Written by Joelle Amir (Medicine, Class of 2024)
This Fall, for most students, the excitement of starting a new academic year has been mixed with an unfamiliar feeling of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical school is already an adjustment on its own, but learning primarily through remote platforms adds a unique set of challenges. Luckily, for McGill’s class of 2024 at the new Gatineau campus, this was less of a concern.
Twenty four new medical students entered the MDCM program this August in Outaouais. The small class size made it possible to follow public health guidelines throughout the month of September, allowing for students to meet their peers and professors in person (with masks, and 2 m apart of course!). Classes were held temporarily at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, as the construction of the new campus (attached to the CISSS de l’Outaouais’ Gatineau Hopsital) has not yet been completed; but fear not, this did not take away from the excitement of face-to-face learning. Besides classes, frosh activities were held in parks around the area, lunches were shared in the courtyard between lectures, and outdoor evening and weekend activities were planned in order for students to learn more about each other, and the region where they will spend the next four years.
“Having spent the last part of our Med-P year online, and having [had] a summer that wasn’t so normal, it was exciting to come to school and be surrounded by others,” says Mahmoud Moustafa, the Med-1 class president for the Gatineau cohort. “The first few days of having online school are like a vacation; staying in your pyjamas, sleeping in, but after a while it's necessary to be able to socialize. I concentrate a lot more, and I see a difference in my physical and mental health,” added vice-president Marion Sylvain.
The full medical education is offered in French, collaborating with hospitals, professors, and clinicians in the region. One of the main goals in building this campus was to foster a strong sense of community, by establishing tight bonds with fellow classmates, faculty members, and patients of the region. It is clear that in the first month alone, Gatineau’s class of 2024 has not wasted any time doing so.
“In person, we can get really close to the teachers. During the breaks between classes we have the chance to ask more questions, and get to know the teachers on a more personal level, which helps for residency, and even potential research opportunities. In Montreal, there are ~200 students, so it can be really hard and intimidating to ask questions via Zoom, whereas in person, I always found them approachable,” says Marion.
McGill has been working with the CISSS de l’Outaouais since 1988, since it launched its residency program to train family physicians in the region. By 2010, McGill medical students had the option of doing clerkships at hospitals in the area. Despite all of the changes that 2020 has brought, this year, everything finally came full circle for those who have worked so hard to make this dream a reality. Training more students in Outaouais will ultimately help increase the number of physicians available to meet this population’s needs, and improve excellence in health care in the region to an even greater extent.
It is clear that with the ever-changing COVID-19 situation, the Gatineau cohort will have to adapt. Following Quebec’s 28 day guideline to limit the spread of the virus across the province, lectures are being delivered through Zoom for at least the month of October, just like the Montreal cohort. But with their little new family behind them for support, Gatineau’s class of 2024 is ready to take on anything.