Medical students need own charter, CFMS says
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* Pat Rich

Canada's medical students want their rights protected — in writing.

During its September meeting in Kingston, Ont., the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) vowed to increase pressure on the schools to endorse a national student charter that sets out basic rights for all senior medical students.

At the moment, the CFMS is having a hard time selling its concept to the schools. Delegates discussed ways to persuade at least some schools to endorse the charter, and ways to evaluate how well each school is doing in abiding by its terms.

School representatives have twice refused to endorse the charter, most recently when undergraduate deans met this spring. Jan Benedict, senior representative from Dalhousie medical school, said the deans are concerned about issues such as liability, which the students consider “ridiculous.”

“There is nothing in there that is unrealistic,” said Benedict.

“I don't know what their problem is, but we have to force accountability on this issue,” said Dr. Danielle Martin, the immediate past president.

The charter deals with issues ranging from the right to work in a system free of harassment and coercion to having expenses covered for students completing mandatory rotations away from home. It also calls for provision of a personal pager for all mandatory rotations in which students are expected to be on call.

The CFMS ([www.cfms.org](http://www.cfms.org)) says there is currently nothing in place to explicitly protect students' rights while they work as clinical clerks, and the charter spells out the rights that would exist if there was a contract. “It would be a coup if we could get the medical schools to endorse this,” said Martin.

The CFMS will meet with each medical school to seek endorsement, and the endorsement of organizations such as the CMA will also be sought. It also hopes to make medical students more aware of the issue. —* Pat Rich*, CMAJ