CIMVHR’s Student and Postdoctoral Engagement Community (SPEC)
The Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) does a bunch of great things to help to enhance the lives of Canadian military personnel, Veterans and their families. But what about students and post-doctoral researchers?
CIMVHR’s Student and Postdoctoral Engagement Community (SPEC for short!) exists to support development of graduate and postdoctoral students who are working in the area of military, Veteran, public safety personnel and family health research. In this section, we chat with Marshall Gerbrandt, a co-chair, to learn a bit more about SPEC.
What is SPEC?
Our aim is to grow and foster a vibrant student and postdoctoral community of engaged researchers. This is an inter-disciplinary endeavour that allows us to draw upon a wide range of mentors – from academia, government, industry and those with lived experience – and connect them to our members. So, we exist to support the professional development that individual might not have access to within their own institution.
What do we do?
We host a series of in-person and online events and professional development sessions throughout the year with two goals in mind: (1) create community; and (2) provide relevant opportunities. Each year, we aim to create events that allow our members network, learn, and connect to national organizations operating in these spaces.
What’s next?
This year we decided to connect our members with their research population in an informal way. Our goal is to bring students together with current/former members of a specific research population (i.e., veterans). This provides students without first-hand experience an opportunity to speak with people with lived experience and ask questions in a safe space. Our next event focuses on Public Safety Personnel (May 13th). Click here for registration and event details!
How can someone join SPEC?
Subscribe to our mailing list to receive regular email communication from the SPEC executive about professional development opportunities, scholarships, upcoming SPEC events and more.
