National Medical Student Bursary Program
This core program strives to assure excellence in the next generation of physicians through scholarships, bursaries and leadership opportunities. It is designed to combat the ever-increasing costs of a medical education and avoid the heavy debt loads that too often accompany the commitment to our profession.
In 2008, thanks to the generosity of our donors and corporate partners, the Canadian Medical Foundation, together with provincial and territorial medical associations, disbursed $742,000 to medical students from coast to coast in the form of medical student bursaries and scholarships. The Foundation is proud to introduce one of those students.
16 July 2008
If any one word sums up Louis-Philippe Plante’s character, it’s the word curious. The second-year medical student at the University of Ottawa and recipient of a Canadian Medical Foundation / Ontario Medical Foundation bursary may be in his mid-twenties, but his journey has already included undergraduate studies in art, science, and biology, stints as an English teacher in Japan and a medical elective in Kenya.
“I’m passionate about the way things work, so biology, anatomy, metabolism, and other studies at the core of medicine are fascinating. I also like communicating with people, so clinical skills - listening to people explain what’s wrong - is fascinating too.”
Curious, yes: but Louis-Philippe is also industrious, having worked dozens of part-time jobs since a young teen in order to finance his education and his other adventures. He really understands the role of money, and the problem of student debt causes him significant anxiety.
“Today, the average student debt is $158,000 by the time of graduation. You get to a point –that number just becomes surreal and scary. The bursary reduces the financial pressure and is a real morale booster, as though CMF and OMF are saying ‘We understand that students like you have this pressure and we’re here to help you make it.’”
Louis-Philippe has a strong sense of where he’s going in medicine. “There’s something very comfortable for me about scrubs… I have a feeling I was born to wear them for a living, so it’s possible I will wind up in Emergency Medicine or Surgery.”