Abstract Book - International Academy of Law and Mental Health

ABSTRACTSEnglish Language Sessions1. A 21st Century Education for the Medico-Psycho-LegalPractitioner: Principles, Research Methods, and PracticeChanging Attitudes among Trainees: Whose Job is It?Brad Booth, University of Ottawa (bbooth@theroyal.ca)With the exponential growth of individuals with mental illness coming in contact with the law,psychiatric care for these individuals is at times difficult to find. Many psychiatrists do not haveexperience with the legal system and therefore may avoid treating this group of patients. Toclarify the attitudes of psychiatric trainees, a survey of senior Canadian residents at the nationalpsychiatry review course was conducted. Among the 145 respondents, only 24% had been taughton correctional psychiatry and only 29% had any experience. Nearly 56% had been taught onsexual offenders but only 27% reported having had experience with this population. Nearly onethird reported they preferred not to deal with forensic issues and 43% preferred not to work withpeople with sexual offences. The data did show that teaching and experience with this populationappears to be a powerful tool in changing attitudes. Being aware of these barriers may assist indeveloping strategies to increase psychiatric service availability.Forensic Nursing Education: International Collaborations andMultidisciplinary PedagogyArlene Kent-Wilkinson, University of Saskatchewan (arlene.kent@usask.ca)By the end of the twentieth century, forensic nursing educational programs began to appear inthe curricula of colleges and universities. The forensic focus has been a popular career choiceand area of study for many of the health science disciplines. By the mid-1990s, some of theearliest forensic nursing courses were established. Considering that the first web-based coursewas not launched until 1995 in California (Bates & Poole, 2003), forensic nursing educationmade its online appearance on the global scene relatively quickly. Forensic nursing educators,supported by progressive administrators, used the technology to offer the first online forensiccourse in January of 1997 at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (Kent-Wilkinson et al., 2000). Today, courses exist at educational levels that range from certificate todoctoral programs. This presentation will focus on the power of using advanced technology andthe value of international collaborations in the pedagogy of multidisciplinary forensic courses.8