Abeera Shahid Student Recognition Award
Abeera Shahid was a medical student at the University of Ottawa and OMSA’s Vice President of Advocacy for 2022-2023, who passed away unexpectedly on December 19th, 2022. Abeera also had roles within various OMSA Advocacy committees, and was the epitome of medical student excellence: trustworthy, empathetic, hard-working, sincere, and dedicated. She was an incredible leader, mentor, listener, and friend. This award was renamed in her honour in 2023. Read our members' full tribute to Abeera here.
Description
This award serves to recognize Ontario Medical Students who are making a positive impact in their community, whether that be at the medical school, university, local, or provincial level. You can self-nominate, or nominate a peer. Each award is valued at $500 ($250 to the applicant + $250 to a charity of the applicant's choice). Two winners will be chosen per year.
Selection Criteria
Each application will be blinded by the OMSA VP Finance before being distributed to members of the OMSA Grants & Awards Committee. Each application will be marked by three separate individuals using the below rubric. A final average mark will be calculated for each application by the VP Finance and the final two winners will be selected based on their scores.
Deadline: March 31, 2023
Submissions for 2022-2023 can be submitted HERE.
*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 Ming (finance@omsa.ca) and cc the VP EDI, Jenna (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.
Sponsored by: 
2022 Winners:
Sydney McQueen, Queen's University, Class of 2023
Harsukh Benipal, University of Toronto, Class of 2024
2021 Winners:
Angela Dong, McMaster Class of 2022
Quinten Clarke, McMaster Class of 2021
2020 Winners:
Sasha Letourneau, Queen’s Medicine 2021
Nomination Letters: 1
