VP Academic - Candidates​

Alisha Sharma

Tell us about yourself:

Hi! I’m Alisha and, as much as I have loved meeting so many of you over zoom calls, I can’t wait to eventually get back to Hamilton and meet everyone in real life! When I’m not on zoom, I like to hang out with other people’s puppies, play tennis and hockey, write, and try out new recipes with varying degrees of success. I did my undergrad at McMaster, which is where I first became involved with student wellness services and health advocacy, as well as student council, through which I met lots of awesome people and was inspired to advocate for change that prioritizes student health and wellbeing. I feel incredibly lucky to be part of this class and would be honored to represent you as part of the MMSC!

What is your Platform? 

Now more than ever, I think our ability to engage in actionable conversations will play a crucial role in shaping our academic experiences. Given the opportunity to serve as VP Academic, I hope to improve our class’s educational experience through specific, targeted feedback collection and committed advocacy. I would work to address concerns about missing certain opportunities during these first months. For instance, I hope to improve research access by updating the existing page on MedPortal to include information about which research institutes and supervisors are open to accepting medical students, given current restrictions. I would also like to establish a centralized, comprehensive database of academic resources that we have been provided so far, both formally and informally. As VP Academic, I would do my best to seek out, understand, and advocate for the voices of each member of c2023 in the forums that need to hear them.
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​Colin Whaley

Tell us about yourself: 

Hi, I’m Colin! I did my bachelors and masters at the University of Waterloo, and I’m beyond excited to be a part of the MacMed Class of 2023! I describe my approach to life as “generally stoked,” and I’m experienced in making things that last while creating opportunities for others to learn and grow. In undergrad, I founded a club helping older adults use technology, which runs to this day because of the amazing people I’ve worked with to create sustainable change.

Making sure others are heard and represented is how I approach my every day, from research to advocacy to friendships. COVID can make this a challenge, but I believe fostering meaningful connections with each other and clear communication with those who guide us will help us become the amazing doctors we’re destined to be.

What is your Platform? 

Our academic experiences here are preparing us to save lives on the wards, and the administrators and committees that guide our learning directly help our future patients. As the needs of our community continue to be moulded by the world around us, ensuring that our learning is bleeding-edge will guarantee that we are prepared to tackle the health challenges of tomorrow.

I know that success in this role requires understanding how we can shape our education, while respecting the traditions that have made McMaster graduates successful. Being flexible is key — while our tutors and preceptors have adapted well to online learning, our technological comfort can support the program flourishing on this new platform. As VP Academic, I will ensure that the McMaster MD Program continues to be best-in-class, by ensuring that we are taught the technological and social realities of today, to bring about a stronger tomorrow.

Connie Li

Tell us about yourself:

Hi there! My name is Connie and I go by she/her. I studied neuroscience at McGill, where my most formative experiences included investigating the cerebellum with electrophysiology (spoiler: it has potential), co-producing podcasts alongside children who love science communication, and heading up an orientation week and meeting students from across the world. While leading a nonprofit music program, I was struck by how education can empower young people, and this fuelled my interest in cross-disciplinary pedagogy. Prior to joining our Mac Med family, I pursued research in medical education. I enjoy all things health humanities and am especially excited by the intersection of the arts and clinical training. Thank you for taking the time to read a bit about me! I cannot wait to get to know you more, and to learn about the passions/interests that encompass who you are.


What is your Platform?

These are my platform's two pillars:
1. Adapting the curriculum to the nuances of online learning and setting a precedent for future flexibility.
2. Fostering greater social, historical, and ethical awareness in pre-clerkship learning.

This is what they mean:
1. Our year faces pandemic-incurred changes and unique stressors that come with online training. Whether through telemedicine-focused sessions or online observerships, I will help to morph the distinctiveness of our class' experience into a reflection of how Mac Med adapts to our society's changing needs.
2. Advocacy permeates the physician's role, yet it is often siloed to a few sessions. I will build on the current council's initiatives and work closely with the VP EDI and VPs IH to ensure that the broader integration of tutorials, pro comp, and clinical skills also includes realistic portraits of populations that have been marginalized within or by the health care system.

Etri Kocaqi

Tell us about yourself: 

As a motivated, well-organized, passionate, and funny (at least my mom thinks so) individual I am excited to have the opportunity to meaningfully engage with the MacMed community. I am an Albanian Canadian immigrant who was fortunate to be raised in a loving and supportive community which taught me the value of hard work and supporting others. As a result, I have translated this lived experience into several leadership and counselling roles. These roles include: President of the Albanian Students Union at UofT, Co-Presidents & Event Coordinator for Peace by Peace Toronto Chapter and Mental Health Peer Support Worker. These roles provided me with invaluable insight into professional relationship building, transparent communication, event organization and inclusivity/accessibility. If elected to be a part of the Student Council, I will dedicate myself to empowering the student voice as well as supporting the community as a whole.

What is your Platform? 

As VP of Academics, my platform is dedicated to supporting the best experience in the virtual learning environment and transitioning into an in-person learning environment. My platform includes (1) Opening lines of communication in regard to quantity and length of mandatory sessions to battle zoom/online class fatigue. (2) To streamline feedback mechanisms to shorten/simply response forms with optional in-depth surveys in order to increase student participation. (3) Organize online study buddy/study group events to imitate in person learning environments (This would be a weekly event open to all.) (4) Pilot/improve upon existing peer mentorship programs for non-traditional students or those unfamiliar with PBL environment. (5) Organize/Create an open source document with up to date research and volunteer opportunities. (6) Propose online shadowing electives as healthcare professionals have begun to move into virtual medicine spaces.

Jim Xie

Tell us about yourself: 

Hello! My name is Jim and I am super excited to be starting my medical journey at McMaster :) I hope to meet all of you once in-person activities resume, but until then, here are some facts about me!

Pronouns: he/him/his
Schooling: fortunate to have also done undergrad at McMaster. Hamilton’s hiking and food scenes are incredible!
Favourite food: spicy hot pot! Or anything spicy, really
One thing that always makes me happy: hugs from my girlfriend
Most adventurous thing I’ve ever done: climbed to the peak of the mountain Huangshan at night, during a power outage, while wrestling with a slight fever…also my proudest accomplishment!
Next item on my bucket list: hiking the Inca Trail to see Machu Picchu - has always been a dream of mine
If I weren’t in medicine, I would: become an origami artist and theorist. Robert J. Lang is my icon!

What is your Platform? 

My goal as VP Academic is to ensure that students are well-prepared to build their career beyond undergraduate medical education. Specifically, I aim to:

1) Streamline career exploration and building opportunities throughout UGME.
• Organize a comprehensive series of live panels with upper years, residents, and faculty covering topics such as securing research, excelling as a clerk, and preparing for CaRMS
• Create a document with available research and clinical opportunities that is updated in real time

2) Centralise all available resources into a single, user-friendly online hub.
• Organize resources into broad umbrellas such as PBL, clinical skills and decision-making, clerkship, finance, and wellness
• Accompany umbrellas with bite-sized descriptions of each resource within

3) Increase the comprehensiveness of the UGME curriculum.
• Liaise with program leadership to create more learning opportunities for areas such as anatomy and pharmacology
• Seek partnerships with organizations to provide resources to MacMed students at a reduced cost (e.g. Amboss)

Michael Wong

Tell us about yourself:

Hi, I'm Michael Wong (not to be mixed up with Michael Wang) and I'm interested in becoming your future VP Academic. A little about me: I'm from Richmond Hill, a town near Toronto, and I’ll be moving into the Hamilton campus next semester. In my (now limited) free time, I enjoy watching Netflix – mainly sitcoms, playing badminton, gaming, and occasionally reading. For undergrad, I was at Western Medical Sciences, but my involvement at Western was not related to student council or academic committees. To be honest, I lack experience in that regard, but I am eager to learn more about our curriculum and hear suggestions from fellow classmates about improvements. So far, I think our class is great, and I believe that we will be able to make impactful changes to not only improve our own learning experience, but also the learning experience of the incoming class.

What is your Platform?
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Based on my experience so far, I believe there are two aspects to consider in terms of improvement: the transition into medical school overall and curriculum feedback. To assist with the intimidating transition into PBL style learning, a PBL Q&A session with upper years would alleviate our anxiety about PBL, help us formulate our own study methods, and give us another chance to interact with upper year students. Another challenging aspect of this first month has been to keep track of all the preparation required for the large group sessions. The implementation of a document that lists the preparation needed for LGSs each month may help students with organization and time management. In terms of feedback about the curriculum, I think that giving past examples of implemented feedback, more reminders to provide feedback, and even incentives would encourage more students to provide valuable insight about their educational experiences at Macmed.

Rob Dydynsky

Tell us about yourself:

Hey everyone! My name is Rob and I’m hoping to be a part of the MMSC this year. Before Mac Med, I attended UofT for life sciences as a commuter from Etobicoke!

At UofT, I served on a few student bodies organizing academic & social events – the main one being the Human Biology Students’ Union where I acted as the events coordinator, helping organize things like formals, pub nights, mentorship programs, and helping liaise between students and faculty. Outside of school, I’ve been involved with City of Toronto municipal recreation where I supervised, trained and certified aquatics staff. More personally, I’ve recently been getting back into things like cooking and gaming as stress relievers!

Although everyone in Mac Med is highly prepared to bring great things to the MMSC, I’m hoping to bring my own skills, lessons learned, and fresh ideas from my past into the positions I’m running for!

What is your Platform? 

We’ve all been there – that one undergrad class where the academics didn’t quite gel –content seemed to get skipped, was explained unclearly, and curveballs came left and right. Although academics inevitably involve stress to learn, I believe much can be managed to avoid undue hardship. In the VP academic role, I hope to continue upholding the opinions of the student body, liaising with faculty to smoothen out different parts of curricula, and passing down our lessons to disburden future cohorts. My hope is to explore options such as ensuring informal feedback (opinions students feel anxious to relay to faculty) is incorporated one way or another, to collaborate with other medical schools provincially, nationally, or even internationally to identify common snags in learning, testing, and feedback incorporation, and ultimately to aim for streamlined academics where student distress is minimized and we can comfortably focus on other goals in our professional lives.

Stephanie Scott

Tell us about yourself: 

Hello! My name is Stephanie (she/her) and I just finished my undergrad in Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization at McMaster. I’m thrilled to be spending 3 more years at Mac! Typically, I’d say that you can either find me procrastinating my studies in the Health Sciences Library or playing any and every intramural sport but now you can find me spending too much time in the kitchen or attempting (failing) to go for runs through my neighbourhood. I’ve also dabbled in watching every Netflix and Disney+ show and then balancing my screen time with a nice waterfall hike. Being the VP External and Academic of my program society in undergrad was one of my most rewarding experiences and I hope to have the opportunity to help us as a class reach our full potential. Please reach out if you have any questions, concerns or just need to share some medicine puns!

What is your Platform? 
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My focus is on giving back what Covid19 has taken from our educational experience and further advancing it. I will advocate for online horizontal electives, perhaps with physicians already conducting online appointments, to enable clinical exposure. I would also like to facilitate research opportunities through a ‘Meet the Profs’ event, where students can talk to different professors seeking medical student participation in their research. In terms of curriculum, I want to surmount the inability to go to anatomy labs with a weekly anatomy session in addition to Q&As, to assist in structural understanding and key anatomical objectives for each subunit. Further, becoming leaders in medicine starts with understanding diversity. I would like to accomplish this by adding sessions on diagnostic differences among different ethnic backgrounds and including diversity in our tutorial cases. Finally, I will advocate for transparency from administration when it comes to decision making and addressing our concerns.
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