In 2019-2020 OMSA Council has been working hard to establish a concrete mission, vision, and strategic plan for the Ontario Medical Students Association that will guide our organization in its activities and goals in the years ahead. Our rationale for undergoing these governance initiatives was multifold, but the primary motivation for this was because of the incredible growth that our organization has undergone over the last five years. This growth has included new events, as well as new committees and subcommittees, that focus on emerging student priorities. Given that the membership of the OMSA Council changes from year to year, often in its entirety, our goal this year was to anchor the organization in a concrete direction, on the basis of our student body’s values, that will maximize the potential of the next five years and beyond.
We began soliciting student opinions on their priorities in May 2019 at the annual Leadership Summit event, in which we ran different focus groups to identify what the study body believed to be the most relevant priorities. This activity highlighted three areas of work that students believed were important to their medical school experience: diversity, wellness, and transparency. Throughout the year, we have been building on the ideas that were brainstormed at the Leadership Summit to translate these ideas into succinct mission, vision, and value statements. We have also elaborated on these goals and developed actionable items that will effectively address students’ concerns over the next five years, which we have summarized within our Strategic Plan. It is our hope that this document will provide a direction for the organization, as well as enable greater accountability between OMSA Council and the student body at large. Our intention is that it will be a guide for the future of our organization – one that will continue to evolve as student priorities and perspectives change over time. Above all, we aim to continue operating as an organization that is run by students and for students, and we hope that the efforts reflected in the following document will help us move closer towards remaining true to this goal.
Annual updates on the progress made towards accomplishing the goals of the Strategic and Financial Plan will be compiled and posted at the end of each academic year by the Governance Committee. Questions about the Strategic and Financial Plan can be directed to the VP Operations at operations@omsa.ca.
Officially founded in May 1974 during the Ontario Medical Association’s AGM, the Student Section of the OMA was started using the acronym “OMSA” (short for Ontario Medical Students Association) in 2004.
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