know it can be! In my spare time, you’ll often find me glued to as many sports as I have screens available, usually while being wildly overdressed. Please feel free to come and chat if you see me around or reach out and say hi! PLATFORM As a candidate for President, my platform is centered around facilitation. In my time at Mac Med so far, every person I’ve met has both incredible lived experiences and great ideas about changes they would like to see in the program. My aim as President would be to ensure that my peers and fellow executives are able to make the greatest impact possible in their roles. I will relentlessly raise ideas and concerns to administration and not be satisfied until there is a concrete plan for addressing what is needed that I can then share back with the student body. When adjudicating disputes, I will always take into greatest consideration what is best for the student community as a whole and work tirelessly to overcome any administrative or systemic challenges that may stand in the way. Let’s work together to build a Mac Med community that we are proud of! |
Scott Mason
BIO
I was born in 1992 and attended Queen's for political studies prior to starting a business called CleanSlate UV. I ran CSUV for eight years. My favourite book is a comic called Watchmen and I distrust anyone who says "they like IPA's" or uses a selfie stick. I got my first grey hair at 12, I did a school exchange to China in 2014 and I once played Ping Pong with the bishop of Shanghai (he won). My wife and I are expecting our first child in December, which is probably a good reason not to vote for me as I will be pretty sleep deprived January haha. I’m a WRC student and I’ve been trying my best to travel to Hamilton to participate in every event. Meeting new people is one of my favourite things and I look forward to getting to know each one of you. PLATFORM • Gather input and implement proposed Student Mistreatment Policy. • Continue student advocacy during accreditation process. Based on my prior experience in student government, I've come to the conclusion that substantive policy changes are challenging to implement in a single year term. As opposed to promising you the moon and then not accomplishing anything, I feel the most honest answer is that I won't make changes beyond the two above which I believe I can complete by the end of the term. Rather, I commit myself to being an advocate for our class to the administration and a friend and ally to everyone in the program. I think the job of class President is to work for you: so my phone number is 416 371 3027. Call or text me anytime, for any reason, and I promise I will support you and we'll figure out whatever is troubling you together. Aaron Wen
BIO Hi! Aaron here. I am a graduate of the Health Sciences program here at McMaster University, and am running to be your MMSC President and VP Communications. Chances are, you know me as the person doing magic tricks at our social events. Although I can't make problems disappear like the cards in my hand, I do think that my experiences as a leader and facilitator throughout undergrad make me a qualified candidate for these roles. My academic interests include neuroanatomy, infectious disease, immunology, and education. If I am not shuffling cards, I like to spend my spare time playing a medley of sports (badminton, soccer, table tennis, squash) or playing violin! PLATFORM I think we can all agree that the past two years have been transformative to our worldview, whether that be on a personal or professional level. As president, my platform focuses on adapting to the ever-changing climate of healthcare and society: 1. I want to prioritize the transition back to in-person events, such as networking, research, and social events for the upcoming year (in accordance to McMaster guidelines). 2. I hope to increase the number of resources and events that promote the education on social determinants of health. In collaboration with the roles of the MMSC, I want to facilitate an environment that encourages continuous learning and open discussion. Hao Ming Chen
BIO
Who exactly is this guy messaging the Facebook group chat, bouncing around at Gala Night and making everyone sing Happy Birthday? Well, my name is Hao Ming (he/him) and I went to Western University for Medical Sciences and a Master of Public Health. As President for the Phys/Pharm Society, Biology Mentorship Program, and my MPH class, I worked with faculty to integrate suggestions into the curriculum, organized review workshops for hundreds of students, and hosted events ranging from bar nights to speaker series. Recently, I was a Project Manager at 19 to Zero where I worked with public health leaders, government officials, superintendents, academics, and physicians to coordinate initiatives aimed at building vaccine confidence. As I continue to grow my family at Mac Med, I hope to draw upon my experiences, learn from all of you and craft our story as the Class of 2025 together. PLATFORM As the toy company Fisher-Price so elegantly put it, "Play, Laugh, Grow." For the moments we "play" and "laugh", I aim to work with the VPs to coordinate a range of events such as socials with residents and attendings, water balloon fights, and bonfires. We can even combine events with upper-years and strengthen our bonds here at McMaster. When we "grow", I hope to work with students, faculty, council members, other medical schools, and fields outside of medicine to shape our experience and the future of healthcare. All jokes aside, my goal is to cultivate an environment where everyone—from the Hills of Clifton, the Fields of "Water Water Water ___ ___ ___" and the Town of the Hammer—can feel fulfilled as medical students and future physicians, whatever that means to you in terms of your personal, academic, and professional goals. |
