On March 15, 2019 the Faculty of Medicine delivered a unit assessment progress report to President Gary Kachanoski.

The report contains the faculty’s progress on the implementation of the recommendations contained in a unit assessment report. President Kachanoski has accepted the report and supports the work on addressing the recommendations.

Unit assessment review

A unit assessment was completed for the Faculty of Medicine in November 2017 after it was brought to the attention of Dean Margaret Steele that there had been several concerns raised about the Faculty of Medicine’s learning environment.

These concerns included allegations of bullying, intimidation, harassment and sexual harassment. The unit assessment can be found here.

In July of 2018 the dean established a unit assessment working group to review the 39 recommendations in the report and to establish an implementation plan.

“Transparency regarding the progress of the unit assessment implementation is a priority for the Faculty of Medicine,” said Dr. Steele. “We want to ensure that our stakeholders know that our goal is to have a welcoming environment for our learners, faculty and staff, free of harassment, bullying and intimidation. We are taking the recommendations very seriously and many have already been implemented.”

Recommendations

The recommendations that have already been addressed include a website focused on professionalism and mistreatment, which contains resources and contact information for faculty, staff and learners; a professionalism working group established in June 2017 with a mandate to review professionalism practices and curriculum within all educational programs, to create a set of recommendations to enhance the culture of professionalism within the faculty and encourage the appropriate development of a professional identity in the faculty’s learners; a survey of students, faculty and staff on mistreatment; changes and updates to policies; and increasing awareness of policies and procedures regarding intimidation, bullying, harassment and sexual harassment with education session and training modules.

In addition, there will be a reconstitution of the Office of Student Affairs. A planning committee has been established to develop an action plan to develop an assistant dean, faculty equity and wellness position.

“Some recommendations are more complex and will take more time to implement, but we are committed to ensuring all 39 are addressed,” Dr. Steele added. “We will establish an accountability framework and process to monitor and evaluate the action plans. The Faculty of Medicine is confident that the tremendous work currently underway will foster an enhanced and renewed culture of professionalism within the faculty.”