VP Internal - Regional Campus Candidates
Devika Singh (WRC)Tell us about yourself:
Hi everyone! My name’s Devika and I am running to be your VP Internal (Waterloo). I recently did my undergrad at McMaster and I’m extremely excited to be back for another three years and to hopefully meet all of you at some point! I believe that my previous leadership roles in event planning and orientation would make me an excellent candidate. Over the past couple years, I worked to supervise a team at Mac to plan events for incoming students during welcome week and throughout the year, allowing me to become familiar with the resources available to us. Additionally, I absolutely love planning and organizing, which I believe are essential skills to thrive in this role. I encourage all of you to familiarize yourselves with all the candidates and to make an informed vote! P.S. Fun Fact: No one’s ever guessed my background on the first (or even second!) try! What is your Platform? My platform consists of four main points. 1) Ensuring a fair allocation process for committee members. A poll would be sent detailing different selection methods, and also allowing for feedback while consulting with past VP Internals. Additionally, I would ensure transparency by providing detailed criteria about the selection process. 2) Focusing on social events. Especially since we’ve started virtually, creating cohesion between all three campuses by planning accessible events throughout the year as well as in-person orientation events for WRC students (when it’s safe) is essential. 3) Creating an outreach program that allows us to work with marginalized groups, possibly in collaboration with UWaterloo or WLU. This would be planned after receiving input from you (the WRC class!) about your interests. 4) Creating a year-long buddy system. This would include matching incoming students to an upper-year mentor based on common interests and planning events throughout the year. |
Jack Zheng (WRC)Tell us about yourself:
Hello MacMed Class of 2023! My name is Jack Zheng and I am a member of the Waterloo-Regional Campus. If I were to choose one household object to describe my personality, it would be a sponge. I am a great listener who is always soaking up all types of information, synthesizing it, and then applying it to my goals. Some of my extracurricular interests include research, mentorship, and advocacy for vulnerable populations. During my undergrad at Western, I had many amazing experiences – ranging from being an Orientation leader, managing a tutoring club, to becoming the scholarship chairman for my fraternity – that taught me a valuable lesson: we are able to reach our full potential as students when we are united as an inclusive community. What is your Platform? Thus, one reason I am running for VP Internal of Waterloo is to help build a large community that connects all three campuses. Some actionable ideas: - Promote continued, upper-year mentorship and student involvement in online communities (e.g. discord) within WRC and across campuses. - Help to organize wellness events that allow Waterloo students to find peer support across campuses. I will also be creative and innovative in advocating for equal opportunities for Waterloo students. Some actionable ideas: - Optimizing a digital survey, customized for Waterloo-Regional Campus students, for receiving regular feedback about academics, opportunities, and other concerns. - Facilitating opportunities for regional students to become involved in research occurring on main campus - Reallocation of a portion of interest-group funds to cater food for regional-campus students during livestreams of IG events. Overall, VPI is a fantastic chance to stay in tune with my classmates and work closely with faculty. |
Rob Dydynsky (WRC)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? To me, it’s critical the VP Internal for Waterloo is someone who’s comfortable with communicating to and coordinating multiple groups without missing a beat – including students and faculty outside WRC, as well as interdisciplinary groups that can enrich our program. Personally, having communicated events across 13 departments, to classes of 1500+ students even in upper years, and often to outside parties, I’ve begun to develop these key skills. Whether in-person announcements, electronic advertisements, consistent and urgent follow-ups on every email or never missing a calendar invite, I strived to keep as many students as possible informed and engaged. I also hope to explore new ways to enrich our time at WRC, such as keeping personal rapport with each of my peers to pass on the most relevant opportunities, constantly integrating their needs and feedback, and also using the virtual environment to collaborate with Hamilton, Niagara, and faculty better than ever! |
VP Internal - Regional Campus Candidates
Bradley Murphy (WRC)Tell us about yourself:
I’m Brad, the sassiest export Ottawa has to offer and cannot be more excited to start this journey with all of you. I completed my BSc at uOttawa and then my PharmD at uWaterloo. We have been hearing a lot recently to keep an open mind, and that’s exactly how I try to live my life. Medicine is not something I ever thought I would pursue, but by keeping an open mind throughout all my experiences, it made me fall in love with this profession and the opportunities it has to offer. I’m definitely a foodie, absolutely love exploring new restaurants. In the winter, you will absolutely see me on the slopes. On an average day, I will likely be curled up with a book or re-watching Schitt’s Creek for the millionth time. I am super approachable and love to meet and chat with new people. Looking forward to meeting you all once things start to return to normal. What is your Platform? In life, there are critical moments that set you on a path that shapes the very person you want to become. During my pharmacy career, I had the privilege of working in palliative care, assisting patients in the hardest moments of their lives. The palliative team promoted a sense of community and belonging for patients that I envisioned myself doing for the rest of my life. I wanted to be more involved in their care, too have difficult discussions with families, and most importantly, to ensure they would leave this world with the dignity we all deserve. Now more than ever, it is important to promote a sense of belonging and community amongst our friends, family and our new found colleagues. In these uncertain times, it can be easy to lose track of this, but as president, I hope to utilize my life experiences reflectively to promote meaningful engagement and form strong connections within the healthcare community. |
Selene Chen (NRC)Tell us about yourself:
Hi everyone! My name is Selene, and I’m hoping to be your MMSC VP Internal (Niagara Campus)! I’m from Toronto, although Hamilton has been my home for the past few years while I was doing my undergrad at McMaster. One day I hope to convert a van into a tiny home and go on a road trip across Canada, but that's another story. A little bit about me - my hobbies include cooking, painting, rock climbing, and a little bit of gaming. I own a little crested gecko named Tofu, whose hobbies include sleeping, and a dog named Piper, whose hobbies include eating. I also served as the Internal Coordinator of McMaster’s Emergency First Response Team, managing all internal affairs of the team and advocating for the team’s concerns. I hope I can bring this experience to the role of VP Internal :) What is your Platform? 1) Increase interest group accessibility After speaking with 2022 students, I learned that although IG meetings might be videoconferenced, regional campuses can have different tutorial schedules post-MF1. Conflicting schedules would pose a barrier for regional students to engage with virtual meetings; therefore, I’d like to get IG presentations recorded and posted. 2) Adapting to an online presence In light of school being online, I’d make it a priority to have a well-structured virtual IG fair soon, so the class of 2023 can get a clear picture of current IG groups and begin to get involved. 3) Collaboration I’d love to work with the VP Internals to streamline the IG application process, so students can more readily pursue their interests in medicine beyond the existing IG groups. 4) Continuing advocacy Finally, I am always open to hearing suggestions from the student body so that I can better advocate for student interests! |
VP Internal - Hamilton Campus Candidates
Tessa Anzai (HRC)Tell us about yourself:
The Basics: a twin, a food lover, a great communicator, a competitive ultimate frisbee player, a scorpio, a terrible dancer The Details: Hello everyone! I am thrilled by the opportunity to serve you all as a member of our med student council. I am someone who rarely takes herself seriously, but whose earnest commitment to the responsibilities and demands of our future profession is genuine. I am passionate about balancing the process of becoming an excellent physician with the importance of remaining a well-rounded and grounded individual, and plan on bringing this dedication to the position of VPI. When I’m not overthinking my own bio, you can find me failing at digital painting or laughing at my own jokes. I can’t wait to move to Hamilton in January and finally see what all this waterfall hype is about (and meet everyone in the MacMed fam in person!!). What is your Platform? My Background: I am excited to bring my previous experience in student advocacy and team leadership to VPI. During my time as Health & Wellness Representative, I became confident in my ability to collaborate with students and advocate to faculty, and plan to further this advocacy by representing all MacMed student interests. Additionally, my time as president of the Campus Medical Response Team taught me how fostering interpersonal connections is important for building strong social dynamics and team satisfaction, something I value deeply. My Plan: As your VPI, I promise to have your voices heard. Whether it’s planning a new interest group, brainstorming a sweet social event, or just lending an ear, I’ll be attentive and committed to all concerns that arise. I’m dedicated to cultivating the MacMed community through enhanced virtual social engagement (paint nights!! coffeehouses!! c2023 lookbook!!), as well as prioritizing in-person events ASAP (socially distant snowball fight anyone??). |
Kathy Wu (HRC)Tell us about yourself:
Hi MacMed! My name is Kathy and I’m running for VP Internal at Hamilton. I hope to meet you all in the near future in-person, but in the meantime, here are some fun facts about me: 1) I went to Western where I started in medical sciences, but took a detour through the business program at Ivey for the last two years 2) Two things I love to do are wine and movie nights and playing sports, especially volleyball! 3) Two things I’ve never done are watching horror movies and going on roller coasters because I’m very easily scared Change is difficult, but I hope through my experience and the community's input, I can help make this transition into medical school smooth and enjoyable. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or comments, I am always happy to chat! What is your Platform? The overarching goal of my platform is to not only deliver a traditional medical school experience, but to improve it when adapted to our new normal. Social – While COVID-19 has made it tough to get to know each other, I hope to implement more virtual events to get to know people beyond tutorial groups. When we go back to Hamilton, in-person orientation events can be held such as ice skating or hiking trips. Interest Groups - As Interest Groups help students explore career options, it would be useful to centralize resources for easier access and discovery. This could be done with a Google IG Events calendar. Network Opportunities - With less in-person interaction with professors and researchers, it could be useful to host more virtual 'Lunch and Learns' or ‘A Day in the Life’. This way, despite being virtual, classmates can learn more about different specialties. |
Etri Kocaqi (HRC)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 Internal Affairs-Hamilton, my platform is multifold. My platform includes: (1) Dedication to incorporating interest group leaders into various MacMed compartments/groups such as curriculum and orientation. I believe that interest groups are often at the forefront of providing up to date/innovative information and it would be beneficial to provide them multiple opportunities for increased participation/integration. (2) Organizing a centralized information source that can be utilized by students as needed to receive event information in regard to interest groups. (3) Update current interest groups/committee webpage to make it more interactive/informative. (4) Organize frequent meeting with interest group leaders to receive feedback and ensure that their interests are considered and valued. (5) Work with social committee to organize bi-weekly online social events and maintain safety of in person events by offering virtual alternatives. |
