Isabelle Keng
Hi my name is Isabelle but you can call me Izzy! I was born in Edmonton, AB and moved to Richmond Hill, ON when I was 7. I did my undergraduate degree in Medical Sciences with an honours spec. in One Health which allowed me to learn more about healthcare issues from a local to global scale. During my time at Western I strived to make the campus an inclusive, safe space for everyone by becoming a peer mentor and international learning ambassador. Outside of academics, I like to stay active through dance, at least before I tore my ACL :( Last year I travelled to Australia and worked my way back home. I like to colour my hair which makes me easy to spot on campus. Please feel free to stop me anytime if you have any questions. I look forward to spending the next 3 years together!
A big part of being president is ensuring people feel they can share their opinions and have their voices heard. I plan to achieve this by collecting both formal and informal feedback from students about events and activities that don’t come with an evaluation form. Additionally, I will strive to create transparency in the steps being taken after a concern is shared. I want to bring forward concerns regarding the attendance codes and the various struggles students are having with them. I would also like to work with the rest of the executive team to ensure all interest groups feel adequately represented. I will work with CFMS to make sure McMaster student interests are represented at a national level.
To ensure EDI is integrated into my role I will ensure that I stay up to date on current events and research topics I may be unfamiliar with. I also think it’s important to hold myself accountable for any biases I might currently hold. Being open and receptive to feedback is important to ensure that I continue to grow. Additionally, I think it’s important to facilitate and encourage conversations both inside and outside of MMSC. Finally, I will consult stakeholders to add to discussions that lay outside of my own identities and experiences. This will help bring new and opposing perspectives to help all people feel represented.
A big part of being president is ensuring people feel they can share their opinions and have their voices heard. I plan to achieve this by collecting both formal and informal feedback from students about events and activities that don’t come with an evaluation form. Additionally, I will strive to create transparency in the steps being taken after a concern is shared. I want to bring forward concerns regarding the attendance codes and the various struggles students are having with them. I would also like to work with the rest of the executive team to ensure all interest groups feel adequately represented. I will work with CFMS to make sure McMaster student interests are represented at a national level.
To ensure EDI is integrated into my role I will ensure that I stay up to date on current events and research topics I may be unfamiliar with. I also think it’s important to hold myself accountable for any biases I might currently hold. Being open and receptive to feedback is important to ensure that I continue to grow. Additionally, I think it’s important to facilitate and encourage conversations both inside and outside of MMSC. Finally, I will consult stakeholders to add to discussions that lay outside of my own identities and experiences. This will help bring new and opposing perspectives to help all people feel represented.
Donny Li
Donny is your friendly neighborhood medical student who admires talking and learning about people—their undergrads, PBL groups, hometowns, and concerns too—he appreciates people’s stories. He is also an experienced leader in advocacy, student affairs, and academic innovation. He founded and previously led two student-based organizations of 100+ members championing health and social community projects and student mentorship, launching national events through sponsorships from Silicon companies and government organizations. His leadership is also vast; he held various roles in the military for three years, plus six years as an Air Cadet before becoming squadron commander; he was an appointed student society member under McMaster’s Faculty of Health Sciences; he also leads oncology/palliative care research projects, often presenting nationally and internationally. The combination of Donny’s character and experiences relevant to the MMSC demonstrates his lifelong commitment to understanding people individually, using their stories as the spearhead for meaningful goals.
Launching Interest Group Collaborations: Interest Groups intersect in today’s medicine. We’ll launch a formalized program empowering cross-group collaborative projects, sparking inspiring opportunities for students.
Saving Money and Time on Education/Living: We’ll find the best deals and negotiate class discounts for educational purchases and everyday living. We’ll create campus-specific reports/tips on cars, bus passes, condos, and more to help you make financial decisions.
Championing NRC and WRC Representation: Alongside regional VP Internals, we’ll establish WRC and NRC involvement and engagement campaigns through all branches of the MMSC and Interest Groups/Committees.
Enabling Student Opinion and Transparency: We’ll host accessible student feedback opportunities, including live question sessions, and make strategic plans, progress reports, and key meetings public for accountability.
Recognizing Different UGME to PGME Goals and Well-Being: We’ll survey students' educational and individual diversity to deliver “resource packages” best tailored to your career and personal goals.
The President should be a role model for EDI within the MMSC; I plan to continuously raise this standard through routine EDI training and education arranged both informally (e.g., joint discussions with EDI and Indigenous VPs) but also formally through team-wide training (e.g., EDI education weekend retreat). Additionally, I plan to engage an EDI Advisory Panel to voice improvements and consensus to major MMSC decisions, consisting of the appropriate VPs and volunteers from the UGME and stakeholder community. I also strive to be humble in my knowledge, calling upon safe and anonymous class and faculty feedback opportunities on current initiatives to understand real perspectives on EDI from both a grassroots and systems standpoint. Finally, I aim to ensure continual EDI development through progress tracking via measures such as event/group diversity and representation, class inclusion satisfaction surveys, anonymized written feedback, and project impact analyses, among others.
Launching Interest Group Collaborations: Interest Groups intersect in today’s medicine. We’ll launch a formalized program empowering cross-group collaborative projects, sparking inspiring opportunities for students.
Saving Money and Time on Education/Living: We’ll find the best deals and negotiate class discounts for educational purchases and everyday living. We’ll create campus-specific reports/tips on cars, bus passes, condos, and more to help you make financial decisions.
Championing NRC and WRC Representation: Alongside regional VP Internals, we’ll establish WRC and NRC involvement and engagement campaigns through all branches of the MMSC and Interest Groups/Committees.
Enabling Student Opinion and Transparency: We’ll host accessible student feedback opportunities, including live question sessions, and make strategic plans, progress reports, and key meetings public for accountability.
Recognizing Different UGME to PGME Goals and Well-Being: We’ll survey students' educational and individual diversity to deliver “resource packages” best tailored to your career and personal goals.
The President should be a role model for EDI within the MMSC; I plan to continuously raise this standard through routine EDI training and education arranged both informally (e.g., joint discussions with EDI and Indigenous VPs) but also formally through team-wide training (e.g., EDI education weekend retreat). Additionally, I plan to engage an EDI Advisory Panel to voice improvements and consensus to major MMSC decisions, consisting of the appropriate VPs and volunteers from the UGME and stakeholder community. I also strive to be humble in my knowledge, calling upon safe and anonymous class and faculty feedback opportunities on current initiatives to understand real perspectives on EDI from both a grassroots and systems standpoint. Finally, I aim to ensure continual EDI development through progress tracking via measures such as event/group diversity and representation, class inclusion satisfaction surveys, anonymized written feedback, and project impact analyses, among others.
Grace Learn
Hi Guys! I’m Grace! I’m running for President and VP Student Affairs and am so excited by the opportunity to represent our class! I did my undergrad at Carleton University studying Humanities and Biology. As I’m sure you guessed from my previous program, I’m a huge book nerd. I also love baking competition shows, singing pretty much anywhere and anything, going to the gym, and meeting new people. I am always down for a conversation so feel free to reach out anytime to talk books, food, MMSC, make small talk about the weather or chat about the meaning of life. I cannot wait to go through the next three year journey with you all and would be honoured to represent our class and make these next few years even better.
I would love to be President for the class of 2026! With lots of leadership experience in the past, I would be super excited to take on this new challenge with MMSC. With communication between students and staff being so central to this role, as President I want to create a more accessible and informal way of giving feedback about the program. By creating an easier way of giving input no concern, big or small, would be missed and all issues ranging from attendance codes to clerkship timelines and more will be addressed. I want to be a President that everyone feels comfortable coming to with concerns, questions or just to chat. That includes creating a safe space for other council members to seek support, making our overall council and thus medical school experience even better. Everyone deserves to feel heard within this program and as President I want to advocate for this, us, and our education.
As President I will ensure that Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenous Reconciliation is included by incorporating every individual’s voice and concerns. I will advocate for further EDI training for faculty, student council and medicine. I will also implement the inclusion of the EDI position in every area of council making it a priority in the planning and execution of all events. Finally, receiving feedback about the experience of marginalized groups in Mac Med will be central in my role. Using feedback I will convey all concerns to faculty heads to formulate an action plan to address the issue. Through VP of Student Affairs I would also refer to VP EDI for any event so all wellness activities are inclusive and equity-informed. As VPSA works closely with OLEM, I will act as an advocate for all med students regarding potential experience with learner mistreatment of any kind.
I would love to be President for the class of 2026! With lots of leadership experience in the past, I would be super excited to take on this new challenge with MMSC. With communication between students and staff being so central to this role, as President I want to create a more accessible and informal way of giving feedback about the program. By creating an easier way of giving input no concern, big or small, would be missed and all issues ranging from attendance codes to clerkship timelines and more will be addressed. I want to be a President that everyone feels comfortable coming to with concerns, questions or just to chat. That includes creating a safe space for other council members to seek support, making our overall council and thus medical school experience even better. Everyone deserves to feel heard within this program and as President I want to advocate for this, us, and our education.
As President I will ensure that Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenous Reconciliation is included by incorporating every individual’s voice and concerns. I will advocate for further EDI training for faculty, student council and medicine. I will also implement the inclusion of the EDI position in every area of council making it a priority in the planning and execution of all events. Finally, receiving feedback about the experience of marginalized groups in Mac Med will be central in my role. Using feedback I will convey all concerns to faculty heads to formulate an action plan to address the issue. Through VP of Student Affairs I would also refer to VP EDI for any event so all wellness activities are inclusive and equity-informed. As VPSA works closely with OLEM, I will act as an advocate for all med students regarding potential experience with learner mistreatment of any kind.
David Kanter Eivin
Hi! I’m David and I’m your friendly (approachable!) MacMed pasta appreciator (yum!), Netflix-docuseries depreciator (its all filler content now!), and tech guy (!). I’m running for MMSC, because, well, I wasn’t going to until I organized the patches and remembered how much I love student government (pretty weird, right?). But really, I’ve been doing student government constantly since I was in high school, both in event planning roles and advocacy roles, and I’m running for President and VP Internal because I’m hoping to guide both of those aims. My focus is always on listening to people’s concerns: this starts with being approachable, but it also means actively seeking out feedback through surveys and emails. Acting on that means proper follow up to understand more detail, and it means advocating for the interests even of a small group of students. That’s what my leadership would be about.
I hope to serve as your president in order to bring constant improvement and new ideas to the MMSC, focusing on your thoughts and concerns. I will strive for continuous improvement and focus on coordinating the MMSC to run smoothly and do more for students wherever possible. I will emphasize the planning of social events, through a dedicated cross-campus position or committee. I want to support not only MMSC events but independent student-run events. I’m huge on feedback, whether informally through conversation, by email, or through polling or forms on the website. Speaking of which, I’m a big website person, so I’ll work with VP Comms to make the website fire. That being said, my ultimate focus will be on conducting the orchestra that is MMSC and supporting the other staff as best I can, so that their platforms and ideas become reality! That’s what being president is all about!
I think that incorporating EDI/IR starts with one’s own personal journey in terms of my own reflection and learning. This means learning about diverse cultures and Indigenous cultures (and not only as it pertains to health and medical treatment) on one’s own time, and reflecting honestly on my own biases and privilege coming to this point. I will actively seek out these learning opportunities and take the time to reflect on EDI both in my personal life and in my role/committes, and the MMSC as a whole. I hope to also learn more about health advocacy for marginalized and Indigenous peoples. I will actively seek out feedback from our EDI and IH VPs. To make my responsibilities and subcommittees equitable and diverse, I will watch for non-inclusive language/communication, acknowledge and apologize if it occurs, and create a safe and confidential space for concerns to be brought forward.
I hope to serve as your president in order to bring constant improvement and new ideas to the MMSC, focusing on your thoughts and concerns. I will strive for continuous improvement and focus on coordinating the MMSC to run smoothly and do more for students wherever possible. I will emphasize the planning of social events, through a dedicated cross-campus position or committee. I want to support not only MMSC events but independent student-run events. I’m huge on feedback, whether informally through conversation, by email, or through polling or forms on the website. Speaking of which, I’m a big website person, so I’ll work with VP Comms to make the website fire. That being said, my ultimate focus will be on conducting the orchestra that is MMSC and supporting the other staff as best I can, so that their platforms and ideas become reality! That’s what being president is all about!
I think that incorporating EDI/IR starts with one’s own personal journey in terms of my own reflection and learning. This means learning about diverse cultures and Indigenous cultures (and not only as it pertains to health and medical treatment) on one’s own time, and reflecting honestly on my own biases and privilege coming to this point. I will actively seek out these learning opportunities and take the time to reflect on EDI both in my personal life and in my role/committes, and the MMSC as a whole. I hope to also learn more about health advocacy for marginalized and Indigenous peoples. I will actively seek out feedback from our EDI and IH VPs. To make my responsibilities and subcommittees equitable and diverse, I will watch for non-inclusive language/communication, acknowledge and apologize if it occurs, and create a safe and confidential space for concerns to be brought forward.
Leigh-Ann Grant
I have a passion for leadership, research, advocacy, and community engagement. My leadership skills have been demonstrated over the past few years within various executive roles at my alma mater (mentorship roles, head of an independent research project, etc). I've shown my love for research through various projects as well. In regard to student affairs, I have participated in research about compassion fatigue and burnout, which regularly impact medical professionals, and I am passionate about discussing such topics as well. I have advocated for neurodivergent children and children from racialized communities in my local community, and for students in the residence community of my former university. I am passionate about community engagement, and have shown this through past roles where I worked with diverse community members in community fostering, mentorship, academic support, and first-response (health-related). I have led various health-focused and self-care focused programs for local children and university students.
My platform...
1. Open spaces for discussion and social integration: Hosting regular student council town halls / forums/spaces for students to voice their concerns, give feedback on student council initiatives, suggest methods for improvement, and discuss with other students.
2. Maintaining transparency of the council: if elected, I will do my part to ensure that the council remains transparent: keeping routes for open communication (group chats, anonymous polls, etc), engaging students in decision-making, announcing new initiatives and changes in a clear manner, and remaining accountable for decisions taken.
3. Student wellbeing: partnering with the Mac Med Student Affairs team and external local mental health resources to lead workshops, drop-in sessions, and destressing (or "stress-buster") sessions. I also want to collaborate with and discuss with academic leaders within the MGDG Faculty of Medicine to make sure burnout is adequately discussed, its consequences, and how to combat it as students.
A huge part of EDI is not giving a voice to those who "don't have one," but instead amplifying the voices of people who are repeatedly not heard. In my role, I plan to ensure EDI is integrated by listening to the ideas and concerns of students from diverse backgrounds, including student ideas and student participation within those initiatives, and making sure to advocate for each every student just as much as I would for any of the other med students. I also want to increase cultural competency/sensitivity in our class and will take necessary steps to become increase my own cultural competency as well.
My platform...
1. Open spaces for discussion and social integration: Hosting regular student council town halls / forums/spaces for students to voice their concerns, give feedback on student council initiatives, suggest methods for improvement, and discuss with other students.
2. Maintaining transparency of the council: if elected, I will do my part to ensure that the council remains transparent: keeping routes for open communication (group chats, anonymous polls, etc), engaging students in decision-making, announcing new initiatives and changes in a clear manner, and remaining accountable for decisions taken.
3. Student wellbeing: partnering with the Mac Med Student Affairs team and external local mental health resources to lead workshops, drop-in sessions, and destressing (or "stress-buster") sessions. I also want to collaborate with and discuss with academic leaders within the MGDG Faculty of Medicine to make sure burnout is adequately discussed, its consequences, and how to combat it as students.
A huge part of EDI is not giving a voice to those who "don't have one," but instead amplifying the voices of people who are repeatedly not heard. In my role, I plan to ensure EDI is integrated by listening to the ideas and concerns of students from diverse backgrounds, including student ideas and student participation within those initiatives, and making sure to advocate for each every student just as much as I would for any of the other med students. I also want to increase cultural competency/sensitivity in our class and will take necessary steps to become increase my own cultural competency as well.