The Inception of the Canadian Medical Student Interest Group in Neurosurgery (CaMSIGN): A Student-Led Platform Dedicated to Neurosurgical Education, Research, Mentorship, and Advocacy

Introducing the Canadian Urology Student Interest Group (CUSIG): Initial experience from a national webinar with recently matched Canadian urology residents for medical students

“…To overcome the challenges created by limiting time in single-entry specialties and the suspension of visiting electives, numerous initiatives were undertaken to pivot toward fostering virtual connections between applicants and programs. 1,2,[6][7][8][9][10] This is the underpinning for the start of the CUSIG as a means to connect students to different virtual events in urology with the hope that having one primary source of communication would enable more participation, connection, and benefit for students and Canadian urology programs.…”

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DISCUSSIONTo overcome the challenges created by limiting time in single-entry specialties and the suspension of visiting electives, numerous initiatives were undertaken to pivot toward fostering virtual connections between applicants and programs. 1,2,[6][7][8][9][10] This is the underpinning for the start of the CUSIG as a means to connect students to different virtual events in urology with the hope that having one primary source of communication would enable more participation, connection, and benefit for students and Canadian urology programs.National Canadian specialty interest groups are a novel concept. In the last two years, many initiatives were founded and launched by Canadian groups in ophthalmology (COSIG) and neurosurgery (CAMSIGN) that aim to unite medical students interested in particular subspecialties.

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“…In the last two years, many initiatives were founded and launched by Canadian groups in ophthalmology (COSIG) and neurosurgery (CAMSIGN) that aim to unite medical students interested in particular subspecialties. 5,9 COSIG and CAMSIGN have reimagined the traditional local subspecialty interest group by providing robust online platforms to promote education, research, advocacy, and mentorship in neurosurgery and ophthalmology, respectively. In addition, they have organized dozens of successful events ranging from educational topics (i.e.…”

“…neuroanatomy sessions, annual meetings, and the Virtual Introductory Summer Course in Ophthalmology) to diversity training (with CAMSIGN's Women in Neurosurgery series and COSIG's Canadian Ophthalmology Mentorship Program). 8,9 These initiatives have been shown to benefit students by providing a greater sense of connection through events and programs. 6 While subcommittees of the Canadian Urology Association (CUA) provide high-quality undergraduate medical education curriculum in urology, organize national conferences wherein medical students can participate, and advocate for equity diversity and inclusivity within urology, the success of COSIG and CAMSIGN highlight the value in trainee-led initiatives for undergraduate trainees.…”

“…Future initiatives include Canada-wide mentorship programs for trainees similar to the framework designed by COSIG and CAMSIGN. 9,11 To ensure that CUSIG can support students in ways that will assist the navigation of their pathway towards a career in urology, the first event to launch our network shared matched urology residents' knowledge with medical students. We leveraged this event to collect data on the current knowledge base of the medical students interested in urology as a career.…”