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The duties of the Director of Advocacy and Representation are as follows:​

  1. Directs advocacy activities of the association including reports, events, or initiatives. 

  2. Consults Indigenous medical students regarding advocacy and representation needs. 

  3. Advocates for association members’ needs to external organizations.

  4. Oversees research initiatives and programs.

Candidate: Kallie ritchie

Introduction

Hi there! My name is Kallie, and I am a first-year medical student at NOSM University on the West Campus (Thunder Bay, ON). Alongside my medical degree, I am completing an Indigenous Health and Wellness Collaborative Specialization. I recently graduated from the University of Ottawa in June 2022 with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science. 

 

I am Red River Metis and was born in Winnipeg MB, but grew up in Vermilion Bay, ON located on Treaty 3 territory. I am an only child, grandchild, and niece and love to spend time with my family. My hobbies include playing piano, figure skating, fishing, ATVing, and camping.

 

I am passionate about Indigenous health and providing trauma-informed, culturally safe care to future Indigenous patients. My current specialties of interest are emergency medicine and surgery.

Experience

I am currently the first-year representative (West Campus) for the Association of Women in Surgery NOSM Chapter and was just elected as the second-year representative. My role is to advocate for the educational needs of my class, advertise events to my class, and assist in event planning. This year, I helped organize and facilitate the Surgery Career Night and Pathways to Obstetrics event in collaboration with the Women and Children Health Interest Group at NOSM U.

 

I collaborated with faculty, Indigenous Curriculum Specialists, and Indigenous community members to co-design and co-deliver culturally safe, appropriate resources, and opportunities for Indigenous students at the University of Ottawa. Most of the work focused on decolonizing post-secondary institutions and curricula. I co-authored an Indigenous affirmation guide to help professors incorporate land acknowledgements into their syllabi and constructed various literature reviews on Indigenous policies.

 

I also organized an art project with three Indigenous women from the Algonquin-Anishinaabe community as a collaborator of the Kinistòtàdimin Circle. The goal of the project was to learn about and recognize the history between the field of social work and Indigenous families, and work towards building and strengthening positive relationships. It was a privilege to learn about history and cultural practices from these women and I am honoured to have had the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from curriculum specialists, knowledge keepers, and Elders. The project is on permanent display at uOttawa.

Goals

Goal #1: Connect with Indigenous medical students to learn about their journey applying to medical school and their life as a medical student. I would love to hear their thoughts about Indigenous representation in medical schools, barriers associated with applying, supports and services available to them while attending medical school and more. I would start by connecting with the Indigenous students at NOSM University and then branch out to reach all Canadian medical schools. 

 

Goal #2: Build connections with external organizations that can support IMSAC members. I would love to establish opportunities for members to learn about the support and services available to them as medical students with regard to personal health and academia. 

 

Goal #3: Collaborate with Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers, students, and communities to establish more resources for Indigenous students and settlers to learn more about Indigenous history, culture, and safety. Essentially, help to grow the resources section on the IMSAC website.

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