By: Lisa Nardecchia, Program Manager, Community Engaged Service Learning (CESL)
Hosted by the Office of Community Engagement, the Community Engaged Service Learning (CESL) End of Year Celebration is an in-person event hosted at each campus that allows students and community partners to showcase their projects, share their unique experiences, and learn more about one another. Using a project fair approach, on May 4 (at DMNS) and May 7 (at DMNB) this year’s participating second-year CESL medical students, along with their community partners in some cases, shared their final projects, learned about one another’s community partners and discussed their overall experiences.
DMNB Saint John participants
Dr. David Anderson, Dean, Faculty of Medicine; Dr. Ian Epstein, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Medical Education; and Dr. Dan Boudreau, CESL Faculty Lead, DMNS, welcomed attendees in Halifax while Dr. Julie Copeland, Sr. Associate Dean, Faculty of Medicine, DMNB; Dr. Lisa Sutherland, Assistant Dean, Resident and Student Affairs, DMNB and Dr. Marc Nicholson, CESL Faculty Lead, DMNB did the same in Saint John. As part of this welcome, faculty acknowledged the students’ hard work and thanked our community partners for their invaluable and impactful contributions to the CESL program.
DMNS Halifax participants
DMNS Halifax participants
In Halifax, Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed, Associate Dean, Serving and Engaging Society, and in Saint John Dr. Nicholson, closed the event by reminding everyone of the benefits of the CESL program to both students and our community partners.
The CESL program is an accredited elective program offered to second-year Dalhousie University medical students. Students participate in a community engaged experience and contribute to a small community identified project that is relevant and useful for the community partner and the people they serve. It provides non-clinical, community-based experiences that help medical students understand the essential role community organizations play in promoting the health of individuals and communities, and how the social determinants of health intersect and impact communities.
Congratulations to this year’s CESL students and a big thank you to our community partners!
To find our more about this innovate program please visit our CESL webpage.