EDI Working Group Opportunities

Dear valued COS member,

The COS is strengthened by its diversity, and is committed to being a leader in equity, diversity and inclusion in ophthalmology. The EDI Working Group has been working diligently for the past two years on projects in five main pillars: Education, Support/Advocacy, Metrics and Research, Communications, and Partnerships.

Our Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Working Group is developing several exciting projects where volunteer support is needed:

1:

Advocacy Project: Barriers to Corneal Donation

Current guidelines for corneal donation excludes donation from men who have had sex with men within the last 5 years. Given the level of testing on donated tissues, experts agree that this timeframe is unnecessarily long.

The purpose of this working group will be to create the advocacy business case to decrease this timeline.

2:

Communications: COS newsletter and social media content

This is an opportunity for someone to help create engaging social media posts and profiles that highlight the diversity of COS members, to be published in Sightlines, the COS member newsletter.

The purpose of this project is to highlight the variety and diversity of experiences among ophthalmologists in Canada.

3:

A Mentorship Program for medical students

In order to help increase the diversity of the profession, and to ensure that Canadians from all backgrounds and experiences can “see” themselves in the health field, the EDI Working Group is planning a mentorship program for medical students.

The purpose of this working group is to develop, set up and implement the ophthalmology mentorship program.

Expectation: simply identify which project you would like to work on and commit a few hours each month to ensuring they come to light.

The working group is chaired by Dr. Nupura Bakshi who welcomes the opportunity to discuss the work of the group, these projects, and EDI more broadly.

Please reach out with your interest or for more information, here.

We look forward to welcoming you to the EDI Working Group!

Learn more about the EDI Working Group here.
Learn more about Volunteering in Action here.