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This area is intended to contain information applicants should be comfortable/familiar with. Do not worry if you do not get to reading all of this information. Realistically, you probably know much of this already, but if you are very unsure about a topic you should read up on it. Once again, I make no guarantee that this section is comprehensive, but I have made significant effort to make it so.
One of the best ways for you to keep on top of what is happening in the world, in healthcare and otherwise, is by taking 10-15 minutes per day to read the news. Sites like ctvnews.ca or cbc.ca/news are great places to read up on the issues affecting Canadians and the world.
CBC has a number of excellent resources to review. Their newsletter, Second Opinion, contains a weekly summary of health-related articles and commentaries, and I recommend you subscribe to it. The podcast White Coat, Black Art is fantastic, Canadian-focussed, and covers many areas directly and tangentially related to health, with contributions from many international researchers and clinicians. I find Dr. Goldman, the host, does a particularly good job covering many aspects of the social determinants of health. If you’re really into podcasts, the University of Toronto also has their podcast Raw Talk, which also covers many areas of health. Stat News has a number of excellent newsletters as well, however subscribing to all of them can be intimidating. Consider browsing their site for news, at the very least.
It's impossible for me to fully "future-proof" this list, as societal and health challenges as well as expectations of medical trainees change. The best way to keep up on what is important in the world of health and medicine is by checking the websites of the medical professional associations in your province and country. There are generally general and student associations, and these associations often publish information on their advocacy and their position papers online.
If you know which school you are applying to, you should consider looking at their medical student association website as well. For example, the McMaster Medical Student Council has some advocacy information posted on their homepage.
A fantastic place to start is by reading and understanding the Canadian Medical Association Code of Ethics. It can be found here:
Related directly to this is the CanMEDS framework. I joke that medical school applicants should get their school's OMSAS GPA conversion table tattooed on one forearm, and the CanMEDS framework on the other.
CanMEDS Framework :: The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Some Canadian medical schools specifically look for applicants to have demonstrated excellence in a number of these areas, and others have specifically said that using CanMEDS for evaluating medical school applicants would not be appropriate. I am of the opinion that using CanMEDS as a guideline to structure your activities and time is appropriate, but expecting excellence in all categories is a stretch.
The University of Washington assembled a wonderful resource with many documents covering aspects of ethics in medicine and healthcare. You should not be expected to read the entire website, but if you have a particular interest in a topic, you should check out this site.
Related, the Canadian Medical Protective Association (who provides malpractice insurance for physicians in Canada) has a summary of key concepts and good practices for physicians.