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The Medical Council of Canada invites nominations for the Dr. M. Ian Bowmer Award for Leadership in Social Accountability 2025. This award recognizes one medical student and one resident who have demonstrated leadership in social accountability within the schools of medicine in Canada.
Opportunity Details
The Dr. M. Ian Bowmer Award for Leadership in Social Accountability was named in recognition of Dr. Bowmer’s many years of service as the executive director and registrar.
It is awarded annually to one medical student and one resident who have demonstrated leadership in social accountability within the schools of medicine in Canada. Each recipient will be awarded $5,000 to be used for studies, books, or e-learning tools, and/or conference attendance.
Definition of socially accountable leadership
While leadership is the ability to envision new approaches and inspire teams to follow a conceived vision, socially accountable leadership is a different leadership paradigm; focusing on capacity to engage society with respect and forge a common vision and position.
Social accountability in medicine and medical education requires an appreciation of and fidelity to the needs of the population and society in which we provide care and service. Consequently, to be socially accountable, the design, delivery, and evaluation of new initiatives and directions need to put clients at the centre, through consultations at all stages of the process. Planning and implementation of such initiatives also involve various appropriate health partners and a demonstrated knowledge of the cultural context.
Within this overall context, to qualify for the Dr. M. Ian Bowmer Award for Leadership in Social Accountability, a nominee should demonstrate the qualities of leadership described above. In addition, they should have responded to a community or broader population need by consultatively/ collaboratively developing a relevant approach and vision with interested parties. Through a given initiative, they have created an engaged team or partnership that is actively pursuing a socially accountable vision and managing its delivery.
Nomination process
Each school of medicine is asked to submit formal letters of nomination outlining how a trainee has demonstrated socially accountable leadership during their training and why they should be considered.
Each school can only nominate one medical student and one resident for this award, for a total of two nominations. As such, we encourage each school to discuss the nominations internally.
The letter of nomination can come from the dean, associate/vice-deans of undergraduate or postgraduate Medical Education, program director and/or faculty member. Please note, nominee curriculum vitae will not be accepted as part of the nomination process.
Deadline: The formal letters of nomination must be submitted electronically to [email protected]no later than April 30 of the current year.
Apply for Dr. M. lan Bowmer Award for Leadership in Social Accountability