Jess Klaassen-Wright (they/them), MD Class of 2027, is an advocate both nationally and internationally for queer health in Canada. As the steering committee representative for the College of Medicine with the Canadian Queer Medical Students Association, Jess became aware of the idea of a Trans Health Bootcamp for healthcare students. They stepped in, joining the Planning Committee to host the next Trans Health Bootcamp nationally, and then working to bring together funding and stakeholders for a local event.

On October 18, 2025, the first Trans Health Bootcamp at the University of Saskatchewan was held. The bootcamp was funded by the Social Accountability Lab for Learning and Teaching (SALLT) Fund and organized in partnership with community members, staff, and faculty. The day-long event was a huge success, with students from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, rehabilitation sciences, public health, community health and epidemiology, and health sciences invited.

The bootcamp began with a cultural opening led by Jack Saddleback. Saddleback performed a smudge and spoke about gender and the role of gender diversity in Indigenous culture. It was followed by a panel with three community members who spoke about their experiences in the healthcare system in Saskatchewan. After a shared lunch, the bootcamp hosted three rotating workshops.

Read more about Jess's work to advocate for queer health equity. 

Dr. Justin Koh is a College of Medicine emergency medicine resident who has been championing social accountability through his research on substance use and harm reduction. Dr. Koh studied cognitive science at McGill University and completed his medical degree at McMaster University. He is a part-time Master of Public Health student at Johns Hopkins University, specializing in epidemiology and public policy. His current research focuses on the implementation of emergency department take-home naloxone programs, and healthcare provider engagement in delivering harm reduction services. 

Under the supervision of Dr. Luke Terrett, Dr. Koh has been working to expand access to take-home naloxone (a medication used to block the effects of opioids, especially in overdose) in Saskatoon emergency departments (ED) - the first ever ED in Saskatchewan to officially offer it to patients prior to discharge. He also received $15,000 research grant from the Canadian Research Initiative on Substance Misuse (CRISM) Prairie Node to study healthcare provider attitudes and implementation barriers. He is also working with Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Ministry of Health to support the expansion of ED based harm reduction programs across the province.

Dr. Pandey, Dr. Kamrul, Dr. Maroof, and Dr. Michaels have been championing social accountability through their collaborative community participatory research and clinical work in immigrant and refugee health. Dr. Rejina Kamrul is a family physician and clinical associate professor for the College of Medicine, and faculty member with the Department of Academic Family Medicine. Her research focus includes preventative care and immigrant and refugee health. Together with Dr. Razawa Maroof (University of Saskatchewan (USask) Family Medicine, SEARCH physician mentor, associate professor for the College of Medicine, and political refugee from Iraq) and Dr. Clara Rocha Michaels (family physician and clinical assistant professor for the College of Medicine, and faculty member with the Department of Academic Family Medicine) they have developed a research partnership with Dr. Mamata Pandey (research scientist at Saskatchewan Health Authority) and Reginal Immigrant Women and Regina Community Clinic. This three-way partnership has been instrumental in acknowledging that new immigrants and refugees have unique health needs and face challenges when trying to access healthcare services. The team employs a community participatory research approach, involving community members to identify pressing health issues in these populations. Currently, they are developing projects to explore mental health needs in refugee populations and prenatal and postnatal care among new immigrants in Regina, Sask.

Originally from Lloydminster, Sask., Dr. Brady Bouchard currently works in family medicine in a regional hospital and clinical setting in North Battleford, Sask. He received his MBBS (MD) from the University of Queensland and completed the North Battleford Family Medicine Residency program in 2015. He holds a clinical teaching appointment at the University of Saskatchewan, and is heavily involved in resident teaching.

Dr. Bouchard has been championing social accountability through his clinical work and research in addictions services in a northern and regional Saskatchewan setting. He spent the first two years of his practice in La Loche, Sask., and now he provides emergency, addictions, hospitalist and Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) services in North Battleford. He also provides locum telehealth addictions clinic coverage to other small communities in Saskatchewan, and with colleagues, has launched Saskatchewan’s first ED-based buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone) induction program, improving access to treatment of substance use disorders for the vulnerable populations that present to the emergency department. The team is also developing a research study that will explore the experiences of patients who received Suboxone in the ED.

Dr. Megan Clark is a medical graduate from the University of Saskatchewan and the Regina Family Medicine Residency program, a family physician, and a faculty member of the Department of Academic Family Medicine. She has championed social accountability through her clinical work, teaching and advocacy for trans and gender diverse health, inner-city, and Indigenous health.

Dr. Clark provides transition-related healthcare, including hormone therapy prescriptions and surgical referrals. She also incorporates this into her teaching to increase family medicine residents’ and medical students’ exposure to trans and gender diverse people. With co-lead Dr. Stephanie Madill from the School of Rehabilitation Science, she has started some community-engaged research in partnership with the Saskatchewan Transgender Health Coalition. Alongside other Regina area physicians, she also provides monthly community-partnered interdisciplinary outreach clinics to a First Nations community in southern Saskatchewan through the Wellness Wheel project. Further, she works weekly inner-city clinics in Regina, at Regina’s Harm Reduction clinic as well as Student Energy in Action for Regina Community Health (SEARCH).

In 2008, the then Saskatoon Health Region released the report “Health Disparity in Saskatoon: Analysis to Intervention,” which confirmed that health disparities are extensive and that the causes of these disparities are mainly due to difference in income status among Saskatoon residents. The Saskatoon Poverty Reduction Partnership (SPRP) was established in 2010, responding to the need for a collaborative partnership to address the social determinants of health across the human service sectors. A group of over 25 partners from the human services community, university, government, business and faith community established a network of teams that developed a framework to identify core priorities, best practices and policy options to reduce, eliminate and ultimately prevent members of our community from living in poverty.

The SPRP roots the work in three core foundations:

1. Nothing about us without us – the inclusion of lived experience
2. We are all treaty people on a journey of truth and reconciliation
3. We are a city that bridges – building capacity in community leadership.
   This work is also strategically aligned with the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Calls to Action, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Calls to Justice, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and both the provincial and federal poverty reduction strategies.

SPRP is a SA Champion for its role in recognizing and responding to the health disparities within our community, for developing a model of community engagement we can learn from and for the willingness to be bold and envision a more equitable community.

ABLED aims to facilitate collaboration and reciprocal learning between medical students, healthcare specialists, and people with special needs and their families to raise awareness and understanding of intellectual and/or physical disabilities. 

Contact information: abledgroup@gmail.com. 

The FMC aims to enhance exposure of the student body to family medicine as a career choice and to educate students about the endless opportunities in family medicine (i.e. locum opportunities, +1 programs, rural vs. urban practice, etc.).

Contact information: uofs.fmc@gmail.com. 

Providing the medical student body with an intersectional and unbiased perspective to human health with an emphasis on promoting and understanding the ways that gender, sexuality, and sexual orientation can contribute to inequities for both physicians and patients. Through a strong emphasis on education and advocacy, GRMS will build a community of medical students keenly aware of these issues with the tools they need to be change makers. GRMS aims to support and facilitate initiatives working towards a culture of inclusivity in medicine and surgery.

Contact information: usaskgem@gmail.com.

The IRH aims to recognize and acknowledge barriers to healthcare access that immigrants and refugees face in Canada and to realize the impact future physicians may have to overcome these challenges to promote health equity.

Contact information: immigrantrefugeehealth@gmail.com. 

The Indigenous, Rural, and Remote health Groups (IRRHG) is an interdisciplinary group for all health science faculties. The IRRHG seeks to promote a community of opportunity and awareness surrounding the issues in Indigenous, rural, and remote communities as well as to network various members with interest in these topics.

Contact information: arrhg.sk@gmail.com. 

The mission of the MSSA is to work towards the UN 17 Sustainable Development goals in Treaty 4 and Treaty 6 territories through community initiatives, outreach, and informed policy.

Contact information: mssa.usask@gmail.com. 

The PHSG aims to educate the public, peers, healthcare professionals, and politicians on the health effects of climate change, as well as support, advocate for, and engage in climate action initiatives.

Contact information: planetaryhealthuofs@gmail.com.

The purpose of SHRIP is to support person-centered approaches toward substance use and dependency. As a grou, the SHRIP is focused on providing education and creating conversation about substance use and addictions, drug policy, and community advocacy. SHRIP stands beside those in Saskatchewan most significantly impacted by substance use, and acknowledges the need for harm reduction and trauma-informed principles at the individual and system levels.

Contact information: shrip.usask@gmail.com.