Leaders in Medicine: Innovating the Future of Healthcare

The application for the joint degree Leaders in Medicine program becomes available when you are accepted into a Graduate program and the Undergraduate Medical Education Program at the University of Calgary.

LiM students complete their degrees sequentially, with the entirety of their graduate degree first, followed by their medical degree.

Graduate Degree (Masters', PhD or MBA) 
                             ↓
                    Medical Degree

No! You will only have to pay fees from the program in which you are currently enrolled. During graduate school, you will only have to pay graduate fees, and likewise for medical school. If you are being charged for both fees, please contact mdgrad@ucalgary.ca

No, we very strongly recommend that you write and defend your thesis prior to starting the MD program. Due to the fast pace of our MD program, it is very difficult to write a thesis or defend after starting medical school. Once you reach clerkship, completing graduate work becomes impossible. If you plan to start medical school soon, but do not think you will be able to finish your graduate requirements prior to starting, please contact mdgrad@ucalgary.ca to discuss options.

No, you will not be able to convocate from your graduate program until you have also completed your medical degree since this is a joint degree program. Once all requirements for both of your degrees have been completed, you will convocate with your medical school class and receive both of your degrees at once.

The Academic Medal is a thesis-based award, and therefore you are eligible to be nominated for this award after completing your thesis defense examination.

The President’s Award is a convocation award, meaning you are not eligible for this award until you have completed both of your degrees.

Job shadowing within Alberta Health Services (AHS) is available to all LiM students currently enrolled in graduate studies training. Job shadowing is a great opportunity to enhance exposure to clinical medicine. 

The process is handled entirely by the AHS system.  Note that when you complete the request you can not indicate that you are a medical student unless you are actively participating in the MD training side of your program.

Information on shadowing can be found https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/careers/page12347.aspx

*Please note that clinical observerships are ONLY available to persons with an MD degree, therefore, those accepted into medical school but have not completed the MD training are NOT eligible and will only be eligible for job shadowing.

Mentorship is a vital part of career development and we have been working hard to create a meaningful mentorship program for our LiMers that aligns with our program mission.

We have collated a list of LiM alumni who are currently in their residency programs and are excited to answer some of your career questions. These are physicians who have recently been in your position as a MSc/PhD-MD joint degree student and can speak to their own personal experiences and findings regarding research importance, CARMs processes, residency matching and more!

If you are currently a LiM member who is in the MD portion of their training and have any questions regarding a specialty (see sample questions below) this opportunity is perfect for you!

The process to pursuing this mentorship opportunity is outlined below:

Have a career question?
                  ↓
Email your mentorship committee with your question
                  ↓
The mentorship committee will send you a form to sign
                  ↓
The mentorship committee will then put you in contact with a recent LiM alumni

Sample mentorship questions:

• What does _______ speciality look like on a day to day bases?
• Is research involvement vital to matching to ______ speciality?
• What are the job prospects in _______ speciality?
• Are there opportunities to be a clinician scientist within ______ speciality?
• What are some concepts that you felt were important on your CARMs application to ______ speciality?

Within the email to the mentorship committee, alongside your question you can also specify where you would be hoping to match and the mentorship committee will do their best to match you with a LiM alumni within the speciality of question and the desired residency location J  

*IMPORTANT NOTES:

• This is NOT a “match” or a long-term mentorship pairing. This is an opportunity for you to ask career questions to fellow LiM alumni who have recently gone through their joint degree training.
• Emails are confidential! All students must be put in contact via the mentorship committee and the committee must remain CC’d in all emails. Emails of alumni must NOT be shared with anyone (within or outside of LiM).
• Email conversations are not to continue outside of the career questions being asked.
• In-person meetings are NOT permitted.

These regulations have been put into action so that our alumni are not overwhelmed with countless emails (these are busy residents that are donating their time to help us LiMers J). Also, this allows for our mentorship committee to record the questions being asked in a private and anonymous database to help answer future questions and/or guide future LiM professional development sessions.

Funding Agency: Alberta Innovates (Provincial Funding)
Eligibility: FGS Graduate Award Competition https://grad.ucalgary.ca/awards/award-opportunities/alberta-innovates
Amount: MSc/PhD or MD/PhD - $30,000/year plus, $2,000/year allowance Click here for info
Deadline: Please check with Alberta Innovates

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Funding Agency: CGS-M, CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC, CGS-MSFSS (National Funding)
Eligibility: Varies
Amount: MSc (CGS-M) - $17,500/year (for one year) ; PhD -$30,000/year plus $5,000/year allowance (CIHR)
Deadline: MSc - December ; PhD - October
CGS-MSFSS - June 1 and October 1
Questions/concerns, please contact gsaward@ucalgary.ca

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Funding Agency: FGS Award Opportunities
Eligibility: Most require Canadian citizen or permanent resident
Amount: Click here for info
Deadline: Application throughout the year 

Questions/concerns, please contact gsaward@ucalgary.ca

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Funding Agency: Graduate Award Competition
Eligibility: Must be a current U of C graduate student
Amount: Click here for info
Deadline: Questions/concerns, please contact gsaward@ucalgary.ca

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Funding Agency: Graduate Science Education Scholarships awardsgse@ucalgary.ca
Eligibility: Varies
Amount: Click here for info
Deadline: Varies, questions/concerns, please contact gsaward@ucalgary.ca

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Funding Agency: Home department/institutions/Graduate Program
Eligibility: Varies
Amount: Please check with your home department and research institution for funding opportunities
Deadline: Varies

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MD (LiM) Funding

• Award: LiM Travel Award
• Eligibility: Joint degree or LiM Affiliate students can apply anytime during the year. Must present at the conference.
• Amount: Up to $1,000, Up to 10 awards per year (Sept. 1 - Aug. 31)
• Deadline: Before travelling/applying, please contact mdgrad@ucalgary.ca
   
• Award: Cochrane Leaders in Medicine Award
• Eligibility: Current LiM joint degree students. Based on academic and research excellence, as well as contributions to/ participation in LiM Program
• Amount: One award of $1,000 per year
• Deadline: Based on Annual Progress Reports submitted. Winner will be announced at the annual LiM Symposium
   
• Award: LiM MD/MSc Excellence Award
• Eligibility: For MD/MSc joint degree students
• Amount: Up to $5,000/student and up to 5 awardees per year
• Deadline: Call for applications occurs in October/November
   
• Award: LiM Tuition Support Program
• Eligibility: For MD/PhD joint degree students who are starting medical school and do not have other funding
• Amount: $15,000-$21,000 stipend
• Deadline: Call for applications occurs in Fall
   
• Award: Achievers in Medical Science (AIMS) Leaders in Medicine Scholarship
• Eligibility: For MD/PhD joint degree students in their 1^st or final year of MD studies.
• Amount: $20,000 for 1^st year with up to 3 awardees and $30,000 for final year for 1 awardee Click here for info
• Deadline: Call for applications occurs in Fall

CITAC AGM: CLINICIAN INVESTIGATOR TRAINEE ASSOCIATION OF CANADA - ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada (CITAC) represents the interests of trainees registered in Canadian clinician investigator and clinician scientist training programs, including MD/MSc, MD/MA, MD/BMA, MD/PhD, CIP (Clinician Investigator Program), Surgeon Scientist and similar programs across Canada. More information about CITAC can be found on their website below:

http://citac-accfc.org/index.php

The CITAC AGM is typically held in November. LiM will request abstract submission for internal review and will provide funding to send selected student presenters to the conference.

The mission of CITAC is to organize and promote activities that support clinician investigator trainees in Canada, with the intention to improve academic and post-graduate career opportunities, expand institutional and public awareness of clinician investigator programs and develop a nationally accessible information database of student and program development. CITAC aims to improve the early-career conditions of clinician investigators in order to expand and advance innovative research initiatives within Canada.

The LiM program provides travel awards for conferences other than CITAC! Please contact mdgrad@ucalgary.ca when considering traveling to a conference for more information!