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Medical Students

Career Skills and Leadership to take you to the next level!

Whether you are just entering medical school or you are nearing completion, there are lots of services, resources and programs available to help you in your journey to becoming a physician.

Hands-on Experience

If you are a University of Saskatchewan (USask) medical student, take advantage of hands-on-experiences offered in Saskatchewan. If you are elsewhere in Canada, while you may qualify for some of the below programs be sure to ask your home institution about programs they offer. Also consider taking an elective in Saskatchewan!

Career Advising and Workforce Trends

There are many resources available to assist you in better understanding the workforce demographics and need projections in Saskatchewan and Canada. These will help you to be as informed as possible as you complete medical training and pursue residency.

  • saskdocs is available for one-on-one career advising, to present at Career Dialogues and student events.
  • The Residency and Physician Workforce Trends (PDF) handbook provides you information on residency seats, workforce demographics by specialty, and job opportunity outlook in Saskatchewan and Canada. It’s a great resource to help you as you choose the specialty you want to pursue (Updated 2023).
  • The USask College of Medicine’s Office of Career Advising and Mentorship is a recourse, in person and online, to assist students in evaluating career options, choosing elective courses and applying to residency programs.
  • Resident Doctors of Canada has resident and New-In-Practice profiles. The profiles are first-person accounts intended to help learners with their career decision-making process. Each profile provides a snapshot of a “day in the life” of a Canadian residents.
  • Produced by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, The Medical Workforce Knowledgebase (MWK)© gives a high-level snapshot of what’s happening with Canada’s physician workforce by bringing together data from numerous sources.

Leadership Development

Throughout your medical education you will no doubt be trained by the best and brightest our medical universities have to offer. Throughout your medical training there are many leadership development opportunities available to you.

  • The University of Saskatchewan’s (USask) College of Medicine Mentoring Programs are dedicated to enhancing, supporting and growing the academic environment by establishing a culture of mentoring. Some of the programs include (PM)^2 Peer Mentoring Program, PULSE, PRISM, Synergy.
  • The Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) has a number of different leadership opportunities available through the Physician Leadership Institute (PLI) that will prepare you to be a more effective leader. The SMA sponsors seats for medical students and residents in each course to help offset the costs.
  • The Canadian Medical Association gives medical students access to a range of programs to develop your leadership and advocacy skills.
  • The Canadian Society of Physician Leaders (CSPL) provides support and development opportunities for Canadian physicians to help them succeed in their leadership and management roles in health care.