Heading up the highway toward Montreal to start a cardiac surgery rotation at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Omar Toubar has a lot on his mind. In addition to his studies as a fourth-year medical student at 捆绑SM社区鈥檚 Campus Outaouais, he is engaged in repositioning a student-led cancer patient support group called Coda as a charity, under the name The Coda Foundation.听
Coda鈥檚 considerable efforts were recognized when Forces AVENIR announced in early October that Coda had been selected as a winner in its AVENIR Entraide, paix et justice category. Forces AVENIR, a Quebec initiative that promotes and celebrates student projects that contribute to creating responsible and active citizens, commended Coda鈥檚 positive and direct impact on people affected by cancer. They also noted that Coda鈥檚 innovative approach to financing and its strong online presence allowed it to raise an impressive amount of money for cancer research and for cancer patient support.
On the road to an expanded mission听
鈥淚 decided to relaunch Coda as an intercollegiate cancer fundraising initiative that spans multiple institutions across the province,鈥� Toubar says. 鈥淥ur mission is to support cancer patients, as well as raise awareness of the disease within the youth population.鈥� Coda had begun as a project at Marianopolis College in 2019, then Toubar and six of his colleagues relaunched the initiative from Campus Outaouais. From there, it expanded to 捆绑SM社区鈥檚 Montreal campus, eventually including the universities of Montreal, Laval, Sherbrooke, Ottawa, Toronto and Concordia, as well as multiple CEGEPs in Montreal.
The Coda Foundation aims to help cancer patients cope with treatment, provide psychosocial support for cancer patients and their primary caregivers, develop group therapy and peer support programs, and create educational programs and campaigns for the general public based on current evidence for primary prevention of cancer, earlier detection and improved quality of life of cancer patients.
The Coda Network comprises 150 members and volunteers across 13 different institutions and has raised over $110,000 since its relaunch. Across these institutions, the organization has conducted over 85 events so far.听
Focusing on underserved populations听
鈥淲e support patients through multiple programs to allow us to have a direct impact on their journeys towards recovery, for example, while they鈥檙e receiving their chemotherapy. In big cities like Montreal and Toronto, the services are many, the helplines are countless, giving people easy access to so many resources. Our efforts are aimed mostly at the underserved populations,鈥� Toubar says.
鈥淲e are there in the Gatineau Cancerology Centre welcoming patients as they walk in. From there on, our members are trained to introduce themselves and present them with a list of all the services we offer and then they can pick what services they would like to receive. The great thing about our program is that we don鈥檛 expect the cancer patients to come to us; we go to them, at times when we know that they would appreciate our companionship.鈥�
Coda offers services five days a week to cancer patients during their chemotherapy sessions. While it provides tablets, books and several types of activities, its most requested service is psychosocial support. 鈥淔ortunately, our volunteers are handpicked on the basis of their capacity to display compassion, so they can hold those difficult conversations with the cancer patients and leave a very positive impact on them. Our main purpose is to sensitize our volunteers to all these specific challenges that cancer patients encounter, that鈥檚 why they鈥檙e our main guiding force,鈥� Toubar explains.听
The Coda Foundation fills a void by addressing problems that are not necessarily covered in med school curriculum. 鈥淚n med school, we are made aware of several challenges within our community. Then, it鈥檚 really up to each and every one of us to decide what to do with that information. With that knowledge in mind, we decided to take action and come together to do something about this specific issue that impacts so many people on a personal level.鈥�
While busy delivering care to those in need, Coda also has further expansion plans. 鈥淲e hope to expand our services to multiple underserved cancer centres within Quebec, and hopefully, soon within Ontario as well. That鈥檚 our big goal and of course to continue to expand as a charity as well by recruiting more members who are passionate about the cause. We鈥檙e looking for a chance to make an authentic impact on the cause.鈥�听