COMMUNIQUé - College of Medicine - University of Saskatchewan

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Why and how we CARE continued Community Health for Community Change: focuses on promoting the principles of community health and bridging the University and community Equity, Gender and Diversity Committee: works to advocate, support and promote equity and diversity within the College of Medicine, supports and encourages student and faculty awareness of equity, diversity and gender in their education, research and service undertakings, and is a resource to assist in dealing with questions and concerns of faculty, students and staff at the College of Medicine Geriatric Interest Group: focuses on the under-addressed issues in care of the elderly Global Health Committee: oversees the College’s global health initiatives, and promotes faculty and student engagement in health initiatives around the globe that support social accountability Health Science Camps for Kids: teaches junior high students in urban and remote communities about careers in the health sciences Immigrant and Refugee Health Committee: seeks to understand and address unmet health needs of the growing immigrant and refugee population in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan Political Action Committee: trains students in lobbying government for health advocacy Reproductive Action Group: educates students and communities on sexual health These groups apply the CARE model to assess how their work addresses each of the four elements. A scan of the work related to the area of interest of a given subcommittee is carried out to understand existing content, be it curricular or extra-curricular. Projects are then designed to address identified gaps. These projects might include new course content, an independent speaker series, a service-learning program for students, sending faculty and students to relevant conferences, or initiating collaborative work to introduce a new clinical service. These activities are then reported back to the larger Social Accountability Committee, where the CARE model is again applied to evaluate the success of the overall initiative and guide future activities. In addition to the subcommittees, social accountability in the College of Medicine operates through a number of unique projects. Student Wellness Initiative Toward Community Health (SWITCH) is a student-run interdisciplinary clinic serving Saskatoon’s inner-city neighborhoods. s 4 C O M M U N I Q U É College of Medicine • University of Saskatchewan
Over 50% of medical students spend time volunteering at SWITCH. Making the Links is a multi-site longitudinal service-learning experience. Selected medical students participating in the program spend the summer after their first year in either the Northern Métis community of Ile a-la-Crosse or on a reserve nearby Buffalo River Dene Nation. Students then work at SWITCH during the school year, and spend six weeks of the following summer in rural Mozambique. Between these three experiences students participate in all aspects of the CARE model, and develop an understanding of the commonalities and differences in three diverse low-resource settings: rural, remote Aboriginal communities, an inner-city urban population and rural Sub-Saharan Africa. Student Energy in Action for Regina Community Health (SEARCH) offers a SWITCH-like interdisciplinary clinic approach in Saskatchewan’s capitol city. All three projects have arisen as a direct result of student initiatives. Students have long clamored for more service-learning experiences, for meaningful interaction and education regarding health issues of the underserved. Above all, through in-depth service-learning activity, students gain experiential understanding of the crucial importance of the social determinants of health. These experiences provide the powerful opportunity for mutual change… in the learner, his or her teachers and the community themselves, bringing to life the fundamental elements of social accountability. The plethora of initiatives demonstrates the diversity of areas, interests and multidisciplinary collaboration that social accountability encompasses. The recent expansion of these groups reflects a culture of “civic professionalism” among medical students, where their scope of medicine has broadened beyond the individual obligation to the patient to the collective obligation to local and global communities. Students informally interviewed about the proliferation of student activity suggest that changes in admissions processes and grading that emphasize life experience and communication skills have changed the makeup of the student body. They also referred to a sense that advocating for social accountability is not only acceptable at the College but expected. The level of energy, enthusiasm and passion in undertaking these initiatives embodies the need to “remind ourselves that medical education is fun - and we should avoid taking ourselves overly seriously if we want to effect practical change.” n “ Reflecting on my educational experience at the College of Medicine, Making the Links was by far the most influential, challenging and rewarding experience of medical school. The importance of serving the underserved, community engagement and development, and servicelearning, reinforced by the Mtl program, guided me into a rural family medicine residency and on to a practice in Northern Saskatchewan with a continued interest in Global Health. It is important to me to stay interested, engaged and excited in this career and I am so grateful to have observed successful teachers, with such strong community ties, who exemplify the rewards of social accountability in practice. ” – former Making the Links participant Dr. Breanna Davis, MD, CCFP, July, 2010 University of Saskatchewan • College of Medicine C O M M U N I Q U É 5
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COMMUNIQUé - College of Medicine - University of Saskatchewan

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