STARS (Students and Trainees Advocating for Resource Stewardship) is an undergraduate medical education campaign to inspire the next generation of physicians to choose wisely.

In 2015, while working as summer students with Choosing Wisely Canada, Dr. William Silverstein, along with Dr. Elliot Lass and Dr. Anand Lakhani, co-created STARS after recognizing a gap in resource stewardship teaching in undergraduate medical school curricula.

It’s very fitting that seven years later, Dr. Silverstein is joining Choosing Wisely Canada to lead the STARS campaign.

Dr. Silverstein is an emerging leader in resource stewardship actively working towards improving the value of care in Canada’s healthcare system. His research addresses low-value care services that can be harmful to patients, including evaluating the prevalence of inappropriate B12 administrations. Dr. Silverstein’s leadership in educating trainees and medical learners has been recognized by the University of Toronto as a recipient of the Excellence in Resource Stewardship Teaching Award in the MD Program.

Dr. Silverstein, alongside Choosing Wisely Canada’s Project Coordinator Jaana Ranchithan, takes over from Dr. Brian Wong and Dr. Karen Born, both of whom have played critical roles in the growth and success of STARS. To date, interest groups are present at all 17 medical schools in Canada, six cohorts with over 200 medical student leaders have participated, and STARS has inspired international campaigns around the globe.

In addition to continuing the important work of engaging students in their pre-clinical training, Dr. Silverstein is eager to create new mentorship, research, and networking opportunities within STARS.

“I hope that we will be able to continue to provide an exceptional educational experience for students, to support their efforts to raise awareness and advocate for changes related to resource stewardship locally,” says Dr. Silverstein. “I am also really looking forward to being more intentional in mentoring STARS students so that they can develop into the next generation of resource stewardship leaders and leveraging our pan-Canadian network of medical students to create impact and reduce low-value care.”

Dr. Wong, who serves as the Medical Education Lead for Choosing Wisely Canada, shares he is excited for the next chapter of the STARS campaign.

“I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Karen Born, Chris Hillis, Jaana Ranchithan and so many others to engage hundreds of student leaders, many of whom are now residents and early career faculty who continue to demonstrate their leadership in promoting resource stewardship in their clinical settings,” he says. “Billy is a generational talent who has shaped the STARS program since its inception. A dual threat in both quality improvement and medical education, he is the natural choice to lead STARS into the next chapter.”

Dr. Wong and Dr. Born’s thoughtful guidance and leadership has helped shape the STARS campaign beyond expectations.

Dr. Karen Born has moved to a new opportunity as Program Director of the M.HSc. in Health Administration program at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation.

Dr. Brian Wong is the Director of Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (CQuIPs) and will co-lead the new Choosing Wisely Canada research scholars program. The research program launched in September, under CQuIPs Improvement Fellowship, aims to foster a network of clinician leaders interested in advancing research in resource stewardship.