A Pandemic Innovation: Student-Led Model to Increase Accessibility to Educational and Mentorship Opportunities

Abstract

The Canadian Ophthalmology Student Interest Group (COSIG) is the first national medical student–led specialty interest group in Canada. COSIG has run several initiatives aimed at increasing students’ opportunities for ophthalmology exposure and learning, including a resident-medical student mentorship program, an annual 6-week introductory course, amongst other events, and webinars.

Innovation

Disruptions in medical education exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic provided an impetus for educators to reinvent and challenge existing curricula, teaching, and learning practices [1]. Formed in August 2020, the Canadian Ophthalmology Student Interest Group (COSIG) is a nationwide, student-led collective that emerged to address the difficulties faced in accessing academic and clinical opportunities in ophthalmology. During its inception, COSIG originated as a small cohort of medical students striving to consolidate and centralize resources nationwide, aiding fellow medical students in exploring ophthalmology across all training stages. Notably, there were no established Canadian frameworks for launching a national student group. Consequently, the founding members proactively engaged with individuals from local ophthalmology interest groups, aiming to elevate regional initiatives to a national scope. Initially, COSIG’s committees exhibited fluidity as role definitions took time to crystallize, aligning with the evolving needs of the group. Roles within the organization underwent a transitional phase, adapting to better serve the collective goals and dynamics. Crucially, the group’s initial success stemmed from the eager participation of faculty and residents, enthusiastic about paying their experiences forward. Through online recruitment on social media platforms and a mutual aspiration to connect with like-minded peers via a shared forum, COSIG’s team expanded. This growth encompassed a larger, committed collective comprising students, residents, and supportive staff mentors, solidifying the group's foundation. COSIG’s primary objective is to cultivate and augment Canadian and international medical students’ knowledge, exposure, and mentorship in ophthalmology. With access-to-opportunity and inclusivity being part of COSIG’s vision, programming including conferences, mentorship, and resident panels are offered free-of-charge through virtual means [2–5]. COSIG takes a pioneering approach to medical education in the evolving post-pandemic landscape, through diverse learning modalities.

COSIG consists of student representatives from all seventeen Canadian medical schools and more recently representatives from international medical schools (Fig. 1). Prioritizing continuity within roles, many schools have two representatives to aid transition and gain perspectives from both pre-clinical and clinical students.

Fig. 1.

Representation of the different roles on COSIG and how different members collaboratively support initiatives

Representatives are selected based on several criteria, including alignment of interests with ongoing projects and demonstrated excellence in extracurricular activities. To reduce peer rating bias, applicant names are removed, and evaluators recuse themselves if they can identify applicants. To further prevent conflicts of interest (COIs), evaluators are resident advisors and COSIG members not from the same graduating year. Additionally, each initiative is overseen by at least one faculty advisor and resident physician. The student-led structure harnesses the talents and interests of individual members while empowering students to actively engage with the speciality through means such as writing blog posts, networking events, and sharing resources from their local community.

COSIG offers programming in four categories: education, mentorship, research, and advocacy.

Educational programming from COSIG is designed to support foundational clinical knowledge for rotations. Since 2021, COSIG has hosted an annual, free-of-cost, six-week online workshop series known as the Virtual Introductory Summer Course in Ophthalmology (VISCO). In this program, ophthalmologists provide interactive lectures on topics relevant to the undergraduate medical ophthalmology curricula. In doing so, VISCO addresses knowledge gaps that may arise from insufficient in-person clinical learning (e.g., writing an ophthalmology note, approach to a red eye, and ocular emergencies). In 2021 and 2022, VISCO had 353 and 445 registrants respectively, with session attendance ranging from 49 to 218 participants. A large portion of VISCO 2022 attendees were international students or ophthalmologists. From course surveys, there was a demonstrated increase in knowledge and confidence after each session, with 90.3% of responses indicating that they would recommend VISCO to other students.

COSIG created the Canadian Ophthalmology Mentorship Program (COMP) in 2021. COMP is a pan-national virtual mentorship program connecting Canadian medical students with resident mentors [3]. Annually, COMP has had > 130 students and > 30 mentors, representing approximately one-fifth of all Canadian ophthalmology residents. COMP also offers a webinar discussion series on various topics such as academic and community practice; equity, diversity, and inclusion; wellness in training and clinical practice; daily practices of sub-specialists; and leadership pearls. These initiatives allow for students to ask more personal questions about the profession in a panel discussion format.

The COSIG Annual Meeting (CAM) is a free online conference for medical students to network and showcase their research. CAM 2021 and 2022 had over 100 attendees internationally. Keynotes by staff ophthalmologists were centered around topics of global health and innovation. Other event features included trivia-focused didactic sessions and small group “speed mentorship” sessions with residents. In 2023, COSIG partnered with the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS), COS Foundation, and Canadian Council of Ophthalmology Residents (CCOR) to offer in-person interactive student symposium during the 2023 COS annual meeting.

Advocacy is an important tenet for COSIG. Currently, COSIG is spearheading Behind the Slit Lamp, a narrative-style blog project, focused on creating space to share experiences and to learn from ophthalmologists from equity-deserving groups. Furthermore, we partnered with charities to raise awareness and funds for vision-saving cataract surgeries. COSIG members have raised over $5000 through local interest group fundraisers to support Orbis’ campaign for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Amidst the changes in medical education brought about by the pandemic, COSIG recognizes the importance of fostering ties with local interest groups, professional societies, and international organizations. COSIG prioritizes sustainability, inclusivity, and progress in supporting medical students interested in ophthalmology to access national and international learning platforms. Knowing that COIs can arise in student-led organizations, COSIG is structured to minimize selection bias in representative selection and all programming. We encourage other learners interested in starting a large-scale student group, and educators, to adapt this model and continue to build and expand equitable and accessible student-led spaces.

Declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors indicate no other conflicts of interest. All authors attest that they meet the current Med. Sci. Educ. criteria for authorship. The Canadian Ophthalmology Student Interest Group has received project funding for initiatives mentioned in “Acknowledgements”. These funding organizations had no role in the design or conduction of the research. This specific research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.