VP Global Health
Patrick Fakhouri
My name is Patrick Fakhouri (MD2028), and I am running for VP Global Health for the 2024–2025 academic year. I have always held a deep interest in global health initiatives. Owing to my intersectionality and the intergenerational effects of global health disparities in my own story, I have long been passionate about topics such as global health equity, human rights, and accountability. These experiences have helped me develop sociocultural sensitivity, diplomacy, and strong communication skills. My vision for this role is to increase student engagement and create more opportunities for medical students to explore global health, enhance its representation within our school, and strengthen the recognition of international identities in healthcare. I bring a range of experiences that equip me to contribute meaningfully to this role. As the Class Charity Representative for the MD2028 cohort, I’ve developed advocacy skills to support communities in need. I also served as Co-Director of the Heart of the City Piano Program (Ottawa Chapter), providing tuition-free piano education to underserved elementary school students. I liaised with community partners, oversaw operations, and led a 15-member executive team, advocating for accessible arts education. With that in mind, I am eager to apply these skills in a global health context that reaches broader communities with a deep commitment to inclusive, empathetic leadership. Platform Goals: 1. Support Students Navigating Global Health Topics - Build a supportive community for students personally impacted by current global health events. - Create a safe, inclusive space for students from diverse ethnocultural backgrounds to share experiences and grow together. - Facilitate activities that cultivate empathy and understanding, including: story sharing, perspective-taking exercises, empathy mapping, mindful curiosity 2. Advance Global Health Education at uOttawa Med - Collaborate with ASoc members to organize awareness events, speaker panels, and global health trivia nights. - Strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders to ensure student voices are heard in decision-making at the Global Health Office. 3. Encourage Student Engagement and Facilitate Projects - Support student-led global health initiatives by providing mentorship and logistical guidance. - Actively seek student feedback to expand meaningful global health opportunities for learners and faculty alike. I’m excited to run for VP Global Health and to bring these goals to life for our community. In a world that feels increasingly intense and divided, I believe we can foster understanding, amplify student voices, and promote meaningful engagement in global health. Thank you for your consideration, and I would be honoured to earn your vote for VP Global Health!
Maryam Felfel
As a medical student deeply committed to global equity, local advocacy, and international collaboration, I’m excited to run for VP Global Health. I bring experience, a vision rooted in actionable change, and a dedication to ensuring that global health is not just a theoretical concept but a lived value within our faculty. In this role, I will serve as a liaison between students and the Faculty Global Health Office, as well as with the International Health Office and CFMS-GHP, ensuring that your ideas, concerns, and passions are heard and acted upon at every level. I aim to amplify student-led initiatives while promoting inclusive dialogue about the role of medicine in dismantling systemic inequities across borders. A significant part of my passion for global health comes from my hands-on involvement in refugee support and community development. Over the past several years, I’ve volunteered with programs supporting newcomer families and led youth-focused initiatives aimed at cultural integration and access to services. These experiences have deepened my belief that advocacy begins at home — and must be connected to global systems that shape migration, displacement, and health equity. This summer, I’ll be joining a humanitarian service trip to Türkiye, working directly with Syrian and Uyghur refugee communities. The opportunity to learn from and support displaced families on the ground will not only inform my global health perspective, but also help me bring fresh, practical insights to our faculty and to the CFMS Global Health Program. I hope to create meaningful opportunities for our student body to connect with similar global health initiatives. If elected, I’d love to explore ways to: - Connect students with global health learning opportunities, including those that reflect diverse lived experiences. - Support ongoing CFMS-GHP initiatives and collaborate with Global Health Advocates. - Help foster interdisciplinary conversations around pressing global health issues, including migration, climate change, and Indigenous health. - Highlight and celebrate the voices of students passionate about global health and social justice. Ultimately, I see global health not as a separate category, but as a lens through which we examine all of medicine—from refugee health and climate change to Indigenous health and digital equity. My goal is to help students meaningfully engage with these challenges both within our classrooms and beyond. I’m running because I believe we need future physicians who are not only excellent clinicians, but also thoughtful global citizens. I’d be honoured to serve as your VP Global Health and would love to hear your ideas, concerns, and dreams for how we can expand our impact together. Thank you for your support!
Danny Dawd
Global health is an important aspect of medical education, shaping how future physicians understand and address health disparities worldwide. As VP Global Health, I will bring this component of medicine to the forefront through focusing on early exposure, advocating for better global health curriculum, and expanding exchange opportunities to ensure students are more knowledgeable about healthcare challenges in diverse settings. Many students enter medical school with limited exposure to global health. To address this, I plan to introduce events right in first semester so students get a chance to get involved early on if they choose to do so. This would include events such as having a panel of physicians and allied health professionals who work with refugee populations or in conflict areas. Sessions like these will provide valuable insight into the barriers these groups face, including language, cultural adaptation, and access to healthcare. Such early discussions will foster cultural competency and equip students with a foundational understanding of global health challenges early in their training. I will also advocate for the inclusion of more interactive global health sessions in our curriculum. This year, we are organizing a simulation exercise (SimEx) in collaboration with Humanitarian Partners, designed to replicate real-world global health challenges. Participants will actively engage in decision-making under crisis conditions, considering clinical, ethical, and logistical factors in a resource-limited setting. By integrating elements of this event into one of our SIM sessions—such as case-based discussions, ethical dilemma workshops, or hands-on simulation components—we can ensure that students gain practical experience in global health principles. This will provide a dynamic learning environment that reinforces principles of medical ethics, clinical decision-making, and resource management in global health contexts. Lastly, the University of Ottawa participates in the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA) exchange program, allowing students to gain clinical or research experience abroad. However, while we send students internationally, we do not currently accept incoming exchange students, limiting the opportunities available to our members. By advocating for participation in both directions, we can improve our standing within IFMSA, ultimately increasing the number of placements available for our students. These exchanges provide invaluable firsthand experience in different healthcare systems, offering unique insights into how medicine is practiced across cultural and economic contexts. Strengthening our involvement in IFMSA will ensure more of our students have the chance to get involved. Through these initiatives, I will work to make global health an integral and accessible part of our medical education and better prepare us to address health challenges in an increasingly globalized world.