New Graduate Volunteer Membership Program
Serve and save on your membership fees
At OCA we want to help you through your professional journey. That’s why we offer new graduates the opportunity to volunteer with the OCA, instead of paying for their membership in their first membership year (August to July) as licensed chiropractors.
If you graduated within the past year or will receive your Ontario license this year, you’re eligible to participate.
Specifically:
- You must contribute 20 hours of your time to OCA initiatives between this coming September and June of the following year (after submitting your application to this program).
- If you’re a new grad who joins the OCA during the second half of the membership year (which runs from August 1 to July 31), you’ll receive pro-rated volunteer hours for your assigned role.
- When you agree to this volunteer commitment, we’ll waive your fees in your first membership year (August to July) as a licensed chiropractor and offer you immediate access to all our membership benefits.
For a full list of benefits, visit the Member Benefits page.
How it works
When you register for your OCA membership, you’ll be asked to choose between a paid or volunteer membership. If you choose the volunteer membership, we’ll contact you within a month for you to select your top picks from a range of available volunteer opportunities.
You will be required to sign a standard volunteer agreement, including a code of conduct for you to follow when participating in volunteering opportunities. We will coordinate training, scheduling and follow-up at an appropriate time for your chosen opportunity.
There’s absolutely no risk to you. You can switch between a paid or volunteer membership once during your first year of OCA membership, if desired. Any volunteer hours completed by the time of your change will be honoured and the amount charged for your paid membership will be adjusted accordingly.
2023/2024 New Graduate Opportunities
Opportunity Location: Virtual
Date Range: October 2023 to June 2024
Volunteer Hours: 20
Opportunity Lead: Benjamin Xafflorey
Volunteer Capacity: 10
Opportunity Description
In this position, you will have the opportunity to help inform a new OCA Case Study Program as an extension of the OCA’s Evidence-Based Chiropractic Care (EBCC) initiative. You’ll participate in brainstorming sessions, review published materials, and test iterations of potential program supports and templates.
Volunteer Responsibilities
- Review all EBCC materials provided (seven papers plus supporting materials)
- Participate in brainstorming sessions regarding templates and resources for chiropractic case studies using the EBCC framework
- Review and test the case study structure and brainstorm supporting materials
Volunteer Benefits
- Help inform new OCA programs
- Gain familiarity with the OCA’s Evidence-Based Chiropractic Care work
- Extend and apply your understanding of Evidence-based care
- Support future chiropractic research and professional growth
Opportunity Location: Virtual
Date Range: Fiscal Year / TBD
Volunteer Hours: 20
Opportunity Lead: Maryza De Silva
Volunteer Capacity: 20-50
Opportunity Description
This opportunity will enable you to get hands on experience with OCA Aspire, our integrated practice management and electronic health record solution. In this role you will act as a chiropractic subject matter expert to provide clinical perspective regarding software features, functionality and design to project stakeholders.
Volunteer Responsibilities
- Chiropractic Subject Matter Expert
- Attend at product development / focus meeting(s) to assess and prioritize new features or enhancements
- Prepare for meeting(s) by reviewing documents circulated, delving deep into software features and be ready to share your opinions on the feature being discussed
Experience / Qualifications
- Familiarity with OCA Aspire (training and support will be provided)
- Understanding of the value that an integrated practice management and electronic health record can bring to a clinic
- Willingness to share opinions and have constructive debate on software features
- Proven ability to work well in a team environment
Volunteer Benefits
As part of this volunteer experience, graduates will get exposure and experience in the following areas:
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Member engagement and networking
- Learning about the Software Development Life Cycle
- Project Management
- Training
- Program Analysis
- Business Analysis
- Written and Verbal Communication
Opportunity Location: Virtual
Date Range: November 2023 – June 2024
Volunteer Hours: 20
Opportunity Lead: Benjamin Xafflorey
Volunteer Capacity: Unlimited
Opportunity Description
In this role, you will participate in a minimum of eight, two-hour virtual focus groups throughout the year. These focus groups will be held approximately once a month, according to what the OCA’s strategic initiatives require and have a 15-person maximum. Focus groups will be either held on a first-come, first-served sign-up basis or on a selected demographic group method when the group topic requires. An OCA staff member will facilitate the focus group session where volunteers will actively participate in discussions and debates relevant to the session’s topic. As a volunteer, you’re responsible for ensuring that you have participated in eight focus groups by the end of the year.
Volunteer Responsibilities
- Respond to calls for focus groups before the deadline set by the opportunity lead
- Actively participate in focus groups you are selected for, including:
- Engage in respectful discussion and debate with fellow volunteers and OCA staff
- Share opinions, experiences, and feedback relevant to the topic of the session
- Practise active listening during focus group sessions
- Arrive on time to focus groups you are selected to attend
- Inform an OCA staff member, in a timely manner, of any complications or conflicts with the focus group that arise with the focus group timing/commitment
Volunteer Benefits
Volunteers will gain experience in OCA strategic initiatives and will participate in:
- Shaping OCA member supports
- Informing Ontario Chiropractic advocacy efforts
- Building new OCA member opportunities
Opportunity Location: Virtual
Date Range: October 2023 – June 2024
Volunteer Hours: 20
Opportunity Lead: Benjamin Xafflorey
Volunteer Capacity: 13
Opportunity Description
In this role, you will review the recognized chiropractic specialties, designations, and fellowships in various international regions. Small groups of volunteers will be assigned specific regions to review. You’ll compile information on chiropractic specialties that are recognized by the official bodies and organizations in the region. All of the compiled information from the assigned regions will be compared to Ontario to inform future strategic decisions.
Volunteer Responsibilities
- Review all available resources pertaining to chiropractic specialties, designations, and fellowships in your assigned region
- Coordinate efforts with your fellow volunteers assigned to the same region in a respectful manner
Volunteer Benefits
- Gain an appreciation of the role of chiropractors outside of Ontario
- Learn about opportunities for career growth and development
- Learn about the role of stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem
- Help inform conversations within the Ontario around chiropractic specialties
Opportunity Location: Virtual – Able to commute to Toronto and/or surrounding areas if needed
Date Range: September to December 2023
Volunteer Hours: 20
Opportunity Lead: Jonathan Murray
Volunteer Capacity: Up to 5
Opportunity Description
The volunteer will be a part of a team conducting a literature review on a research topic to be identified. This will include: developing a search strategy, scanning titles and abstracts of research papers and determining whether they meet inclusion or exclusion criteria, resolving ‘conflicts’ with other members of the review team in cases where one member votes ‘yes’ to pass a paper through inclusion and another votes ‘no’, developing a data extraction table for included papers that aligns with the research question to be identified, and extracting data from included papers.
Volunteer Responsibilities
- Meet periodically with the research team to discuss:
- Task(s) and suggested methodology(ies) for completing them
- ‘Conflict’ resolution on which research papers identified in the search should be passed through to inclusion
- Important items to extract from included literature
- Complete assigned tasks in a timely manner
Experience / Qualifications (if any)
- Experience conducting systematic literature reviews
- Interest in and basic knowledge of history and key concepts associated with evidence-based health care is desired
- Ability to quickly and accurately extract key information from technical/research documents
- Experience working with literature review management software (esp. Covidence) is an asset
- Experience working with reference management software (esp. Mendely) is an asset
Volunteer Benefits
- The volunteer will contribute important background research that will help facilitate the timely production of published research materials for the benefit of OCA members and the chiropractic profession
- The volunteer will learn about and contribute to a wide ranging and exciting collection of research and writing on evidence-based chiropractic care
- The volunteer will gain exposure to and awareness of a significant breadth of research related to the identified chiropractic research topic.
Our OCA volunteer initiatives are designed to help further our profession while providing you with valuable learning opportunities as a chiropractor and a member of your professional community.
