Institute of Medical Science Students’ Association

All students registered in the Institute of Medical Science are members of the IMS Students’ Association (IMSSA), and are encouraged to take an active part in the association. A portion of your incidental fees goes to the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU), which in turn funds IMSSA. 

The IMSSA Executive is an elected body that represents students’ views and interests by participating in certain standing committees of the IMS, and organizes various academic and social events throughout the year. The IMSSA Executive meets bi-weekly to plan these events and discuss issues of relevance to students. In addition, each member of the Executive fulfills certain specific duties.  Elections to office are held annually.

Our mission

We are the Institute of Medical Science Students’ Association (IMSSA) and represent the interests of graduate students at the Institute of Medical Science (IMS). IMSSA engages graduate students, staff and faculty of the IMS, with our primary mission being to promote the well-being of our student body as we attend to a wide range of student needs. We inspire students to participate in initiatives, activities and events beyond the lab setting within the realms of our various subcommittees: social, community and outreach, sports, academics and wellness. This framework creates a bonded community and encourages the sharing of experiences, skills and ideas during and beyond students’ graduate degree.

Our achievements 

Our major achievements are establishing new and recurring (annual) events and initiatives that have both strengthened our student community and benefited the community at large. For example, we have an annual ‘Warm Hands Cold Streets’ event, in which IMS students come together during the holidays to take on numerous routes in downtown Toronto and disseminate warm clothing and other goods to homeless shelters as well as people living on the street. Another successful annual event is the documentary screening event, in which a health topic is featured in a film and we shed light on it from educational and advocacy perspectives. On a smaller scale, but equally impactful, we have also developed an academic methodology seminar series program. We are also proud of the social and sporting events that we offer, including intramural games, as in keeping with our aim to enrich students’ lives outside of the lab, we bring our student body together. 

IMSSA Events

For the IMSSA events calendar, click here.

Who should connect with us? 

Any current IMS student! There is room on IMSSA for every kind of student.

If you would like to join IMSSA or if you would like to make an announcement through the IMSSA newsletter, please email us at imssa@studentorg.utoronto.ca. You can also follow us on Instagram and Twitter/X.