I hope everyone got to do something fun over March break and that we’re all ready to complete the academic year in fine fashion. Spring is here, and there are lots of exciting things going on around the med school.

Wanted: Strategic planning feedback
We’re at a critical point in the medical school’s strategic planning process, and you’re all invited to three upcoming town halls to discuss where we are with our plan. We want to hear your perspectives and seek your input before we move on to the final stages of the strategic planning process, which we’ll wrap up in June.

April 14 – Service & engagement strategy
April 20 – Research strategy
April 28 – Education strategy

All town halls will be held from 5:00pm to 6:30pm in Theatre A and video-conferenced across the Maritimes. There will also be opportunity to provide written feedback.

Thanks in advance for your assistance in advancing this important work.

Upcoming accreditation mock visit
We’re moving forward with preparations for our undergraduate accreditation, which takes place in February 2017. The next major step will be a mock accreditation, which is happening April 7th and 8th. I’ll let you know how things go.

In the meantime, I want to thank everyone who’s been involved in getting us ready for this mock accreditation visit. I know it’s been a lot of work, but it’ll be worthwhile. And special thanks to our medical students for completing and presenting their Independent Student Assessment survey results; this report provided some very good feedback to our accreditation team.

RIM Research Day
On April 1, some of our med students will showcase their research talent by presenting the results of their Research in Medicine projects. Research Day presentations will start at 2:00pm in Theatre A, and will be video linked across the Maritimes. Come early if you want to get a seat! I look forward to seeing you there.

CaRMS match recap
Members of our Class of 2016 recently found out the results of their CaRMS residency match. I want to wish our graduating students all the best as they prepare for their licensing exams and also to begin residency programs in locations across the country.

Generally, our students did very well in the CaRMS match. Many are pursuing their residencies at Dal, and others have been accepted into a variety of training programs in other provinces. Unfortunately, a few students didn’t match in the first iteration, and I realize it’s a very stressful time for them. Our student affairs deans have been assisting these students in moving forward with their future activities. Thanks to some of our grads who’ve also reached out to help.

Our own Dalhousie programs fared very well in the 2016 CaRMS match. Dal and McGill had the fewest unmatched residency spots in this year’s process, which speaks very well for the outstanding national reputation of our postgraduate training.

Euphoria showcases wide-ranging talent
Euphoria – the annual variety show put on by our med students – is a unique tradition at Dalhousie Medical School. It’s been taking place for more than 40 years. The 2016 edition demonstrated the talents and creativity of our students. Congratulations to the Class of 2018 on winning the trophy for the best class skit.

Funds raised from ticket sales went in support of Camp Triumph.