Discretion Used in Francophone Assessment?

[J.N.K.]

After my MMI at NOSM on March 29th, 2009, I walked away with some mixed feelings over the Francophone assessment and wondered if anyone may have echoed these thoughts in their evaluation of NOSM's process.

 

Initially, I was thrilled as the assessment was fair and easy, as in anyone with a fairly standard exposure to French throughout their high school education could have answered the questions asked. And the simple questions asked aren't a bad thing, I think, as the test really focused on capacity and not content.

 

What did bother me after I reflected on my experience was how some of the other candidates wouldn't be able to 'cut it' were they to practice up in my region with a demographic boasting of a 90% Francophone residency. That might sound harsh but there is a world of difference between being able to answer simple questions and effectively reciprocating an answer to the questions encountered during routine patient-physician interactions (ie - telling someone they have cancer takes a deeper understanding of the language and culture than being able to tell someone about who you are).

 

I guess what it boils down to is my perceived impression that the Francophone test could be used as a shortcut to medical school admissions. Maybe this 'contextual bonus' does not amount to much (but I would highly doubt that given the school's Francophone intake of 1/4 of its student body.) Also, I wonder whether the Francophone status carries discretionary levels of recognition or if it's simply bonus/no bonus.

 

I think one of NOSM's strengths is it's integration of the 3 major cultural solitudes of N-ON and I hope that it's mandate will actually be used to promote long-term healthcare access and not short-term class composition.

[hoppy10]

JNK,

If it makes you feel any better, I got completely grilled during my francophone assessment yesterday for not being (a) of French descent or ( raised in a francophone community. He kept asking me for justification of my declaration of francophone-ness to the point where I felt like he was going to kick me out of the process for being neither (a) or (. After 5 minutes of pleading my case, he finally just smiled and said, "donc... je pense que vous serez bien capable de communiquer dans un rapport patient-medecin, merci!"

 

Gah! Joue-t-il avec ma tete?! Aucune idee.

 

O_O

[Halcyon]

Wow, sounds intense.

 

I hope you did okay hoppy10, despite the stress you must have felt from that encounter!

[J.N.K.]

JNK,

If it makes you feel any better, I got completely grilled during my francophone assessment yesterday for not being (a) of French descent or ( raised in a francophone community. He kept asking me for justification of my declaration of francophone-ness to the point where I felt like he was going to kick me out of the process for being neither (a) or (. After 5 minutes of pleading my case, he finally just smiled and said, "donc... je pense que vous serez bien capable de communiquer dans un rapport patient-medecin, merci!"

 

Gah! Joue-t-il avec ma tete?! Aucune idee.

 

O_O

 

 

 

So perhaps there is the use of some discretion, then, after all. (Kudos to you, hoppy10, as that couldn't have been easy after 100 minutes of MMI-ing.)

 

My questioning of the Francophone assessment comes after being told by current NOSM students that some of the students admitted as self-declared Francophones fit more into the category of "franco-phony".

 

As I think about it, maybe the station should be more appropriately renamed as a "french communication diagnostic" station, allowing for the fact that if a reasonable amount of communication is displayed, then what matters first and foremost is that their exists the eventual benefit of access-to-care through first language communication. (And maybe the declared capacity to speak French is already accessed under OMSAS system and fits into the pre-interview contextual score so that those who possess superior French language skills but don't have a familial connection do reap some benefit.)

 

Again, however, if the Francophone category carries an advantageous admission differential and the status truly aims to reflect 'la francophonie', I could see there being a flaw in the way the assessment works. NOSM sees itself as more than simply a medical school and figures into the development of a new pan-N-ON identify that includes cultural promotion. Truthfully, I'm unsure of how to change it without making the day much more gruelling or without causing unnecessary division. NOSM's mandate will carry the responsibility of an honest self-evaluation by the Francophone Affairs Unit ensure cultural sensitivity to the spectrum of Canadian Francophones, which I am sure they are already doing.

 

Finally, self-declaring Francophone status is unavoidably subjective. The only thing that seems to matter from this point on is May 15th. There's nothing any of us can do for the next 38 days.

[terryann]

To apply as a Francaphone...do you need to be completely fluent...or are people applying with just highschool French? Seems odd, they do not have guidelines..

[J.N.K.]

Sorry terryann for taking so long to post. Part of my strategy to winnow down the wait is not to slave over PreMed101. It kills me.

 

NOSM states that it requires full fluency to be considered a Francophone applicant. This is a necessary but not sufficient condition for them as you must also possess some familial link and community implication to make the cut. This is stated quite clearly on the application.

 

There are too many unknowns about NOSM's assessment to make a definite claim about its efficacy. I questioned the candidacy of some of those self-declaring their status but this is such a subjective category that ambiguity reigns. That evaluation is best left with the Francophone Affairs Unit, perhaps.

 

I would say, though, that it would be a mistake to assume that the candidates that are admitted as self-declared Francophones are there solely because of that claim. It is a meritocratic process. All interviewees will admit that the people they met were highly qualified and would all likely make excellent healthcare providers. The true issue is whether the selection process meets NOSM's stance as one of Northern Ontario's most important cultural institutions. It's more than just a medical school in more ways than any other medical school in Canada. Again, some things are best left to those who are possibly deciding my fate. (Ha ...)