Resident Interest Group in Social Advocacy (RIGSA)
The Resident Interest Group in Social Advocacy (RIGSA) is a student-led group comprised of GIM residents and fellows across various medicine subspecialties. The group primarily focuses on advocating for marginalized populations. Several subgroups are actively involved in designing academic half-day sessions on allyship skills, amplifying patient voices, integrating anti-racism principles into the curriculum, and establishing a social medicine elective.
1. Social Medicine working group: Focused on creating a new social medicine elective. This elective will empower residents to assist patients affected by structural and systemic inequities. Future actions include brainstorming and establishing connections with potential clinics in preparation for piloting the elective.
2. Allyship and Black Health AHD working group: Responsible for organizing the Allyship workshop for PGY1 residents and the Anti-Racism Black Health Day for PGY2 residents.
3. Patient Self Advocacy working group: Development of a multi-modal tool that focuses on pre-admission, admission process and outpatient health literacy. Currently completed patient-oriented surveys (n=50) and next steps include interviewing healthcare professionals.
4. Guidelines for Inclusivity working group: Having successfully published the Guidelines of Inclusivity (available for AHD presenters), the group's next phase includes continual updates and enhancements to this dynamic document.
Nikkita Kiran Singh, Umberin Najeeb, Lisa Richradson, “The Resident Interest Group in Social Advocacy (Rigsa): Creating A Collaborative Space for Advocacy in the University of Toronto Core Internal Medicine Program”. International Congress on Academic Medicine: 2023 medical education abstracts. Can Med Educ J. 2023 Jun 27;14(3):165-359. doi: https://doi.org/10.36834/cmej.77628. PMID: 37465735; PMCID: PMC10351638.
Corita Vincent, Nikita-Kiran Singh, Sameer Kushwaha, Sheliza Halani, Hayeong Rho, Maxime Billick, Adam Suleman, Brandon Christensen, Zoha Hassan, Jeremy Cygler, Lisa Richardson& Umberin Najeeb “Creating "Guidelines for Inclusivity": A Resident-Driven Project to Inform Teaching Sessions at the University of Toronto” (submission ID # 78047) International Congress on Academic Medicine: 2023 medical education abstracts. Can Med Educ J. 2023 Jun 27;14(3):165-359. doi: https://doi.org/10.36834/cmej.77628. PMID: 37465735; PMCID: PMC10351638.
