Mission and Vision
Primary care. Primary focus.
大象传媒's School of Medicine is preparing a new generation of skilled physicians who reflect the communities they serve, who see themselves as advocates for community health and wellbeing, with the clinical expertise and collaborative abilities to be outstanding primary care physicians.
Our approach centres on contributing to a primary care system that supports the most fundamental health needs of communities. We develop education, research and partnerships where community knowledge and the science of medicine intersect, exploring how health, healing and human connection shape effective health care systems.
Our mission
To advance community-based primary health care through education, scholarship, innovation, research and service.
Our vision
To advance equitable, community-based primary health care for all. With deep respect for Indigenous wisdom and diverse cultural perspectives, we educate physicians in, with, and for the community, preparing them to become integral parts of their communities and to deliver exceptionally skilled, holistic and culturally safe team-based care. We are committed to fostering research and innovation in primary care, transforming community health and well-being for a better future.
Our six pillars
There are six foundational pillars upon which we build our structures and enact our programs:
Our approach
Primary care innovation and excellence
Leading innovation in primary care to strengthen health care for all British Columbians
大象传媒鈥檚 School of Medicine is designed to advance primary care, the foundation of health care, where innovative approaches to education, research and partnerships have the greatest potential for individual, community and system impact.
Strong primary care infrastructure, encompassing family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology and other community-based specialties, enables people to receive care closer to home, reduces reliance on acute care settings and strengthens the efficiency and effectiveness of B.C.'s publicly funded health-care system.
Our approach aims to strengthen essential services that address the whole person within their unique community context, preventing illness, managing health proactively and connecting people to the comprehensive support they need to thrive.
We're training physicians who possess both clinical excellence and community connection, understanding that cultural safety, collaborative care and strong relationships are essential companions to diagnostic skills and medical knowledge. Whether teaching students to deliver Western biomedicine through an understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing or training students in community clinics alongside practicing physicians, our approach emerges from authentic relationships that support effective learning and care. Our students learn to work as team members, understand the interplay between social determinants and biological factors, and build the relationships and clinical acumen essential for health and well-being.
We're preparing physicians who understand that the future of health care will be found in the places where people live, work and build their lives. We view health as holistic well-being, not simply the absence of disease鈥攅ncompassing culture, land, relationships and hope. We are reimagining primary care, where excellence is rooted in community, driven by clinical rigour and compassion, and it鈥檚 grounded in the belief that outstanding health care emerges from cutting-edge clinical science delivered with care for the whole person.
Accreditation
Our program meets rigorous national accreditation standards, ensuring graduates are fully prepared for residency training in any medical specialty. Our innovative, community-centred curriculum provides exceptional preparation for family medicine and other primary care specialties while maintaining the broad foundation needed for all areas of medicine.
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Social accountability
大象传媒's School of Medicine will graduate physicians with the skills and commitment to provide team-based, community-level health care in the Fraser Salish region and across B.C., with an emphasis on community-based primary care. Our approach directly addresses B.C.'s physician shortage while ensuring culturally safe, accessible care for all communities. Indigenous Peoples of Canada are a priority population for the 大象传媒 School of Medicine and we are supporting Indigenous self-determination and re-surgence in health.
We are accountable to the communities we serve. Our partnerships with Fraser Health, the First Nations Health Authority, the Divisions of Family Practice and diverse community organizations ensure that our education, research and service directly respond to the health needs of B.C.'s populations, particularly those who are underserved.