“Meet the CEN” is a series that shines a spotlight on the dynamic individuals who make up the heart of UBC’s Community Engagement Network (CEN). As we continue to foster collaboration, learning, and community-building within the realm of community engagement at UBC, it’s our pleasure to share the stories and insights of those who drive this essential work forward.
Meet Mandy Young!
Mandy Young is the Community Engagement Coordinator for Patient and Community Partnership for Education in the Office of UBC Health. A dedicated patient partner and caregiver, Mandy works to integrate patient perspectives into the education of future healthcare professionals. From the impactful Health Mentors program to workshops that bridge gaps in accessibility, Mandy connects students, instructors, and patient partners.
In this interview, she shares her journey into community engagement, highlights the lasting impact of the Health Mentors program, and offers advice for staying inspired in the field through continuous learning and connection.
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Edits have been made to this written Q&A for clarity, style, and tone.
Can you tell us about Patient and Community Partnership for Education?
Patient and Community Partnership for Education aims to ensure that all UBC Health students, across 15 different health professions, have opportunities to engage with patient experiences during their education. Ideally, this begins in their first year when their perspectives are still highly moldable, allowing us to positively influence their future practice.
As the Community Engagement Coordinator, my role involves supporting UBC Health’s initiatives with students.
Our flagship program is the Health Mentor Program. This initiative pairs a patient partner with lived or living experiences in the healthcare system with four students from four different disciplines. These five individuals form a group and meet monthly to discuss various topics related to the patient partner’s experiences navigating the healthcare system.
How did you get involved in community engagement?
Community engagement has always been important to me. I’m a patient partner myself and a caregiver to my wonderful 13-year-old child. I wanted to meet and learn from people who shared the same rare disease experience as my child.
This realization set me on a personal journey of community engagement. Over time, this journey led me to work with nonprofit organizations in community engagement roles, which eventually brought me to UBC.
How does your role support community-university engagement?
My role focuses on enhancing the comfort, recognition, and support for patient partners involved in educational programs. Having a dedicated person to act as a bridge between instructors and patient partners is essential. It ensures that everyone involved has a positive and meaningful experience, which is why this role is so important.
Can you tell us about the Patient Voices workshops and give us an example?
We host several workshops in partnership with community organizations to provide students with opportunities to hear directly from patients and caregivers with lived and living experiences. These workshops create a safe learning environment outside of clinical practice, allowing students to ask questions and engage deeply with patient partners. It’s an enriching experience that helps bridge the gap between theory and practice.
One example involved a workshop developed in response to a community partner’s advocacy around the disability tax credit. This organization had been working for years to address the issue of doctors charging patients—often $100 or more—to fill out the form required to access disability funding. Recognizing the financial burden this posed, they approached us to help educate fourth-year medical students about this issue.
We collaborated to create a workshop where the organization explained how simple it is to complete the form and encouraged students to integrate this task into a standard ten-minute appointment. The goal was to shape the perspectives of these future GPs, encouraging them to offer this service as part of their regular practice. We hope this initiative will reduce barriers for patients and improve accessibility to disability funding.
What is the impact of the Health Mentors program?
The Health Mentors program has immense value, both for students and patient partners. Over the years, I’ve mentored ten cohorts and witnessed how the curriculum has evolved and adapted based on the feedback and learnings from patient partners.
As someone who continues to engage with the healthcare system, I’ve also noticed changes within the system itself. While the shift toward patient-centered care isn’t happening as rapidly as the curriculum changes, it’s clear that progress is being made.
The foundation of the Health Mentors program, which has been running for 14 years, is its focus on patient-centered care. As a health mentor, I’ve had students reach out to me years later to share how their experience in the program influenced the direction of their practice. This demonstrates the lasting impact the program has on shaping future healthcare professionals to prioritize patient perspectives in their work.
What advice do you have for others that do community engagement work?
My advice is to sign up for everyone’s newsletters. Organizations often share their best practices, insights, and valuable information in their newsletters—things they want the community to know.
While reading these newsletters can take some time, they often contain nuggets of wisdom and useful ideas that might not come up in a regular conversation. It’s a great way to stay informed and inspired in your community engagement work.
Connect with Mandy
Looking to collaborate or explore community engagement opportunities? Mandy is eager to connect and align efforts with UBC Health’s student outcomes. If you have ideas or initiatives that could benefit from partnership or support, reach out to her at mandy.young@ubc.ca.