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[Aspiring-Doctor]

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[ellorie]

My understanding is that for some time now, Queens has had the QARMS program that offers a fast track starting in high school - that's 10 spots.  Recently they decided that it will be open only to Black and Indigenous students.  I believe they also have four spots for Indigenous applicants applying at the end of undergrad.

There have been several quite heated threads on this subject lately, but the hope is that programs like these can do something to address systemic racism against Black and Indigenous people both within the medical profession and also in our patient populations.

Many schools in Canada have such initiatives for Indigenous applicants, and a smaller number have streams for Black applicants as well.  How this is actually operationalized in terms of the admissions process varies.

[NutritionRunner]

As a PhD student in the Faculty of Health Sciences, I can say that Dean Philpott is committed to equity and diversity. They are trying to increase the number of Indigenous applications to all the health professions with a devoted Indigenous pathway https://healthsci.queensu.ca/academics/edi/prospective-indigenous-students but I haven’t heard of any quotas. I am a member of the Dean’s EDI table, for what’s that worth. 

[Intrepid86]

Affirmative Action exists in Canadian medical schools, even if they prefer not to call it that. Separate streams are often devoted to certain groups because admissions departments are worried those individuals will be outcompeted if left in the general applicant pool.