Nishtha Patel |
|
Running for:
VP External, VP Student Affairs
About me:
Some of my most formative experiences have happened in spaces where no two people, or situations, looked quite the same.Through first response, sports, cadets, and student leadership, I’ve learned how to read a room, adapt quickly, take initiative when it matters, and support a team while making space for all voices. Although I take my commitments seriously, I never want the people around me to forget to enjoy the process too.
Outside of academics, I’m definitely someone who likes to keep busy. Growing up, I did volleyball, biathlon, gymnastics, and dance, and strive to actively push myself outside of my comfort zone each day. I look forward to my morning triple espresso, spending time with friends, hiking, and finding small ways to make chaotic weeks more memorable. I’m naturally social, curious, and always happiest when I’m part of a community where people genuinely enjoy being around each other.
My platform:
My platform is centred on making medical school easier to navigate, not by lowering expectations, but by reducing the unnecessary stress around them. I want to create a “Things Nobody Tells You” series where upper-year students share the practical realities of major transitions like clerkship, electives, CaRMS, and changing clinical sites.
I also want Student Affairs to tackle the everyday “life admin” of medical training: transportation, short-term housing, scheduling, and other logistical barriers that can quietly add stress, particularly across Hamilton, Niagara, and Waterloo.
Finally, I would introduce a “One Less Thing” initiative each term, where students identify one avoidable frustration and Student Affairs works with the relevant group to fix it. My goal is to make Student Affairs not only a source of support when students are struggling, but a team that actively makes the student experience easier to navigate.
How do you plan to ensure that EDI is integrated in your role(s)?
Growing up in a diverse community, I was surrounded by different cultures, languages, religions, and lived experiences from a young age. That environment taught me that inclusion is not simply having diverse people in the room, but creating spaces where different perspectives can meaningfully shape decisions.
In practice, I would build EDI into how MMSC initiatives are designed and evaluated. In MMSC, I would treat EDI as a design principle rather than a final checklist. That means asking early whether cost, timing, location, accessibility, caregiving responsibilities, or campus geography could unintentionally exclude students, and then building around those barriers through subsidies, hybrid options, rotating locations, and direct consultation with affected groups.
Most importantly, I want EDI to be embedded early in planning. Before launching an initiative, I would ask whose perspectives are missing, who may be unintentionally excluded, and how the project can be designed more equitably from the outset.
VP External, VP Student Affairs
About me:
Some of my most formative experiences have happened in spaces where no two people, or situations, looked quite the same.Through first response, sports, cadets, and student leadership, I’ve learned how to read a room, adapt quickly, take initiative when it matters, and support a team while making space for all voices. Although I take my commitments seriously, I never want the people around me to forget to enjoy the process too.
Outside of academics, I’m definitely someone who likes to keep busy. Growing up, I did volleyball, biathlon, gymnastics, and dance, and strive to actively push myself outside of my comfort zone each day. I look forward to my morning triple espresso, spending time with friends, hiking, and finding small ways to make chaotic weeks more memorable. I’m naturally social, curious, and always happiest when I’m part of a community where people genuinely enjoy being around each other.
My platform:
My platform is centred on making medical school easier to navigate, not by lowering expectations, but by reducing the unnecessary stress around them. I want to create a “Things Nobody Tells You” series where upper-year students share the practical realities of major transitions like clerkship, electives, CaRMS, and changing clinical sites.
I also want Student Affairs to tackle the everyday “life admin” of medical training: transportation, short-term housing, scheduling, and other logistical barriers that can quietly add stress, particularly across Hamilton, Niagara, and Waterloo.
Finally, I would introduce a “One Less Thing” initiative each term, where students identify one avoidable frustration and Student Affairs works with the relevant group to fix it. My goal is to make Student Affairs not only a source of support when students are struggling, but a team that actively makes the student experience easier to navigate.
How do you plan to ensure that EDI is integrated in your role(s)?
Growing up in a diverse community, I was surrounded by different cultures, languages, religions, and lived experiences from a young age. That environment taught me that inclusion is not simply having diverse people in the room, but creating spaces where different perspectives can meaningfully shape decisions.
In practice, I would build EDI into how MMSC initiatives are designed and evaluated. In MMSC, I would treat EDI as a design principle rather than a final checklist. That means asking early whether cost, timing, location, accessibility, caregiving responsibilities, or campus geography could unintentionally exclude students, and then building around those barriers through subsidies, hybrid options, rotating locations, and direct consultation with affected groups.
Most importantly, I want EDI to be embedded early in planning. Before launching an initiative, I would ask whose perspectives are missing, who may be unintentionally excluded, and how the project can be designed more equitably from the outset.