The driving force behind the MD/PhD program at the University of Ottawa was and remains to attract the small number of students with a high potential to grow into future leaders in the health sciences and allied fields. MD/PhD students exemplify the multi-disciplinary nature of the ongoing educational and scientific activities at our bilingual university. Our shared vision for the immediate and near future of the MD/PhD program at the University of Ottawa encompasses among others the following goals:

1. To promote the pursuit of academic excellence through mentored guidance of all MD/PhD students in synergy with their supervisors and course directors;
2. To expose our trainees to the spectrum of physician-scientists’ activities at regional, national and international levels;
3. To expand the number of participating programs in the MD/PhD curriculum.
4. To offer an increasing number of graduate courses during the summer months, which will attract both MD/PhD trainees and PhD students;
5. To increase the number of women selected for the combined program;
6. To create a new forum that fosters the regular exchange between three important constituencies of our student body, i.e., those actively enrolled in the MD curriculum with a desire for additional research exposure; students in diverse MSc and PhD graduate programs with a strong interest for exposure to the medical sciences; and MD/PhD students, who will benefit from a growing cohort of like-minded peers, amid predictable changes in the makeup of their classmates during the >7 year curriculum;
7. To further grow a mentorship program that was introduced in 2016;
8. To stimulate a provincial and national debate regarding the long term benefits (and costs) of training students in two disciplines. To this end, to explore new funding opportunities for Canadian physician-scientists.
9. To catalogue accomplishments of our current students and future MD/PhD graduates, and to actively support them in their quest to identify the best career choices for the time after completion of the program;
10. To longitudinally track the career paths chosen and future positions attained by our trainees. This effort will become part of a network comprising all dual degree programs in Canada. Important outcome measures embedded in these ten goals will ultimately help to gauge the contribution of our MD/PhD program to the success of the University of Ottawa and to Canadian society.