So many great workshops, oral sessions, PeArLs and thematic poster sessions to attend – where does one start! I took a couple of hours earlier in the week to work out which sessions I wanted to attend in order to avoid wondering around aimlessly looking completely lost in the sea of over 850 delegates from around the globe. I fear that my blogs are going to be longer than desired, given all the interesting material which is being shared by global medical educators.
Roger Strasser opened proceedings via an official conference launch during a sit down lunch in the Ballroom at the Valhalla Inn. The opening ceremony included a traditional blessing of the delegates and the food which we were about to eat via a traditional “smudging” ceremony (read below).
A native elder taught us that before a person can be healed or heal another, one must be cleansed of any bad feelings, negative thoughts, bad spirits or negative energy – cleansed both physically and spiritually. This helps the healing to come through in a clear way, without being distorted or sidetracked by negative “stuff” in either the healer or the client. The elder said that all ceremonies, tribal or private, must be entered into with a good heart so that we can pray, sing, and walk in a sacred manner, and be helped by the spirits to enter the sacred realm.
Native people throughout the world use herbs to accomplish this. One common ceremony is to burn certain herbs, take the smoke in one’s hands and rub or brush it over the body. Today this is commonly called “smudging.” In Western North America the three plants most frequently used in smudging are sage, cedar, and sweetgrass.
There were a few anxious folks in the room as smoke started billowing towards the smoke alarms….
After lunch it was time to listen to a key note address delivered by Dr Tim Evans, who has held the position of Assistant Director General with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is currently Dean of the James P. Grant School of Public Health at BRAC University and International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh. Tim delivered a thought provoking address outlining why Public Health education is currently in crisis. It’s sad to think that so many of the things we take for granted back home are not accessible to vulnerable communities around the world.
Next it was on to the first Oral Session for the day. Its theme was Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships (LIC’s). I found it very interesting to listen to presenters from Canada, UK and Australia deliver their findings in comparing students’ perceptions of themselves after undertaking LIC’s vs. block rotations. Students unanimously felt they’d learnt more and contributed to the workings of the health care team when undertaking LIC’s as opposed to when they were undertaking rotational clinical placements.
The last Oral Session for the day which I attended was around the theme of “Community Engagement” and I was really impressed with the first presenter from Flinders Uni (NT) who talked about Indigenous community engagement within their medical curriculum. The medical and cultural curriculum is threaded through Years 1 – 4 as part of their graduate program.
Students are introduced to the cultural curriculum in Year 1 and continue on through Years 2 – 4, both through community service placements as well as having Indigenous Health form part of their ethics, PBL learning and a range of theme teaching which students undertake throughout their four year course.
Looking forward to Day 2 and what it will bring…….
Laura Major
Manager, Rural Education Program
