By Lillie Coussée
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and the Peel District School Board (PDSB) launched the first phase of their three-phase Future of Healthcare program on Oct. 24 in hopes of creating more careers in healthcare for underserved and underrepresented students.
The first phase, also known as the speakers series, gives over 1,000 diverse PDSB students from grades seven to 12 an opportunity to meet and receive advice from healthcare professionals at TMU, according to a press release from the PDSB.
Rashmi Swarup, the director of education for PDSB, said this partnership aims to prepare high school students for their future and said many students, especially those from underrepresented communities don’t know the kinds of career opportunities available to them.
“It was an opportunity to open the doors for so many of our students that live in Peel Region,” she said in an interview with The Eyeopener.
The partnership between TMU and the PDSB began in December of 2023. Current TMU students in healthcare-related degrees believe this program will be beneficial for future students when choosing a career.
Fourth-year nursing student Jalal Ouazzani began his post-secondary education at York University in kinesiology. After three years in the program, he decided to transfer to TMU’s nursing program.
“I just kind of picked [kinesiology] because it was in the science realm and I didn’t know which courses to take,” he said.
Ouazzani said many students who know which programs to apply to usually have parents who also attended university or college. Being the first in his family to attend university, he believes a program like this would have helped him figure out which classes to take in high school and which programs to apply after.
“I think it would also benefit [first-generation post-secondary students] a lot more than someone whose mother or father is a nurse or a doctor” said Ouazzani.
In the first phase of the program, students will receive advice from Dr. Trudy McFarlane, the Black Health Lead and Dr. Jamaica Cass, the Indigenous health lead for the School of Medicine at TMU.
The Eye reached out to Dr. McFarlane and Dr. Cass however, they would not comment on their roles within the program. The Eye also reached out to Dr. Teresa Chan, the dean and vice-president of medical education at TMU but did not receive any comments on the program.
In an emailed statement to The Eye, TMU’s president Mohamed Lachemi said one of the goals of this program is to “increase the representation of equity-deserving groups among healthcare professionals in the Peel region and in Canada.”
The statement also reads that when students see themselves represented in healthcare, it can encourage them to “imagine new career possibilities and envision the contribution they can make as healthcare leaders.”
Swarup said although the PDSB is partnering with TMU, there is no commitment or expectation for students to apply to TMU for any healthcare-related fields after high school. Rather, the program is meant to give students more opportunities to explore the different career options available.
“We partner and create those opportunities so that [students] can not only be able to enter this sector but [also] to create an equitable healthcare system which reflects the diverse communities,” she said.
The final two phases—a course offering and an experimental component—will launch once TMU’s School of Medicine opens in fall 2025.
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