Founded in 1943, the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) represents Canada’s 17 faculties of medicine and is the voice of academic medicine in this country. Our member faculties graduate over 2,700 MDs per year; teach over 11,500 undergraduate medical students; train over 15,000 postgraduate trainees; employ nearly 48,000 full and part-time faculty members and undertake over 3 billion dollars of biomedical and health care research annually.

AFMC Joint Commitment to Action on Indigenous Health – May 23, 3019

First and foremost, we need to stop thinking of Indigenous health as an optional topic…We have an obligation to respond to the Calls to Action of the TRC… We must be training a medical workforce in Canada that can contribute meaningfully to closing the gaps in Indigenous health, through all of the CanMEDS roles and in each arena of physician work.

Top 10 Prioritized Statement and Related Themes include:

Infrastructure and Organizational Culture (Learning Environment) # 4 Medical schools invest in the development of a critical mass of Indigenous Faculty and Staff with the appropriate supportive infrastructure to lead all aspects of Indigenous medical education including admissions, student recruitment and retention, curriculum development and implementation, and with structured presence on key decision-making committees within the medical school

Social Accountability and Community Engagement # 6 Medical schools focus on the development of meaningful relationships with the Indigenous communities that they serve using rights-based approaches to the co-creation of the terms of the relationship. Indigenous communities are recognized as expert resources for the medical school and are provided with the opportunity and resources needed to participate in all aspects of the admissions process, teaching, hosting learners, research and scholarship, and faculty development.

Stop Talking, Start Doing: The Social Accountability of Canadian Medical Schools and Indigenous Health

April 29, 2017 -. Since 2016, the AFMC Board has held open sessions to discuss areas of common concern and for pan- Canadian collaboration from the 17 medical schools and their partners. The 2017 session was held on the topic of the Social Accountability of Medical Schools in Addressing Indigenous Health.

The Objectives of the session were:

1. To share knowledge and improve cultural sensitivity about indigenous health in Canada.
2. To describe the progress that has been made and future directions in the contribution of medical schools to the health workforce in addressing indigenous health needs.
3. To advance strategies in community engagement and community-based education.
4. To share best practices and facilitate advocacy for indigenous peoples health in Canada.

Key Themes

In taking leadership in Indigenous Health, what are we trying to achieve?

1. The emphasis, promotion, and integration of cultural safety in Canadian faculties of medicine
   1. Authentic and continued engagement between faculties of medicine and Indigenous communities and leaders
   2. The increased representation of First Nations, Métis, and Indigenous medical students and physicians
   3. The development of a core curriculum on Indigenous health as part of undergraduate medical education

Is there alignment between the health needs of Indigenous Persons in Canada and the Missions of our Medical Schools? Can we be more explicit about our Social Accountability?

1)   Integrating the needs of FNMI communities explicitly into FoM mission statements/social accountability mandates is warranted

2)   Resourcing, funding, advocacy, and research will be essential to embed FNMI needs as a priority area within Faculties

3)   There may be existing alignment between FoM missions and FNMI needs, but engaging and collaborating with FNMI communities must take place in order to identify those areas of alignment