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Basic Cardiac Life Support
Basic Cardiac Life Support
Students registering in the M.D.,C.M. program are required to provide, by July 31 of the year in which they commence undergraduate medical education, proof of certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), level C or C+, and automated external defibrillation (AED) training. Certification must be valid for the first two years of undergraduate medical education (March of admitting year). Certification must be granted, or fully recognised, by one of the following organizations: the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Quebec Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Red Cross, St. John Ambulance, the American Heart Association, or the American Red Cross.
Infectious Diseases and Infection Control
Infectious Diseases and Infection Control
Immunization
To assure that students are not exposed to undue health risks and do not pose a risk to their patients, upon starting medical and dental school, students must provide evidence of appropriate vaccination according to the information provided by McGill Student Health Service: www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth/immunize/forms.
All students must be immunized against Hepatitis B and all students must have Hepatitis B titres (HbsAb) measured. Non-converters will be tested for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg). Non-converters will be offered counseling by McGill Student Health Service. Students who test positive for the surface antigen will be referred to the Undergraduate Associate Dean. If repeat serology does not confirm immunity, and the person is not a carrier, they will be given the option of another series of vaccines or a series of intradermal vaccines to attempt sero-conversion.
Annual vaccination for influenza is required for all students. The student should retain proof of vaccination.
Vaccination against other infectious diseases may be required, if need arises.
You have access to McGill Student Health Service as soon as you are accepted into the program. You must call 514-398-6017 to make an appointment.
If you choose to complete your immunizations through your family physician or your CLSC, make sure to follow the McGill immunization requirements since McGill Student Health Service will not accept different immunization protocols.
The completed form(s) must be returned to McGill Student Health Service. Upload immunization documentation via Minerva as soon as possible, and by July 31 of the year in which you are commencing the undergraduate medical education program at the latest.
For the purposes of verification of compliance with the immunization requirements, you grant permission to the Office of Admissions, Equity and Diversity to securely share your immunization form with the McGill Student Health Service.
All immunization requirements must be met by Orientation Day. Students who do not meet these requirements may be asked to withdraw.
See details: www.mcgill.ca/ugme/student-affairs/infection-control-immunization.
Mask Fit Test
All students are required to have a Mask Fit Test in order to choose the appropriate mask for their use. The University is able to offer this test free of charge. Students will have a mandatory Mask Fit session prior to third-year clerkship.
Students who are pursuing clinical rotations in Canada or the United States may be required to be refitted prior to their arrival at the actual clinical rotation's facility. www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth/immunize/forms.
Policy on Students Known to be Infected with Blood-borne Viruses (e.g., Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV)
Individuals who carry blood-borne pathogens might not be permitted to perform certain procedures that may pose a risk to patients and co-workers.
Students who are seropositive for Hepatitis B and/or C or HIV and/or any other blood-borne agent have a professional obligation to notify the UGME office upon entry into the program. Specific measures will be undertaken by the UGME office. Rotations may be modified for these students due to these circumstances.
The student will be referred to the Service d'évaluation des risques de transmission d'infections hématogènes (SERTIH). Modifications to clinical rotations may be made. The student will be assisted in acquiring appropriate health care. Specific career counselling will be given. Students will be advised not to select residency programs where patient safety would be put at risk. This may limit the residency programs to which the student may apply.
Should core clinical rotations need to be modified, notation of this will be made in the Medical Student Performance Record (MSPR/Dean's letter). The student is professionally responsible to self-disclose their seropositive status to the residency program to which the student matches. www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth/immunize/forms.
For details, see www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth, www.mcgill.ca/ugme/student-affairs/infection-control-immunization, www.mcgill.ca/ugme/student-affairs/infection-control-immunization/infection-control-precautions, and www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth/immunize/forms.
Academic Standards and Essential Skills
Academic Standards and Essential Skills
Any student wishing to register with the Faculty of Medicine will be held to the standards outlined below:
Applicants to McGill University's Faculty of Medicine are evaluated and selected on the basis of academic, personal, and extracurricular dimensions. The Faculty admits those candidates who best demonstrate the potential to become excellent physicians. Applicants are therefore expected to demonstrate that they possess the intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities to meet the requirements of the curriculum without altering the essential program elements. Furthermore, the student must meet these requirements within a reasonable period of time. McGill seeks to provide its graduates with broad general knowledge in all fields of medicine and competence required to enter graduate medical training in a variety of specialties and subspecialties.
McGill University will consider for admission to its medical school any applicant who meets its academic and non-academic criteria. Once admitted the student must demonstrate the ability to perform the skills listed in this document. In conformity with the McGill University Policy Concerning the Rights of Students with Disabilities and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (R.S.Q., chapter C-12) eligible students will receive reasonable accommodations appropriate to their disability. Appropriate accommodations are defined and arranged by the Faculty of Medicine in cooperation with the Office for Students with Disabilities.
The essential skills required for matriculation, promotion, and graduation at McGill University are defined according to the objectives of our curriculum which in turn are based on the CanMEDS Roles framework of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the Four Principles of Family Medicine of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. The CanMEDS roles are Medical Expert, Communicator, Collaborator, Manager, Health Advocate, Scholar, and Professional. The Four Principles of Family Medicine are “the family physician is a skilled clinician”, “family medicine is a community-based discipline”, “the family physician is a resource to a defined practice population”, and “the patient-physician relationship is central to the role of the family physician”. For more details see: www.mcgill.ca/ugme/curriculum/general-information/objectives and www.mcgill.ca/new-mdcm.
As a Medical Expert and Communicator, the student must have abilities in the areas of observation, communication, motor, intellectual-conceptual, integration, and quantisation.
Adequate skills in observation require that the student be able to accurately observe a patient and acquire visual, auditory, and tactile information. The student must be able to decode written documents, use a stethoscope with or without aids, and observe near and distant objects.
To communicate, the student must be able to speak, write, hear, and perceive non-verbal communication. A student must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients, families, and any member of the health care team. A student must also be able to summarize coherently a patient's condition and management plan verbally and in writing.
The student must possess the motor skills required to directly perform palpation, percussion, auscultation, and other diagnostic manoeuvres in a timely manner. It is also desirable that the student be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general and emergency medical care.
As a Medical Expert and Scholar, the student must demonstrate the intellectual-conceptual, integrative, and quantitative abilities to be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, and synthesize the information that is gathered, and to problem-solve in a timely fashion.
As a Collaborator and Manager, the student must be able to communicate in an efficient and effective manner with patients, their families, members of the health care team, colleagues and teachers. S/he should be able to develop mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with these individuals. The student should also be able to function in various environments including the ambulatory setting, the hospital and other health care facilities.
As a Professional and Health Advocate, behavioural and social attributes are particularly important and must be mastered. These include the application of good judgment and the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients, as well as an ability to adapt to changing environments and to function in the face of uncertainties. S/he must be able to tolerate the physical, emotional, and mental demands of the program and function appropriately under stress. S/he must consistently demonstrate the emotional health required for full utilization of her/his intellectual abilities.
Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest and motivation are all personal qualities that physicians must demonstrate and are expected qualities of students.
The student must conform to the Student's Code of Rights and Responsibilities of McGill University and the code de déontologie (code of ethics) of the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ).
Registration with the Collège des Médecins du Québec (CMQ)
Registration with the Collège des Médecins du Québec (CMQ)
All students studying medicine in a university of the province of Quebec are required by law to register with the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ) by September 30 of their first year of study. Electronic registration is required. All students enrolled in the M.D.,C.M. program will receive and email from the CMQ office to confirm their registration. A student who fails to comply with this requirement or who has their registration withdrawn will not be permitted to continue in the program. For details please refer to .
Security (Criminal Record) Check
Security (Criminal Record) Check
Language Proficiency
Language Proficiency
While there is no required proof of language proficiency, applicants are expected and recommended to have a working knowledge of the English and French languages (comprehension, spoken and written) from the outset of the M.D.,C.M. program.
The language of instruction is English. The student is expected to be functional in the English and French languages by the time clinical rotations commence (January of the second year of the program). Note: Students will interact with francophone patients in the teaching hospitals and will also be assigned to francophone training sites for their clinical rotations.
The Faculty of Medicine offers medical French workshops on Saturday mornings throughout the duration of the program. Extracurricular English and French language courses are available at the University and are strongly suggested if English or French language skills require improvement. (Note: Multiple choice exams are given in English only. Students may answer short-answer questions on exams in French or submit assignments in French.)
For more information see www.mcgill.ca/ugme/student-services/language-courses and www.mcgill.ca/ugme/curriculum/french-medical-workshop.
Information Technology
Information Technology
Because a large portion of the curriculum is available electronically, admitted students are expected to have, or have frequent and regular access to, a personal computer with word processing/office suite software, compatible web browser (E-Curriculum) and Internet connection. The Medicine E-curriculum can be accessed via the Desire2Learn (D2L) URL: .
Portable workstations such as laptops with wireless network connectivity (Wi-Fi/802.11b or greater; see McGill Wireless Networks at www.mcgill.ca/it) are recommended. On campus, students may have access to restricted computer laboratories, laser printers, and limited workstations (including Macs) for temporary assistance.
Be advised that electronic media, multimedia, and other information technologies are used by the Faculty for teaching purposes and to promote learning, including being subject to being audio- and/or video-recorded as part of the program, for example at the McGill Medical Simulation Centre. By submitting your application, you are indicating your agreement with these terms.
See: www.mcgill.ca/ugme/academic-policies/guidelines-medical-students-public.
Standards of Behaviour and Code of Conduct
Standards of Behaviour and Code of Conduct
The teacher/learner relationship is based on mutual trust, respect and responsibility. The Faculty of Medicine therefore has standards related to the behaviour of students and faculty members. A Code of Conduct for the undergraduate medical program is printed in the Student Handbook (distributed at orientation) and may be reviewed on the web at or www.mcgill.ca/medsra. The Faculty is committed to providing a learning environment which respects this Code. Student/faculty harassment, abuse, and mistreatment are not tolerated. Students who demonstrate inappropriate professional conduct or are found guilty of a criminal offence may be dismissed from the program. Consult the web at www.mcgill.ca/secretariat/policies/students.
Medical Equipment
Medical Equipment
Students are responsible for the purchase of their own medical equipment: stethoscope, pen light, reflex hammer, ophthalmoscope/otoscope and tuning forks (128Hz) are required during the first year. Laboratory supplies required: a white long lab coat, anatomy dissecting kit/2 persons (not biology kit), one box of gloves, and one pair of safety glasses/person.
Students are also responsible for purchasing two white lab jackets for the first year via the Undergraduate Medical Education Office. Information about this and the “White Coat Ceremony” will be circulated at the beginning of the first year. The Ceremony is held in September of the second year.
It is also recommended that students purchase a pager for TCP (Transition to Clinical Practice) and Clerkships (Core and Senior Clerkships).