On April 30, 2023, Choosing Wisely Canada hosted the spring edition of the STARS (Students and Trainees Advocating for Resource Stewardship) Leadership Summit. The STARS Leadership Summit provides a unique opportunity for medical student leaders from across Canada to come together, exchange ideas, and collaboratively brainstorm strategies to advance resource stewardship within undergraduate medical curricula.

This year’s summit placed a strong emphasis on fostering future clinician leaders in resource stewardship. Dr. Lisa Hicks, a hematologist and Associate Scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, delivered insightful reflections on her experiences and the progress made in the field of utilization. Dr. Hicks’ expertise and guidance served to inspire and motivate the student leaders on different approaches for improving utilization in practice. Following Dr. Hicks’ talk, past STARS alumni shared perspectives on how they leveraged learnings from the program to advance their own career pursuits.

Dr. William Silverstein, STARS Lead, emphasized the important role the program plays in shaping future career paths and cultivating a strong commitment to delivering high-value care.

“Participating in STARS can serve as a springboard for student leaders to collaborate, implement projects, and develop creative ways to engage communities in Choosing Wisely,” Dr. Silverstein says. “The impact extends well beyond the program, as it prepares future clinicians to lead change, optimize health care resources, and become advocates for high-quality care.”

Introducing SuperSTARS

A new addition to the program is the SuperSTARS Award of Excellence. The scholarship is awarded to students who exhibit a strong interest in resource stewardship and demonstrate outstanding innovation and implementation on their STARS project.

Current STARS students selected for this year’s award include:

• Chloe Blackman and Madeline Kubiseski from Dalhousie University
• Alyssa Chen and Daniel Wong from the University of British Columbia
• Jadyn Lennea and Jessica Fisher from the University of Saskatchewan
• Ali Butt and Marta Karpinski from the University of Toronto

STARS alumni selected for this year’s award include:

• Emma McDermott from Dalhousie University
• David Houle from the University of Montreal
• Yi Fan Lin from the University of Montreal

SuperSTARS student leaders had the opportunity to present their innovative projects at both the STARS Leadership Summit and Choosing Wisely Canada’s in-person annual National Meeting in Toronto. These inspiring presentations showcased the creativity and commitment of passionate student leaders in promoting resource stewardship.

SuperSTARS at Choosing Wisely Canada’s National Meeting on May 11 & 12

The STARS program serves as an important catalyst in fostering collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and forward-thinking approaches to promoting resource stewardship within the student community. With each incoming cohort, a new generation of medical student leaders is welcomed to inspire change at their respective medical schools.

Thank You
A special thank you to Dr. William Silverstein and Tara Goodale for organizing the virtual event, Dr. Brian Wong, the STARS Trainee Advisory Committee, local faculty mentors, and the presenters for their valuable contributions to this year’s summit, as well as to the Canadian Medical Association for their support of the SuperSTARS program.