With COVID-19 forcing the cancellation of visiting electives in 2020, the CMA Foundation is funding a solution to help medical learners and residency programs adapt.
Through a CMA Foundation grant of $1.94 million, the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada has developed a virtual portal called CANPREPP (Canada’s Portal for Residency Program Promotion), which allows medical learners to explore residency programs and find key information in one central location.
The goal is to help final-year medical learners make an informed choice for residency, and support residency programs in connecting with medical learners.
Medical Schools
Many medical learners are now facing unexpected expenses and financial stress due to COVID-19 such as:
- Costs related to their program’s adaptations
- Loss of family income
- Alternative housing requirements to self-isolate
- Lack of childcare due to daycare closures
Working with medical schools across Canada, the CMA Foundation is demonstrating its commitment to medical students and residents by granting more than $5 million to help minimize their financial hardships and support their overall wellbeing through the pandemic.
“We're extremely grateful to the CMA Foundation for stepping up to address the urgent demands for emergency support we’ve received from our medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. There's been a dramatic increase in requests for emergency funding and we value the impact this critical gift will have on helping our medical students meet their current challenges and succeed in their studies and training to become our nation’s future physicians.” — University of Manitoba
“Many of our learners have families and were already pushed to a single income as they took on the challenge of medical school. However, we are seeing that those already stretched finances are now stretched even further since the sole income earner has been laid off. The added stress on our medical learners is really weighing heavy on them.” — Northern Ontario School of Medicine