MSS Patient Partner Collective (MPPC)

About the club

The MSS Patient Partner Collective (MPPC) reimagines the role of patient partners in medical education by fostering sustained, student-driven connections with individuals living with illness across Québec and Canada. MPPC partners with local patients and patient advocates affiliated with national and provincial disease foundations; these are individuals who have self-identified as wanting to share their stories in research and advocacy spaces, but are rarely invited into the medical classroom. Our goal is to integrate these patient partners into the McGill medical student experience in a way that allows all years to benefit. Through tailored talks, informal discussions, and narrative-based learning, we plan to continue patient partner exposure beyond FMD. 

By building lasting systems of collaboration, MPPC acts as a bridge between medical students, patient partners, and course coordinators. We are a reciprocal organization that aims to facilitate events that are relevant to students’ evolving clinical and educational needs, while providing patient partners with the resources and platform to share their stories and educate students. Recognizing that illness affects not only individuals but also their loved ones, we are also committed to amplifying the voices of families and community members, whose perspectives are integral to the comprehensive understanding of patient care.

We believe that hearing first-hand accounts of what it is like to live with disease helps future physicians internalize the human experience of illness and combat empathy erosion. Through open dialogue, MPPC seeks to remind students that patients are not just subjects of learning, but essential partners in shaping compassionate, patient-centred physicians.

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