First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) youth are disproportionately affected by a range of negative health outcomes including poor emotional and psychosocial well-being. At the same time, there is increasing awareness of culturally-specific protective factors for these youth, such as cultural connectedness and identity. This article reports the findings of a mixed-methods, exploratory longitudinal study on the effects of a culturally-relevant school-based mentoring program for FNMI youth that focuses on promoting mental well-being and the development of cultural identity. Participants included a cohort of FNMI adolescents whom we tracked across the transition from elementary to secondary school. We utilized data from annual surveys (n = 105) and a subset of youth whom we interviewed (n = 28). Quantitative analyses compared youth who participated in 1 or 2 years of mentoring programs with those who did not participate. At Wave 3, the 2-year mentoring group demonstrated better mental health and improved cultural identity, accounting for Wave 1 functioning. These results were maintained when sex and school climate were accounted for in the models. Sex did not emerge as a significant moderator; however, post hoc analyses with simple slopes indicated that the mentoring program benefited girls more than boys for both outcomes. Interview data were coded and themed through a multi-phase process, and revealed that the mentoring program helped participants develop their intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, and enhanced their cultural and healthy relationships knowledge base. Collectively, the quantitative and qualitative components of this study identify multiple years of culturally-relevant mentoring as a promising approach for promoting well-being among FNMI youth.

In a few weeks, the global community has witnessed, and for some of us experienced first-hand, the human costs of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is incredible variability in how countries are choosing to thwart the disease's outbreak, sparking intense discussions around what it means to teach and learn in the era of COVID-19, and more specifically, the role medical students play in the midst of the pandemic. A multinational and multi-institutional group made up of a dedicated medical student from Austria, passionate clinicians and educators from Switzerland, and a PhD scientist involved in Medical Education from Canada, have assembled to summarize the ingenious ways medical students around the world are contributing to emergency efforts. They argue that such efforts change COVID-19 from a "disruption" to medical students learning to something more tangible, more important, allowing students to become stakeholders in the expansion and delivery of healthcare.

The identified TCs offer important insights into the relationship between trainee actions and how they conceptualise practice. At their heart, many appeared to represent ideals of practice that trainees should incorporate into their developing identities as they explore what it means to be a physician. Future research should explore how to incorporate TCs into assessment and the support of trainee development.

Introduction Many residency programmes struggle to demonstrate how they prepare trainees to become competent health advocates. To meaningfully teach and assess it, we first need to understand what ‘competent’ health advocacy (HA) is and what competently enacting it requires. Attempts at clarifying HA have largely centred around the perspectives of consultant physicians and trainees. Without patients’ perspectives, we risk training learners to advocate in ways that may be misaligned with patients’ needs and goals. Therefore, the purpose of our research was to generate a multi‐perspective understanding about the meaning of competence for the HA role. Methods We used constructivist grounded theory to explore patients’ and physicians’ perspectives about competent health advocacy. Data were collected using photo elicitation; patients (n = 10) and physicians (n = 14) took photographs depicting health advocacy that were used to inform semi‐structured interviews. Themes were identified using constant comparative analysis. Results Physician participants associated HA with disruption or political activism, suggesting that competence hinged on medical and systems expertise, a conducive learning environment, and personal and professional characteristics including experience, status and political savvy. Patient participants, however, equated physician advocacy with patient centredness, perceiving that competent HAs are empathetic and attentive listeners. In contrast to patients, few physicians identified as advocates, raising questions about their ability to train or to thoughtfully assess learners’ abilities. Conclusion Few participants perceived HA as a fundamental physician role—at least not as it is currently defined in curricular frameworks. Misperceptions that HA is primarily disruptive may be the root cause of the HA problem; solving it may rely on focusing training on bolstering skills like empathy and listening not typically associated with the HA role. Since there may be no competency where the patient voice is more critical, we need to explore opportunities for patients to facilitate learning for the HA role.

We highlight the importance of informal communication in supporting patient care and the gaps in the system contributing to their necessity. Changes at the system level are needed to ensure we are not leaving important collaborative opportunities to chance alone.

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