Faculty of Medicine attends International Congress on Academic Medicine

Recently, a few members of the Faculty of Medicine team attended the International Congress on Academic Medicine (ICAM) in Vancouver, which is the premier Canadian meeting for medical schools and medical education with over 1,250 participants. It was fun being one of the new kids on the block, and attendees were very interested in and enthusiastic about what is happening at UPEI. 

UPEI is certainly not alone, as Canada is seeing the greatest expansion in medical and health education since four new medical schools opened at the time of Confederation in 1967. Many new campuses are being planned, and three other universities are starting new medical schools (TMU, SFU, and York). One speaker remarked, “Stand up if you are not starting a new campus or medical school. Or, more correctly, stand up if your government hasn’t told you to start a new campus or medical school!” It was a great opportunity to network and learn from both established medical schools and others more like UPEI. Islanders can take pride in this; we are holding our own and ahead of some in this enormous national effort to contribute to the solution of the massive local and national shortage of healthcare professionals.

Key themes of the conference, other than the growth of enrolment and programs, were Indigenous health, equity, diversity, inclusivity, anti-racism, accessibility, interprofessional education, team-based care, simulation-based education, and artificial intelligence. It was a great conference with excellent education and networking.