Get Involved

Unit and Component Heads
Unit and Component Head roles are open to PA and physician faculty who are interested in the academic and curriculum development of a specific program unit (ex: Medical Foundations, Skilled Clinician, Communications, etc.). This includes oversight on the creation and revision of unit content and organization, assessments and evaluations, and collaborating with other faculty and staff on various program initiatives and teaching. This is typically a three-year limited-term salaried position, typically at 0.4FTE.

Student Advisors
Student Advisors roles are open to licensed clinician PAs in the Maritimes. They provide individualized and confidential mentoring and guidance to current students over the course of their training. Advisors are members of the MPAS Student Affairs Subcommittee which aim to identify and improve areas of the program that may affect PA student life and wellness. They can influence program decisions on student remediation, support, and academic appeals. This is typically a three-year limited-term salaried position, typically at <0.1FTE.

Tutors
Tutors refers to the teaching PA and physician faculty that participate in the didactic first year curriculum. This may involve preparing and presenting lectures, leading small group tutorials focused on case-based learning, clinical skills and simulation training, OSCEs, and facilitating interprofessional education events. This is typically paid at an hourly rate with a commitment to teaching components of the curriculum that can range from a single session to multiple weeks.

Community Preceptors
Community Preceptors refers to the non-AFP physician faculty that participate in the clinical training of the second-year curriculum. Preceptors supervise, teach, and assess second-year PA students on their core rotations in specific medicine specialities. Community precepting is remunerated at the daily teaching rate for FFS physicians when working with a medicine learner.

Simulated Patients
The Centre for Collaborative Clinical Learning and Research (C3LR) offers the Simulated Patient (SP) Program to community members who are interested in helping teach medicine and health professions students. SPs are trained to portray actual patients and provide valuable feedback to students on their clinical and communication skills, commonly known as bedside manner. Opportunities to participate in specialized physical exams and parent-child sessions are also available.

Subcommittees Members
The four MPAS program subcommittees are dedicated to assessing, developing, and continuously improving key areas of the program: Admissions, Education, Progress, and Student Affairs. We recognize that diversity strengthens decision-making by bringing a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and ideas, leading to more thoughtful, inclusive, and effective outcomes. Subcommittees may include PA and physician faculty, student representatives, content experts, specialists, allied health professionals, and community members. Membership is reviewed annually and requires a one-year commitment, with meetings held online at a frequency ranging from monthly to quarterly.

Working or Interest Groups
Program subcommittees may create working or interest groups as needed to achieve specific goals. These groups are typically composed of sitting subcommittee members, although some initiatives may require the recruitment of additional PA and physician faculty, students, content experts, specialists, allied health professionals, or community members. Time and commitment for these groups can vary, but on an annual basis, the MPAS Admissions Subcommittee specifically recruits File Reviewers and Interviewers to support the admissions cycle.

Volunteer Patient Program
The Faculty of Medicine operates the Volunteer Patient Program (VPP), which recruits community members to help students develop their history-taking and physical examination skills. Participants work directly with students, either in person or online, providing valuable opportunities for students to practice their communication and clinical skills with real people.