Student Affairs Committee

Version 1, August 2024 

Preamble 

The Student Affairs Committee for the York University School of Medicine undergraduate medical education program is being established to provide recommendations on the various aspects of student affairs including academic advising, career advising, student health services, personal counselling, financial aid and debt management counselling, and policies and procedures related to student services including anti-discrimination and student mistreatment. This committee will provide its’ recommendations to the Transitional Curriculum Committee (TCC) and once the TCC evolves to the Undergraduate Medical Education Program Committee (UMEPC) the assessment committee will report to the UMEPC. 

Vision of the School 

York University’s School of Medicine will prepare the next generation of talented frontline primary care doctors — who represent the diversity of the communities in which they live — to not only thrive in a new, interprofessional, team-based health care environment but to continue to adapt to evolving patient, community and health system needs.  

Purpose 

The Student Affairs Committee for the School is established to develop and propose student affairs activities for the Undergraduate Medical Education Program (UGMEP). The Student Affairs Committee works in accordance with the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) standards and elements including: 

• Standard 3: Academic and Learning Environments 
  • Element 3.4: Anti-Discrimination Policy 
    • A medical school and its clinical affiliates do not discriminate on any grounds as specified by law including, but not limited to, age, creed, gender identity, national origin, race, sex, or sexual orientation. The medical school and its clinical affiliates foster an environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and take steps to prevent discrimination, including the provision of a safe mechanism for reporting incidents of known or apparent breaches, fair and timely investigation of allegations, and prompt resolution of documented incidents with a view to preventing their repetition.  
  • Element 3.6: Student Mistreatment 
    • The medical school has written policies that define mistreatment, has effective mechanisms in place for a prompt response to any complaints, and supports educational activities aimed at preventing mistreatment. Mechanisms for reporting mistreatment are understood by medical students and visiting medical students and ensure that any mistreatment can be registered and investigated without fear of retaliation.  
• Standard 11: Medical Student Academic Support, Career Advising, and Academic Records 
  • Element 11.1: Academic Advising 
    • A medical school has an effective system of academic advising in place for medical students that integrates the efforts of faculty members, directors of required learning experiences, and student affairs staff with its counseling and tutorial services and ensures that medical students can obtain academic counseling from individuals who have no role in making assessment or advancement decisions about them. 
  • Element 11.2: Career Advising 
    • A medical school has an effective and where appropriate confidential career advising system in place that integrates the efforts of faculty members, directors of required clinical learning experiences, and student affairs staff to assist medical students in choosing elective courses, evaluating career options, and applying to residency programs.  
  • Element 11.3: Oversight of Extramural Activities 
    • If a medical student at a medical school is permitted to take an elective under the auspices of another medical school, institution, or organization, a centralized system exists in the dean’s office at the home school to review the proposed extramural elective prior to approval and to ensure the return of a performance assessment of the student and an evaluation of the elective by the student. Information about such issues as the following are available, as appropriate to the student and the medical school in order to inform the student’s and the school’s review of the experience prior to its approval: 
      • potential risks to the health and safety of patients, students, and the community; 
      • Availability of emergency care; 
      • Possibility of natural disasters, political instability, and exposure to disease; 
      • Need for additional preparation prior to, support during, and follow-up after the elective; 
      • Level and quality of supervision; 
      • Potential challenges to the code of medical ethics adopted by the home school. 
  • Element 11.4: Provision of the Medical Student Performance Record 
    • A medical school provides a Medical Student Performance Record required for the residency application of a medical student only on or after October 1 of the student’s final year of the medical education program. 
  • Element 11.5: Confidentiality of Student Educational Records 
    • At a medical school, student educational records are confidential and available only to those members of the faculty and administration with a need to know, unless released by the student or as otherwise governed by relevant legislation. A medical school follows policy for the collection, storage, disclosure and retrieval of student records that is in compliance with relevant privacy legislation.  
  • Element 11.6: Student Access to Educational Records 
    • A medical school has policies and procedures in place that permit medical students to review and to challenge their educational records, including the Medical Student Performance Record, if the student considers the information contained therein to be inaccurate, misleading, or inappropriate 
• Standard 12: Medical Student Health Services, Personal Counseling, and Financial Aid Services 
  • Element 12.1-1 Financial Aid/Debt Management Counseling/Student Educational Debt  
    • The medical school provides its medical students with effective financial aid and debt management counseling and has mechanisms in place to minimize the impact of direct educational expenses (i.e. Tuition, fees, books, supplies) on medical student indebtedness 
  • Element 12.2: Tuition Refund Policy 
    • A medical school has clear policies for the refund of a medical student’s tuition, fees, and other allowable payments (e.g. payments made for health or disability insurance, parking, housing, and other similar services for which a student may no longer be eligible following withdrawal). 
  • Element 12.3: Personal Counseling/Well-Being Programs 
    • A medical school has in place an effective system of personal counseling for its medical students that includes programs to promote their well-being and facilitate their adjustment to the physical and emotional demands of medical education. 
  • Element 12.4: Student Access to Health Care Services 
    • A medical school facilitates medical students’ timely access to needed diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic health services at sites in reasonable proximity to the location of their required learning experiences and has policies and procedures in place that permit students to be excused from these experiences to seek needed care.  
  • Element 12.5: Providers of Student Health Services/Location of Student Health Records 
    • The health professionals who provide health services, including psychiatric/psychological counseling, to a medical student have no involvement in the academic assessment or advancement of the medical student receiving those services, excluding exceptional circumstances. A medical school ensures that medical student health records are maintained in accordance with legal requirements for security, privacy, confidentiality, and accessibility.  
  • Element 12.6: Student Health and Disability Insurance 
    • A medical school ensures that health insurance is available to each of its medical students and their dependents and that each medical student has access to disability insurance. 
  • Element 12.7: Immunization Requirements and Monitoring 
    • A medical school follows accepted guidelines that determine immunization requirements and ensures compliance of its students with these requirements. 
  • Element 12.8: Student Exposure Policies/Procedures 
    • A medical school has policies in place that effectively address medical student exposure to infections and environmental hazards, including: 
      • Education of medical students about methods of prevention 
      • Procedures for care and treatment after exposure, including a definition of financial responsibility 
      • Effects of infectious and environmental disease or disability on medical student learning activities. 
      • All registered medical students (including visiting students) are informed of these policies before undertaking any educational activities that would place them at risk. 

Term 

The Terms of Reference is effective from October 1, 2024 and will continue until October 1, 2025, after which they will be reviewed and revised, as appropriate. 

Membership 

Full members: 

Ex-officio members: 

Operations 

Committee Member Expectations 

Roles and Responsibilities