abstracts and bios cover_final.indd - LIME Network

In this presentation we will discuss the three key objectives IAHA has set itself as an Indigenous lead nationalallied health organisation, linking the efforts of many allied health professionals who share a commitment to‘closing the gap in Indigenous health’.Presenter: Mr James CharlesJames is a 40 year old Kaurna Man from Adelaide, married with 5 boys. He graduatedas a podiatrist in 2004 from the University of South Australia (UniSA), and has beenworking fulltime in Aboriginal health as a podiatrist since then. James completed hisMasters of Podiatry in 2008 and is currently a PhD candidate at UniSA, researchingAboriginal foot health by investigating the relationship between diabetes, footbiomechanics, and foot health status. James is also a Rotarian, and fundraises forscholarships for Indigenous people to study health, and is the President of IndigenousAllied Health Australia (IAHA).Teaching and living cultural awareness > competenceProfessor Evelyne de Leeuw 1 , Ms Lyn McInnes 2 , Mr David Tournier 3 , Ms Mo Connolly 41. Professor of Community Health Systems and Policy, Deakin University2. Wathaurong Elder, Aboriginal Liaison Officer, Barwon Health, Chair Wathaurong AMS3. Cultural Officer, Wathaurong Co-Op4. Health Services Manager, Wathaurong AMSAbstractThis presentation will describe a logic in medical pedagogy that enables students and staff to recognise,appreciate and respect culture, cultural differences, and cultural safety issues in a new graduate entrymedical programme.Throughout the 4 years of the programme, work will progress on a scale from the acquisition of cultureawareness to the ability to work in culturally competent ways. It recognises and builds on the fact that ourstudent bodies tend to be culturally rich and diverse, but that for many ‘mainstream’ students ‘culture’ onlyrelates to exotic difference.In Year 1 of the programme students attend an assessable Cultural Awareness Week. A programmed series ofexercises and site visits exposes students to a series of issues related to culture, including: mapping the fivedimensions of ‘culture’ (Hofstede) for the medical profession (recognising medicine = culture); identifying ritualsaround food, stages of life and death, attributions of health and disease, and religion or belief system for two‘cultures’; criticising a US and Australian ‘Cultural Competence Checklist’; appreciation of connectedness tothe land of Indigenous people (You Yangs); and exposure to the work, philosophy and ambitions of an AboriginalCommunity Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO) Wathaurong AMS.In Year 2 further exercises on gender issues and racism are implemented. During the Clinical Rotations (in Years3 and 4) ‘Learning Packages’ will present case material and a critical reflection on the development of culturalcompetence.61