Medical Student Education Research Grants (MSERG)

The Medical Student Education Research Grant (MSERG) Awards are a unique opportunity for medical students across Ontario to be funded for their research dedicated to medical education. MSERG provides grants of $5,000 to thirteen ON medical students annually, with sponsorship from TD Bank, AMS Healthcare and OMA Insurance.

Through the generous support of our sponsors, we hope to support groundbreaking medical education research that transforms the landscape of our future healthcare and medical communities.


2024 Awards:

OMSA is excited to announce the seventh annual MSERG Call for Applications in partnership with the AMS Healthcare, OMA Insurance, and TD Canada Trust. The 2023 MSERG Awards will provide grants valued at $5,000 each to fund twelve projects designed by Ontario medical students. The deadline to apply is March 29th, 2024.

Please feel free to contact omsa.mserg@gmail.com if you have questions.

APPLICATION FORM

Application Guidelines:

OPEN Application Information: 

drive_2020q4_32dp.pngOPEN MSERG Call for Apps 2024.pdf

AMS Application Information: 

drive_2020q4_32dp.pngAMS MSERG Call for Apps 2024.pdf

Application Formhttps://forms.gle/WUEh9Brfd85xUBxy8

amshealthcare416@gmail.com @‌MsergOmsa


*Note: As of September 2021, all grant applicants must be registered/active members of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA). This requires both online registration and paid annual dues of $10. Please visit OMA My Account and log in to see your membership status. If you have a dues balance of $0.00 then you are considered registered and active! If you have an outstanding balance, please make the appropriate payment by following the prompts. Applications from non-registered/non-active applicants will be disqualified. Should you require special consideration or if you feel that this membership may be cost-prohibitive, please email Zack (finance@omsa.ca) and cc the VP EDI, Sauliha (edi@omsa.ca). OMSA strives to support each and every Ontario Medical Student and we commit to providing a tailored solution that meets your needs.


We thank Associated Medical Services (AMS) Healthcare for their generosity in funding 6 Compassionate Care awards, TD Bank for funding 6 TD Open Awards, and OMA insurance for funding 1 Open Award.

Past Recipients

You can find more information on the past MSERG recipients and their projects in the following editions of Scrub-In:

  • 2021 Recipients: Pending
  • 2020 Recipients: Click Here to download PDF version of the articles
  • 2019 Recipients: Click Here to download PDF version of the articles
  • 2018 Recipients: Click Here to download PDF version of the articles
  • 2017 Recipients: Click Here to download PDF version of the articles

2021 OMSA Open MSERG:

  • Zachary Chuang (Western University)
  • Farhan Mahmood (University of Ottawa)
  • Ming Li & Grace Xu (University of Toronto)

2021 OMSA/AMS Compassionate Care MSERG:

  • Peter Gariscsak (Queen’s University)
  • Edward Ho & Andrew Kokavec (Western University)
  • Kameela Alibhai (University of Ottawa)
  • Tony Chen (McMaster University)
  • Celina DeBiasio (University of Ottawa)
  • Abigale Kent (Northern Ontario School of Medicine)

2020 OMSA Open MSERG:

  • Kaitlin Endres (University of Ottawa)
  • Jenny Zhu & Clarelle Gonsalves (McMaster University)
  • Khalidha Nasiri (Western University)

2020 OMSA/AMS Compassionate Care MSERG:

  • Meredith Poole (Queen's University)
  • Michal Coret (University of Toronto)
  • Jelena Poleksic (Western University)
  • Jennifer Rowe (University of Ottawa)
  • Nishila Mehta (University of Toronto)
  • Andrew Lam (University of Toronto)

2019 OMSA Open MSERG:

  • Rishi Sharma and Ashley Eom (McMaster University)
  • Michael Scaffidi (Queen's University)
  • Avrilynn Ding (Queen's University)

2019 OMSA/AMS Compassionate Care MSERG:

  • Muskaan Sachdeva (University of Toronto)
  • Ran Huo (University of Toronto)
  • Gali Katznelson (Western University)
  • Kevin Chien (University of Ottawa)
  • Sampreeth Rao (University of Toronto)
  • April Kindrat (Northern Ontario School of Medicine)

2018 OMSA Open MSERG

  • Madeline McDonald (University of Toronto)
  • Alexander Cormier (Queen's University)
  • Stephanie Napoleone (McMaster University)
  • Anahita Sharifabadi (University of Ottawa)

2018 OMSA/AMS Compassionate Care MSERG:

  • Roslyn Graham (Northern Ontario School of Medicine)
  • Meredith Barr (Western University)
  • Alexandra Raynard (Western University)
  • Graham Kasper (University of Toronto)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: If I am selected for the MSERG, how should the funds be used?
A: 
The MSERG is a student award. The money is yours to spend at your own discretion. You do not need to use it to support your research project, although you are free to do so. 

Q: I am a medical student at McMaster, which means that I don’t have protected time during the summer. Am I still eligible to apply?
A: 
Absolutely. Although most students will choose to apply with their summer project, any project is eligible, so long as the results will be available by September. 

Q: My classmate(s) and I will be working together on the same project. Can we apply as a group?
A: Group applications will be accepted with a maximum of two student leads. Pleasure ensure that you list a maximum of two applicants for each application that you submit. You may list other research members under co-investigators, but the MSERG will only be awarded to the two listed applicants. The grant may be used as is seen fit by both applicants.

Q: The project I am working on is not in undergraduate medicine. Are projects in postgraduate medicine or continuing professional development eligible for MSERG?
A: 
Yes. MSERG accepts projects in education for medical students, residents and fellows, and practicing physicians. 

Q: The project is not related to education per se, but the participants in the study are learners. Will I still be eligible to apply?
A: 
These projects will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis depending on impact on medical education. For example, a project surveying medical students' opinions on opioid prescribing to determine if more education regarding this practice is required, would be eligible for MSERG.  

Q: Why and how are applications blinded?
A:
MSERG applications are blinded to ensure judges do not look favourably upon the applications of their colleagues/friends/classmates etc. It is up to the applicant to ensure that the application is properly anonymized. However, The Director of Education will also go through all of the applications and black out any identifiers that the applicant may have missed. Please note that points may be deducted if the application has not been properly anonymized.

Q: Who judges the applications?
A: 
MSERG applications are judged based on standardized marking criteria by three members of the OMSA Education Committee. These three members are asked to excuse themselves from judging a particular application if they are familiar with the project. 

Q: Would you want my research PI to submit their letter of support and CV directly to you, or should I, the applicant, forward these materials to you? 
A: 
We would like you as the applicant to forward all the forms and materials to us in one email. This includes your PI's letter of support.

Q: Am I eligible to apply if I'm in my last year of medical school?
A: 
Absolutely.

Q: Is it possible to send two applications by the same student (different projects and different investigators)?
A: 
Yes. You can send two or more applications if they are completely different projects.

Q: Should I submit my application file as a .pdf or .docx?
A: Please use the application form found on this page and submit your application as the same .docx format. In addition, please use Calibri font size 11 and please do not change the margin width.


Sponsors

This year's MSERG program has been made possible from the generous support of our sponsors: