Support and promote the establishment of designated Indigenous seats in essential post-secondary programs such as health, law, education, engineering, and public policy.

Memorial University Faculty of Medicine: Three designated Indigenous seats

There are three designated seats for Indigenous students in the Memorial University Faculty of Medicine. Partners at the Faculty of Medicine communicated that many people misunderstand the system of designated seats. Information about this process is provided below.

Only applicants who meet the admission requirements for the Doctor of Medicine program are considered for admission. Of these applicants, those who meet the requirements to be considered as a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador are considered within the provincial pool. Applicants in this pool are screened by an interview committee that selects applicants for interviews based on a holistic review of their application. Interviewed applicants are evaluated and ranked by the admissions committee in consideration of their academic performance, MCAT scores, personal references, interviews, extracurricular activities, and volunteer and work experience.

Candidates with exceptional ranking are recommended first for matriculation to the class. The Admissions Committee then selects the most suitable candidates to fill the remaining seats. Three of these remaining seats are designated for applicants who wish to be considered within the Indigenous Admissions Program competition. Those wanting to be considered for a designated Indigenous seat must have identified themselves as First Nations, Inuit, or Métis on their application and provided supplementary documentation. The Admissions Committee considers these applicants for assets that are sometimes overlooked in standardized admissions processes.

At times, designated Indigenous seats may go unfilled, but this does not mean there is an absence of Indigenous students in the program: there are often Indigenous medical learners who did not self-identify on their application and/or learners who were matriculated as exceptionally ranked candidates from the provincial pool and therefore would not have been considered within the Indigenous Admissions Program competition. If the Indigenous seats are not filled, they are awarded to other candidates in the pool.

Discussions regarding the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s new residency criteria for the Doctor of Medicine program are ongoing. If one or more designated Indigenous seats is not filled by an Indigenous applicant who meets the definition of a Newfoundland and Labrador resident, should priority be given to applicants who are Indigenous but who do not meet the definition of a Newfoundland and Labrador resident? Prioritizing Indigenous applicants from outside of the province would support a more diverse student population and would be more in line with Indigenous concepts of place, which are not limited to provincial boundaries. On the other hand, prioritizing non-Indigenous applicants who meet the definition of a Newfoundland and Labrador resident could increase the likelihood that students will practice medicine within the province after graduating from the Doctor of Medicine program.

Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission: Special Program designation can be useful for post-secondary institutions implementing designated seats

Post-secondary institutions interested in introducing designated seats should be aware of the possibility of applying for a Special Program designation with the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission. Programs like designated seats are important ways to support Indigenous people in overcoming systemic barriers, but many people in the general population lack an understanding of the barriers that Indigenous people face in our society. (See Calls for Change 1-3.) This can lead to misunderstandings about why a limited number of seats would be designated for Indigenous applicants. Special Program designation prevents any person or group from filing a human rights complaint against the institution for the Special Program.

For post-secondary institutions:

• Consider the NL Human Rights Commission’s Guidelines for Special Programs to protect the institution from human rights complaints being filed against the institution for the use of designated seats in the admissions process.