Current research


Exploring Perceptions of Self-Disclosure in Medical Education

PIs:  Drs. Aliya Kassam & Javeed Sukhera

The topic of self-disclosure is vastly under-explored within the medical education literature. There has yet to be an exploration of self disclosure of mental illness and addiction in medical education. Furthermore, the current context of COVID-19 and the BLM movement has added layers of complexity with implications for self-disclosure. We will be working with members of the Black Medical Student Association looking at self disclosure in Black learners and the impact of racism on mental health.

This study will be beneficial to scientific, scholarly and societal benefits alike because it will provide a deeper understanding of self disclosure among medical learners and may help advance our understanding of both how stigma manifests in the medical learning environment and how to address it, especially given the current context.

CSM-Wide Learner Needs Assessment

PI:  Dr. Aliya Kassam

A wellness needs assessment of CSM learners was planned in order to inform policy and program development within the CSM.  However, with beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019-20, the focus shifted to how the pandemic has impacted learners at the CSM with regard to their personal well-being. 

Phase I was an on-line survey conducted from April 7 – June 2, 2020 which explored the impact of the pandemic to determine the extent and nature of learner wellness initiatives to facilitate wellness in domains of mental health, physical health, occupational health, social health and intellectual health at individual, program (BHSc, BCR, GSE, UME and PGME) and system (higher education system and health care system) levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The response rate was approximately 20% with 541 respondents across the five educational programs.  Survey results are being analyzed and prepared for publication.

Phase II will be conducted from June-August 2020, and will explore how learners describe their own wellness with respect to five domains of wellness at the individual, program and system levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Findings from both phases of the study will inform with CSM policy and program development, as well as future pandemic planning with regard to learner wellness. The needs assessment will continue on an annual basis post-COVID-19 as a quality assurance measure and to remain accountable to learners’ needs.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Learners 

PIs:  Drs. Allison Brown & Rahim Kachra

WISHES has teamed up with collaborators Dr. Allison Brown and Dr. Rahim Kachra from the Program for Innovation in Scholarship and Medicine (PRISM) lab and together we have been awarded a $15,000 catalyst grant from the O’Brien Institute for Public Health (OIPH) to support the global survey of medical learners during COVID-19 which has 6400 responses from 130+ countries.  The PRISM and WISHES labs seek to help raise awareness about the intersections between physician training and health care.  PRISM focuses on technology, quality improvement, education and design thinking in health care and WISHES focuses on wellness. 

Learner Wellness Programming Environmental Scan

PI: Dr. Aliya Kassam

One of the first initiatives started under the WISHES purview was an on-line environmental scan of learner wellness programming in faculties of medicine across Canada, intended to inform decision-making regarding learner wellness infrastructure in the CSM. 

A count was done of each of these services across the schools to highlight common services in place, how they are structured, and what gaps may exist.  This information was then categorized with two different wellness frameworks – BASICS* and WISHES** - to demonstrate which aspects of wellness are most frequently addressed by the programs/services offered. Both frameworks demonstrated that the majority of services/programs available have an Affect/Mental Health and Body/Physical Health focus.

Findings from the scan were presented as a poster at the 2020 OHMES Symposium, and will be presented at the International Conference on Residency Education in September 2020.  Results will be shared with senior CSM leadership, and a manuscript is pending.

*The Basics Framework – Strategies for coping with stress and building personal resilience for physicians (D. Kaufmann, Ontario Medical Association Review)
** The WISHES Framework (Dr. Aliya Kassam, University of Calgary)