VP Community Health
Sarah Almasaad
Hi everyone! My name is Sarah and I’m so excited to be running for VP of Community Health! To me, community health isn’t only about planning wellness-related events. It’s about building an environment where medical students feel genuinely supported and where wellness is a central part of our medical school experience. Over the past year, I’ve realized that wellness is felt most when initiatives are intentional and resources are easy to access. We are fortunate to have many supports available to us, from resources offered through MEDSAO to faculty-led initiatives and student groups, but these resources are only impactful if students know about them and feel comfortable using them. I want to help bridge that gap by strengthening communication, improving visibility of existing supports, and encouraging a proactive approach to health promotion within ASoc and the Faculty. One interest I picked up over the years was to understand how impactful organizations can be built from a simple idea. For this reason, I founded a philanthropic initiative with a team in undergrad, and experienced firsthand what it takes to build and sustain an organization from the ground up: from writing and managing constitutions, ensuring registration requirements are always met, planning events, and handling the ongoing logistics that keep everything running smoothly. As VP of Community Health, I hope to bring those learned experiences to support interest group members and make sure they feel equipped for a successful year ahead! I am also working with CFMS on a couple committees, which I believe will facilitate my role as a liaison between CFMS and uOttawa as the Student Wellness Committee representative. Beyond representation, I see this role as an opportunity to actively advance health promotion within our community in a practical way. One thing I would love to incorporate would be anonymous wellness feedback forms throughout the year, allowing students to share what initiatives are helpful, what resources they find useful, and what gaps they’re experiencing so we can adapt accordingly and translate student feedback into improvements in partnership with the Faculty, MEDSAO, and CFMS. I would love to be your go-to resource person for supports, interest groups, community health representation, and make sure your upcoming year at uOttawa med is as enjoyable and stress-free as possible! Thank you for your support :)
Ayesha Syed
Hi everyone, my name is Ayesha Syed and it's been a pleasure getting to know you and being a part of our 2029 cohort! I'm super passionate about wellness and community! To de-stress, you can find me spending time with friends and my cats, going on nature hikes, or exploring Ottawa (if you ever want Ottawa food recs or activities, let me know 🫶). As someone who has been at RGN for the last couple of years, I understand how difficult it can be to find community and wellness resources (our emails are flooded). I want to create a community that takes into account what we truly need and provides resources that are inclusive, supportive, and advance our overall well being. I’ve previously been involved in community and wellness roles/initiatives at uOttawa. I served as the VP of Wellness and Support for two student associations, where I helped organize initiatives like the FoM Wellness Cafe, bi-weekly wellness events, mentorship programs, and feedback forums to hear directly from our students. I’ve also worked with the Student Affairs office and the FoM Wellness team to help share resources and support health promotion initiatives. I’m currently part of the Student Wellness Committee as the Co-Occupational Wellness Lead, where I co-organized the vision board and hot cocoa event ☕️ and we’re already planning more community and wellness events, so stay tuned! These experiences have shown me how meaningful it is to listen to students and build initiatives that truly reflect what our community needs, and I will bring that perspective into this role. As VP Community, my goal is to strengthen wellness, accessibility, and community within the student body. I want to make sure I’m hearing directly from you and that your voices are heard. We can have in-person or online conversations, and if there’s anything you would like to share anonymously, I’m committed to creating an anonymous feedback form available 24/7 so our student body’s needs are being met. I also want to make wellness and community resources easier to find so they don’t get lost in our inboxes. I'll work with our VP Social to organize community events where people can connect outside of school, like having a wellness week off campus. I’m also committed to supporting our interest groups and organizing the annual sMILES for Amanda event. These are just some of my ideas, but I’m excited to hear from you 💕 I look forward to continuing to build our community and support wellness within our class, and I’d love the opportunity to serve as your VP Community!
Émilie Lacroix
Did you know that we are already paying for food that we don’t get to eat? At the main uOttawa campus, they have free lunches/vegetables every week, community fridges, free tea, hot chocolate, and coffee (we know we all need that last one!). My name is Émilie Lacroix and I am running for VP Community Health to bring those resources to RGN. This is because I firmly believe that wellness starts at reducing the number of chores we need to do in a day. The initiatives at main campus could allow us to have one less meal to cook, one less Tim Horton’s run to do, one less grocery list to make. These are all services we are already paying for but cannot use because they are happening at a completely different location. The VP Community Health of course also includes administration of all the interest groups in their planning of activities. I have years of experience in similar tasks as I have worked in the bureaucracy of uOttawa, as well as the administrative officer in volunteer organizations. I also have an in-depth knowledge of the resources offered at the main campus thanks to having done my undergraduate degree at this school and having participated in multiple volunteer organizations led by students, for students. So, why should you vote for me? Because I want to reduce your workload where I can, am able to effectively help interest groups and because I want to ensure that we receive all of the services that we pay for.