Altitude: Healthcare Mentoring

The Canadian healthcare system is feeling the strain of a system wide shortage of doctors. 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 medical schools. This is an important problem for Canadians as the demographic profile of the health care workforce has implications for where doctors practice and whether they choose 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.

We created Altitude to empower these students to reach their full potential. The program is a unique year-long mentorship experience which matches medical students with first year undergraduate students from these under-represented populations. Each mentor works one-on-one with a student to help develop the skills and competencies necessary to excel as an undergraduate student and in a future healthcare career. In exchange, each undergraduate participant must return the favor – giving back to the community as the mentor of a younger student. In this model, knowledge and experience flow from the mentor to the mentee and into the community – a process we call Cascading Mentorship.

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