A core value of the Foundation for Medical Practice Education (FMPE) is advancing Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (EDIA) across its programs. This commitment guides our approach to human resources, administration, communications, and the development of educational materials. We strive to involve all stakeholders in the ongoing process of deepening our understanding and guiding our implementation of EDIA principles.
To better understand the experiences, perspectives, and interests of PBLP members regarding EDIA, FMPE conducted a survey in May 2025. The survey was sent to all members, and 6.4%, or 370 members, completed the survey in its entirety. This was a small percentage of our members. Regardless, there were a few key findings to highlight.
- The majority of respondents praised FMPE’s efforts in creating inclusive and diverse modules, creating a welcoming learning environment, and providing a supportive administration.
- A minority of respondents were unaware of our EDIA initiatives at the FMPE.
- A small minority of respondents expressed concerns that discussing EDIA in modules might detract from what they saw as core clinical content.
- A small minority of respondents identified specific gaps that the FMPE could improve on, recommending more representation from 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, First Nations communities, rural and underserved settings, people with mobility challenges, and religious diversity.
- While the majority of members reported no EDIA-related barriers to meeting with their small groups, a small number did experience challenges. Examples included meeting in noisy venues, which made participation difficult for those with hearing impairments, and poor internet quality in rural areas, affecting virtual meetings.
Thank you to everyone who completed the survey! If you are a member with feedback about diverse representation of cases in modules, user friendliness of our website, training of facilitators, or any other topics related to EDIA, please reach out to the FMPE at fmpe@mcmaster.ca.
| How We Approach Inclusive, Evidence-Based Modules We live in a world that is constantly changing. Perspectives and opinions evolve, and the language used to express them evolves as well. Given this constant shift in language, we try our best to write modules in a way that is inclusive and respectful, while balancing the perspectives of our entire membership. Not only do perspectives, opinions and language evolve, but the evidence base also changes. As always, we are bound in modules to reflect what the evidence says and how studies are conducted. Sometimes this means using group definitions that may not fully line up with current trends. We must balance accurate representation of the research with a desire to be inclusive. Despite our best efforts, we may not always strike the right balance. But we are committed to continue learning and improving. We aim to produce modules that support the Four Principles of Family Medicine. The Principles place emphasis on understanding a patient’s illness experience and the social context in which they live. We need to recognize social determinants of health to respond to the needs of our practices and communities. Knowing the challenges our patients face allows us to build long-term relationships based on trust and respect. At the FMPE, supporting the Four Principles of Family Medicine is something that we are committed to doing. We hope that our modules will help you practice family medicine effectively in an ever-changing world. The Module Development Core Team |