Submitting Policy/Position Papers

What is a Position Paper?

Position papers are topical papers endorsed and approved by OMSA Council, authored by Ontario medical student(s). Position papers provide a platform for OMSA to inform stakeholders of the medical student perspective. Therefore, these documents include a comprehensive background and a persuasive argument to justify its position and its policy recommendations. The paper defines the official stance of OMSA in any and all related conversations or discussions regarding the topic both in internal committee discussions and external organizations.

A position paper should outline a current issue, provide examples of successful solutions, and describe the benefits and risks if its recommendations were implemented. All position papers must contain some component of actionability which will be implemented with the support of the OMSA Response and Implementation (RIT) Committee.. Position papers are a significant undertaking.

The topic should be important to medical students and fall within the scope of OMSA, which includes:

• Supporting the role of OMSA and its Education Policy or Political Policy and Response committees
• Representing the views and concerns of Ontario medical students
• Advocating for the health of Ontarians (i.e., changes in medical education, health policy, or health care delivery that will benefit Ontario medical students and/or the people they train to serve)

All topics are welcome for submission. The topic of your paper can be anything you are passionate about—any medical education or health policy issue in Ontario.

What is a Policy Paper?

Policy Papers are similar to position papers, however they are not formally endorsed by the OMSA council. Rather, they require a ⅔ majority vote in favour of publication by the members of the OMSA Policy Committee. Actionable steps may be included but, unlike policy papers, are not mandatory.

Despite not being part of the formal position paper stream, policy papers are an excellent opportunity to spread awareness for important health issues through OMSA’s platform.

Position papers which are not selected will automatically be considered for publication as policy papers.

Submission Process

Link to Flowchart for Position Paper Assessment & Selection Process

Link to Official Policy Document on Position Papers

The call for proposals requests the author(s) create a one-page proposal document for the topic and ideas they’d like to include in their position paper. There is no full paper required during the proposal stage.

How do I write a proposal?

For instructions on what this proposal should include, please click the application form above.

To start the process of writing a guiding document (including a position paper), OMSA members should identify a problem, research its context, and understand the medical student perspective on the issue. 

How do I write a full paper?

Please note that this template is not for the proposals but rather for the full position papers. In other words, you should only be using this template if your proposal is approved.