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The who what when

where why and how


of Altitude.

ALTITUDE
healthcare mentoring
What
Altitude is a mentorship program and service-learning experience. The mentoring facet of the program focuses
on giving first-year undergraduate students from under-represented populations the skills necessary to
succeed academically and socially; while providing opportunities to explore careers in healthcare. In return for
being mentored, each undergraduate participant must give back to the community as the mentor of a younger
student - a process we call Cascading Mentorship.

Altitude’s service-learning enterprise is dedicated to providing the healthcare students who serve as mentors
with a rich experiential education focused around competencies important for mentorship as well as their
future healthcare career.

Altitude is meant to be part of a coordinated strategy to address the issue of under-representation in the
health sciences. Students from rural areas and low socioeconomic backgrounds remain under-represented in
health professions across North America despite effort by governments and institutions. However, Altitude is
the first province-wide initiative to engage professional students and undergraduate students to empower
disadvantages populations and encourage a return of service.
Benefits
Altitude is an exciting initiative determined to engage under-represented students across Ontario and give
healthcare students an opportunity learn and develop through active participation in their community. Some of
the important benefits of the program are:

Initial
Increased social support for undergraduates and youth in the community
Increased mentorship and coaching skills of healthcare students
Change the attitudes of youth around the accessibility of health science careers
Support the health human resource strategy of communities

Intermediate
Increased self-esteem/self-efficacy of mentees and mentors
Increased social competence of undergraduate students
Increase healthcare students proficiency in professional competencies
Increased academic performance of undergraduate students
Increasing the number of students from under-represented populations in professional school

Long Term
Health human resources:
• Health care workforce that reflects Canada’s demographics
• Increasing the number of healthcare professionals from high-need populations who return to serve in
their communities
Health care system:
• Improved primary care for all patients
Why
The Canadian healthcare system is feeling the strain of a system wide shortage of healthcare professional.
However, the Ontario Government and others have recognized that this shortage in health human resources is
particularly acute in rural and certain ethno-specific communities. Historically, students from these populations
were under-represented in Canadian healthcare professional schools. This is an important problem for Canadi-
ans as the demographic profile of the health care workforce has implications for where healthcare professionals
practice and whether they chose to treat certain disadvantaged populations. Students from under-represented
populations courageously return to their communities to serve. Research has shown that students who are
members of these populations are more likely to enter primary care, practice in health profession shortage areas
and care for the most vulnerable of patients.

Who
Altitude is an exciting new initiative created by the Ontario Medical Students Association (OMSA), a section of
the Ontario Medical Association (OMA).

Altitude relies on the support and involvement of healthcare students, medical schools, the Ontario govern-
ment, community partners, undergraduate students, high school educators and other individuals interested in
medicine and social responsibility.
How
Altitude will match each undergraduate participant with a healthcare student at their respective institution.

The main activities of the program are:

One-on-one mentorship
Weekly one-on-one structured mentorship sessions focus on sharing knowledge and experience to achieve
agreed-upon goals. In instances where face-to-face meetings between mentor and mentee are not possible
mentorship pairs can meet using the internet- conferencing or phone.

Team mentorship session


Monthly workshop series for undergraduate students focus on professional competencies , academic skills and
career planning.

Community Mentorship
During the summer, undergraduates will engage in community mentorship experiences facilitated by
Mentorship Partners.

Training
Ongoing training and goal-setting for medical students focus on mentorship effectiveness and service-
learning.
When
The 2010-2011 pilot year of Altitude will start in the Fall of 2010 and include two Ontario faculties of medicine
(McMaster and Toronto) and six universities (McMaster, Brock, Waterloo, Laurier, Guelph and Toronto). Focusing
on undergraduates early in their post-secondary career, the goal is to create a good foundation for first year
students to build experience and skills relevant to the medical profession throughout their undergraduate
degree program.

Where
This year’s pilot will include two Ontario medical schools. The evaluation of this year’s pilot will be used to
implement the program in all six Ontario medical schools in the future.

One-on-one mentorship sessions will be organized by each mentorship pair, with the time and location to be
determined at their own discretion.

Team mentorship sessions will be held at a designated time in locations provided by the participating
university.

Community mentorship experiences will take place with a Mentorship Partner whose locations will vary.
Our goal is simple; to help students, brimming
with potential reach a summit perceived to be
insurmountable - a career in healthcare. It is
from this analogy that Altitude derives its name.
The program encourages the next generation
of healthcare professionals to reach higher to
achieve their dreams.

ALTITUDE
healthcare mentoring

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