Archives for November 2020

Medical Mentorship Part 1: Ottawa Supports Indigenous Student Success

November 23, 2020 Jennifer LeBlanc Leave a Comment

By: Mercedes Stemm, Program Assistant, Indigenous Health in Medicine, Dalhousie BSc in Neuroscience/Indigenous Studies Student

Kelsey Shea is from Halifax and she completed a BSc (2013) and MSc in Kinesiology (2018) from Dalhousie University. In 2017, she moved to Ottawa to start medical school. As a Métis medical student, she is interested in Indigenous health as well as finding ways to increase Indigenous representation in the medical field. She developed a mentorship program for Indigenous students interested in medical school at the University of Ottawa.

This fall, I had the opportunity to speak with Kelsey about her experience and better understand what motivates her.

Why you were interested in developing the mentorship program?

“The path to medical school can be overwhelming and stressful. I know that I would not be where I am today without guidance and support from others, so I have always been more than willing to provide the same to anyone who is interested in applying. I think this is true of most students who have been through the process. The reason I wanted to develop a mentorship program, specifically for Indigenous students interested in medicine, is because of the lack of Indigenous representation in medicine, as well as the alarming health disparities among Indigenous peoples in comparison to the general Canadian population. With support from the University of Ottawa, we were able to create a program that offers one-on-one mentoring as well as group sessions to assist students in the years leading up to and including applying to medical school”

What are your thoughts on Dalhousie having a mentorship program similar to the one you have founded?

“I think it is incredible that Dalhousie is starting a mentorship program for Indigenous students interested in medicine. While it is crucial to get information to students relating to medicine and help them explore it as a possible career, it is equally important for participants in the program to have Indigenous mentors, which will be a great asset to this program. I believe that having more medical Indigenous mentorship programs will not only increase the number of Indigenous individuals in medicine but also improve healthcare outcomes for Indigenous populations for years to come. Initiatives such as these make me very proud to be a Dalhousie graduate.”

Mentorship Program at Dalhousie

In September 2020, a pilot mentorship program was established in collaboration with the Bachelor of Medical Sciences led in partnership with Indigenous Health in Medicine (IHIM) program and Promoting Leadership in health in African Nova Scotians (PLANS). The funding for this program is part of a collaboration with the Johnson Scholarship Foundation.

The creation of this pilot Mentorship Program enhances connections for Black and Indigenous students with other Black and Indigenous students, faculty, and/or professionals by providing guidance through academic and professional development. Evidence shows that increased support improves completion rates of programs, decreases student stress levels, and increases self-efficacy.

IHIM and PLANS developed the program including the matching of students with a mentee; develop skills-building sessions and provide support to the teams as they get to know each other over the next year.

With this blog series, we will be featuring interviews with mentors and mentees as we follow them through this program.

Medical Mentorship Part 3: Creating Space at Dalhousie

Medical Mentorship Part 4: Professional and Cultural Connections

Learn more about the Indigenous Health in Medicine Program

Global Health Photo Contest 2020

November 9, 2020 Jennifer LeBlanc Leave a Comment

The Global Health Office, Dalhousie University

We can all agree that this year has been like no other. Hopefully, a positive outcome for many has been the opportunity to evaluate and prioritize what is truly important to us on an individual level but also as a society. Recent global events have certainly highlighted the need to address global health issues. Many people hear global health and think of global as a geographic boundary such as international health or better yet developing health. While that can be true it detracts from the need for focus on health systems and supports right here at home. We offer an alternative view of the term Global Health, which is global in terms of all the factors that impact our health. By considering nutrition, income, housing, employment, addiction, education, environment, and access to healthcare we create a more holistic view of health.

If we consider health at the centre and all factors surrounding it, like a bubble, many people experience breaks in their bubble, allowing external forces to negatively impact their health. Our office works to reveal those cracks in the hopes of creating awareness around their importance and the impact to health of individuals and our society. It is difficult to ensure the long-term health of a population when we miss factors repeatedly contributing to the lack of health.

The Global Health Photo Contest has always encouraged and celebrated participants to take this holistic view of health and the images that are submitted do not disappoint. We are so excited that 2020 celebrates 10 years of this initiative. We are so proud of our colleagues and partners who incorporate global health into their professional practice and grateful that they share their beautiful images with us each year.

The winners of the 2020 Global Health Photo Contest are:

1st place: Bikes in the City by Danielle Shin

2nd place: Tea Fields by Victoria Landry

I would encourage you to visit our Photo Contest page to see previous submissions and winners and most definitely encourage you to submit to the 2021 contest! Global Health is all around us.

Global Health Photo Contest

Catching up with the director of the Dal Global Health 2020-2021

November 3, 2020 Jennifer LeBlanc Leave a Comment

By: Michelle George, MSc. Candidate in Community Health and Epidemiology

Shawna O’Hearn

Last week I had the opportunity to catch up with the director of Dalhousie Global Health, Shawna O’Hearn. During her tenure, she has expanded the work of the office which was solely on international electives for medical students to an office that leads social accountability initiatives that include international collaborations, diversity and inclusion, community engagement, and global health education. Her role as the director is diverse, and as she so aptly put it “no two days are the same”. Taking a strategic leadership role, she guides programs to success, works with donors to support new initiatives, and collaborates across the university to ensure diversity and inclusion are integrated across policies, programs, and curriculum. She also leads national committees on social accountability and global health to expand Dalhousie’s reach outside the Maritimes.

Since Shawna has been leading Dalhousie Global Health for over a decade, I was interested in how this experience has impacted her career and her view of global health. Shawna’s academic career includes a MA in International Development which allowed her to work in India, the Caribbean, and West Africa on community development and education programs with universities and non-profit organizations. It wasn’t until she worked in Nunavut as the Director of Policy for the Department of Education that she began to see the connections between her work in the global south and northern Canada which was guided through the framework of the determinants of health. This work led her to become an Occupational Therapist so she could also make connections between education and health in the community. These experiences were foundational in her arrival to Dalhousie and the expansion of an international portfolio to an office that works beyond borders guided by social accountability.

Her view of global health emphasizes the importance of interprofessional and interdisciplinary lenses when looking at health. Shawna recognizes that voices from inside and outside the academy bring a richer and deeper understanding of global health.

To make sure voices of communities are heard Shawna, and the global health team, collaborate with communities to identify gaps and opportunities for their programs to be meaningful to the communities in which we live, work and serve.

Global Health Post-2020 Panel Discussion

This year will bring new changes and priorities to Dalhousie Global Health and the Faculty of Medicine’s Serving and Engaging Societies portfolio. Shawna is encouraging the team to identify new and innovative ways to deliver programs that engage students and the community in a virtual environment. She anticipates that the November 5 panel on “Global health beyond 2020” will create a new and relevant focus for our work as we move forward in these changing and unprecedented times. She believes that a key to this success is inclusivity which requires the right people at the table, listening, being sensitive to power and privilege, and being okay with the uncomfortableness that change will bring. This holistic lens of looking at health equity is what Dalhousie Global Health, with Shawna and her team, represents.