Commitments
Our commitments are embedded in our contract with society and our contract with ourselves.
Our strategic plan reaffirms the fundamental premise of social accountability—the foundation of our contract with society.
In addition, this plan introduces a new and complementary contract: a contract with ourselves. This contract speaks to our individual and collective commitment to transform our organizational culture through our own behaviours and the ways we treat one another.
Grounded in our values, these contracts are mutually reinforcing.
Our commitment to creating an inclusive culture where creativity and innovation can flourish is central to achieving excellence in research and education. And it is through this excellence that we can fulfil our commitments to society by educating and training a diverse group of learners who can meet the health needs of people and populations, and by finding and applying answers to important research questions.
Excellence in all aspects of our work and culture is the pathway to realizing our vision of transforming health for everyone.
Our contract with society
In all our activities, we will consider, first and foremost, the capacity of our education and research to positively impact people and populations. While the Faculty of Medicine is not directly responsible for clinical care, our mandate includes ensuring our training programs position medical and health professionals to deliver culturally-safe and effective care. Further, we aim to accelerate translation of research findings into application with our national and international partners, and in doing so, contribute to supporting and strengthening health systems in British Columbia, Canada and around the world.
Geography, economics, racism and injustice contribute to complex health inequities provincially, nationally and globally. It is imperative that through our education and research, and with our partners, we chart a course towards health equity and justice for all. In doing this, we will view patients and populations through multiple lenses including social determinants of health, interfaces between genes, health and well-being, and environment, and the basic cellular and molecular science that informs our knowledge.
We will continue to partner with governments, health authorities, Indigenous organizations and peoples, and other universities to embed our education programs in communities where graduates are needed most.
In addition, we seek to create new knowledge and translate research findings in ways that benefit people in every corner of our vast province and beyond. To effectively serve the province, we will maintain strong connections with faculty, staff and learners across B.C. We are particularly grateful to clinical faculty who—through education, research and service—play an essential role in our collective success.
The Faculty of Medicine’s Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action was developed with input and feedback from Indigenous students, alumni, faculty, staff and leaders at UBC, from Indigenous community representatives and organizations outside of UBC, and from other Faculty of Medicine leaders, staff and faculty. It outlines the steps we are committed to take across all pillars, developed in partnership and founded upon mutually respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples, communities and organizations. By doing so, the Faculty will help develop educational and health‑care systems that are accessible, equitable, effective, culturally-safe and free of Indigenous‑specific racism and discrimination.
As a public institution, we are committed to demonstrating benefit through effective and responsible use of resources. Beyond this, we will add value to B.C.’s knowledge economy through research innovation and translation, improving health system sustainability, drawing investment and developing and attracting innovative commercial activity that brings top talent and new jobs to the province.
Our contract with ourselves
We are committed to nurturing an organizational culture where everyone feels a sense of inclusion and belonging, and where people and their contributions are respected and supported by their colleagues and by the Faculty as an organization. We will work to ensure the systems and structures with which members of our community interact are designed and implemented equitably.
Beyond our commitments to respect and inclusion, we resolve as individuals and as an organization to confront racism and discrimination, to re-examine how we interact with each other, and to find new ways of thinking and learning together that transform systems of oppression and injustice. This includes a firm commitment to overcoming systemic Indigenous‑specific racism through the actions pledged in our Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.
While academic excellence as it has been traditionally understood remains fundamental, our pursuit of excellence goes beyond scholarly work. We are committed to achieving excellence in all that we do, including the ways we work together and treat one another. We believe that creativity and innovation flourish in a culture that is safe, inclusive, respectful, equitable and free from discrimination—and that this leads to excellence.
People are at the heart of our organization, and we will prioritize the cultivation of an environment that enables both learners and colleagues throughout our entire enterprise to fulfil their potential. We recognize that our contributions, as individuals and teams, are essential to our collective success in transforming health for everyone.
Building the Future: 2021–2026 is the refreshed strategic plan for UBC’s Faculty of Medicine.
Special thanks to all the faculty, staff, students and partners across the province who have contributed to the development of this plan.