Meet Shima Shakory: MedSoc President 2016-2017
Meet Shima Shakory, second year student and newly elected President of the Medical Society (MedSoc). Eager to ensure that students know about all the resources available to them through MedSoc, Shakory shares more about her portfolio with writer Tabitha Chan.
Why did you decide to run for the position of President of The Medical Society Executive Council?
I chose to run for MedSoc to be a part of the student experience. Many people don’t realize that their everyday student experience has a lot to do with their student government. MedSoc’s activities directly affect students. From funding student clubs to advocating student positions, the Executive Committee works hard to represent students, and to provide them with opportunities. I’ve been involved in other student governments in the past, and I was eager to get involved here at U of T.
I specifically chose to run for President, because I related with the scope of the position. I like looking for ways to improve the student experience through student government. I like meeting with and representing my peers. I like advocating for them.
What are your main responsibilities as President?
I see the President‘s responsibilities fitting into three distinct categories:
- Overseeing the Vice President portfolios: I work closely with the Vice Presidents. We bounce ideas off each other, we set goals, and we work together to make things happen.
- Representing students to faculty, staff and external organizations: I sit on a variety of boards for different faculty groups. For example, the Board of Examiners handles cases of academic and/or professional misconduct. The Medical Alumni Association keeps students and alumni forever connected. I sit on these and other boards to advocate for students, and to provide the student point of view.
- Communicating and directing: Lots of people contact me with their concerns, comments or questions; I can either help them myself or direct them to the most appropriate resource. So please feel free to contact me with absolutely anything!
What are the primary goals/objectives that the Executive Council hopes to accomplish this year?
Our mission statement for this year is to give students the best student experience possible, and to represent them as best we can. All the VPs and myself made our 2016-2017 goals around that mission.
The main goal that spans all the portfolios is to be accessible. We want students to know who we are, to stop us in the halls, and to contact us whenever necessary. We need to keep an open dialogue with our peers to be able to represent them. It’s only through communication that we know what topics we should be advocating for and what activities we should be planning.
Aside from accessibility, we are in the planning process of some exciting new initiatives around careers, mental health and advocacy. Because we’re still finalizing details, I don’t want to give anything away yet, but be on the look out for new positions, events and opportunities.
What are some resources that students should know that the Executive Council provides?
The Council does a lot. We work closely with everything going on in the school.
The Medical Society is the Executive Council that represents the entire medical school – that’s all 1,036 medical students at U of T. On that council, we have the President (myself), the Vice-Presidents, and the Class Council Co-Presidents. While the VPs oversee their respective portfolios, class council co-presidents specifically represent their respective graduating classes.
Here are a few examples:
- Interested in creating a new club? Get in touch with our VP Internal Affairs.
- Have a concern about the curriculum? Be sure to speak with our VP Education.
- Are you interested in programs out in the community? VP Community Affairs is oversees our 26 community clubs.
- Do you want to advocate a political position to an external organization? Reach out to VP External Affairs.
- Having an issue that affects students in your particular year? Contact your Class Co-Presidents.
If it’s not us that’s directly running something, we are at least affiliated with whoever is. The staff, faculty and external organizations work really hard to provide students with resources from personal counseling to advocacy opportunities. There are so many different resources available to students that they don’t know where to go. When they come to me, I can tell them exactly who can help them, and I can connect them with the right people.
How can students become more involved in the UofTMed community? There are so many groups to choose from!
A lot of students get e-mail fatigue, and start ignoring their inboxes, but I just want to tell them this: Read your emails! It really is the best way to get the most out of the opportunities available.
If nothing else, at least read your weekly summary e-mails and the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) Communiqués. There isn’t a lack of opportunities, but I do understand the information overload. Try your best to stay informed.
How do you maintain a healthy work/study life balance? What do you enjoy doing? What are you passionate about?
I’m pretty good at time management. Between MedSoc President and medical student responsibilities, I often feel like I have two full-time jobs. To keep up, I use an agenda, which is really helpful because there are so many things bouncing around my head. Writing everything down and breaking it up by week ensures that I’ll get it all done by a due date.
I also indulge in hobbies. My main hobby is reading. I’m a huge fan of fiction. Neurology exam or not, I’m always reading a novel. Medical school is very fast paced; it’s a lot of work, and you’re always behind – or at least it feels like you are – so I remind myself to slow down every day. Aside from reading, I like theatre. I try to see at least one play a month. After a year of theatre-hopping, I still haven’t been back to the same theatre, which goes to show how many theatres we have in Toronto.
With respect to passions, I care about science, healthcare, women’s issues and conservation. I make the time to keep up with these issues, and what’s going on in the world.
How can students get in touch with MedSoc?
You can reach us through our website and social media:
And feel free to contact me at any time with any questions, comments or concerns via e-mail.
