Canadian Rural Outreach Program

Encourage others to enter a career in Medicine!

The Canadian Rural Outreach Program (CROP) is designed to encourage enrollment of students from underserviced, rural and remote areas into Canadian medical schools. Trainees part of the Rural Ontario Medical Program present medical career opportunities to high school students in the small communities that they practice in. In South Central Ontario these communities range from Owen Sound to Niagara Falls, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Peterborough.

Why should CROP interest you or your school(s)?
The need for more physicians in rural and underserviced areas in Ontario is extreme, specifically in South Central Ontario. The public needs to become aware of the opportunities available to create and find new physicians. Students must also recognize the possibilities and rewards that follow a career in medicine.

What is involved?
Medical students from one of the five provincial medical schools will go to a school to provide a brief presentation on a medical education (please see specific topics listed below). By providing a discussion forum between medical and high school students, CROP intends to make it apparent that a career in medicine is a realistic and attainable goal!

Partners include: The Canadian Federation of Medical Students, the Student Section of the Ontario Medical Association and the Rural Ontario Medical Program

What will the CROP presentation cover?

• Types of courses students should take if considering medicine
• The path taken by medical students to get to medical school
• The 'university' experience
• What medical school involves-types of courses, experiences
• What is after medical school-number of years, programs
• The pros and cons of a career in medicine
• The opportunities for training and practice in South Central Ontario

What do we ask of you?

• Contact the Rural Ontario Medical Program (listed below) for information on how to bring a medical student to your community.
• Distribute the information on this page to high schools in your area, as a means to introduce the program.
• Help to determine which student bodies will fit the characteristics of the program's target audience. (We appreciate that some Ontario school boards service both urban and rural communities) We also welcome suggestions regarding desirable group size and appropriate student levels to present too.
• Look in your community on how you can support medical trainees in their studies. ROMP partners with communities and the support that is generated is tremendous. Communities open their homes to trainees, provide donations, and cooperate with family doctors who are regularly teaching. Outgoing trainees always express appreciation for the warm welcome from communities and the numerous opportunities to participate in a wide range of leisure activities and leisure groups.

We thank you in advance for your interest and look forward to successful CROP presentation and visiting South Central Ontario through ROMP!