Destination Excellence

The devastation from Hurricane Fiona has impacted many of our communities in Atlantic Canada, including Prince Edward Island, parts of New Brunswick and particularly in Port aux Basques and coastal communities on the southwest coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

On behalf of the Faculty of Medicine, I want to extend thanks to our learners, staff and faculty who are providing medical care while you yourselves may have been impacted by the hurricane. Your compassion and support for patients during this difficult and uncertain time is appreciated. Our thoughts are with all those learners, staff, faculty and their families and friends who have been impacted.

The Student Wellness and Counselling Centre website offers a number of online and phone-based community mental health and wellness supports for students on all campuses. See here for more information. Additional support services for students at Grenfell can be found at Counselling and Psychology Services.

Faculty and staff can avail of the Employee Assistance Program. It is available 24 hours a day and information about how to access services is available online.
 

Class of 2026 White Coat Ceremony

On Thursday, Sept. 22, we held the White Coat ceremony for the Doctor of Medicine class of 2026. We were able to host this in person as well as virtually to help include as many family and friends as possible. This year’s Honorary White Coat recipient was Dr. Elias Bartellas. I was delighted to present Dr. Bartellas with his white coat and he expressed his thanks, provided some advice to our new medical students and shared some highlights from his 40-year career.
 

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

September 30 is the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR). I strongly encourage you to reflect on the experience of the Indigenous people in Canada, and how you can contribute to changing the health-care system and to preventing health inequities for Indigenous peoples. As part of its social accountability mandate, the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) seeks to improve the health and well-being of Indigenous people by ensuring Canadian medical schools respond to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, by training more Indigenous health professionals and by committing to developing safe working and learning environments for Indigenous learners, faculty and staff.

We continue to review ways in which we can improve the medical education system and health-care system along with the Indigenous people in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Faculty of Medicine’s Office of Social Accountability has been working with the Indigenous communities to make meaningful changes in our medical education.

 

On Sept. 29 you are encouraged to wear orange in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR). There are a number of activities taking place on the St. John’s campus.

This year, the Office of Indigenous Affairs is expanding their activities to include the following events from Sept. 26-29:
Resource and engagement tables 

• Tables will be set up in the QEII Library, Bruneau Centre, University Centre, Core Science Facility and Science building lobbies with resources about the Orange Shirt Day (OSD)/(NDTR) the TRC, smudging and Kullik lighting. There will also be space provided for members of the Memorial community to write down and submit what they can do to further reconciliation, or ask questions about truth and reconciliation.
• OSD buttons and TRC Call to Action books will also be available.
• Event flyers directing people to the resource tables/smudge sites will be distributed around campus.  

Smudging

• There will be smudging ceremonies at the same locations on Sept. 29 (with an additional outdoor site TBD).
• A brief explanation and smudge will happen on the hour from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29.

Walk

• The Bruneau Centre will be the final smudge site at 2 p.m. Following the smudge there will be the opportunity for a brief educational piece and informal discussion concerning TRC and Indigenization.
• At 3 p.m. there will be a campus walk leaving from the Bruneau Centre, ending at Juniper House.
• At Juniper House, participants will have the opportunity to tie orange ribbons to the fence and trees on the front lawn. Participants wishing to tie a ribbon will be asked to fill out a card with how they can further reconciliation, their vision for truth and reconciliation, or ask questions.

In the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation, the Faculty of Medicine encourages all faculty, staff, and learners to reflect upon the legacy and continuing impact of colonialism on Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
For hundreds of years, Indigenous Peoples in this country have been subjected to a forced transition into settler society. They have displayed tremendous resilience against cultural, economic, and political assimilative forces that have threatened their cultures and ways of life.

In 2021, as a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Call to Action 23(3) – that all levels of government provide cultural competency training for all healthcare professionals – the Faculty of Medicine’s Office of Professional & Educational Development (OPED) worked with the Indigenous communities in the province to develop the cultural safety program:

Providing Culturally Safe Health Care for Indigenous Patients in Newfoundland and Labrador
Individuals from the communities kindly provided their perspectives, feedback, and advice on all content and on the framing of the program. The Faculty of Medicine is sincerely grateful to them for sharing their knowledge and experiences and for providing guidance.

Thank you especially to the Indigenous Health Initiative Advisory Board, to the Guiding and Planning Committee members – Katie Dicker, Brenda Jeddore, Joanne McGee MD, Sheila O’Neill, Valeri Pilgrim, Solomon Semigak, Eric Smith MD, Tracey Wentzel MD, Ada Roberts, Melanie van Soeren MD, and Michele Wood – and to Chief Mi'sel Joe and John Jeddore MD, for additional input and assistance.
We encourage everyone to learn more about Indigenous Peoples in this province and their diverse histories, experiences, and cultural practices. The cultural safety program is free and available to all. For more information, please visit https://www.mdcme.ca/course_info/cultural_safety_2022.

For information about the TRC, its various reports, and its Calls to Action (2015), you are encouraged to visit https://nctr.ca/records/reports/.

Destination Excellence

The 2022 strategic planning update and planning half days will be held on Nov. 2, 1-5 p.m. and Nov. 4, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The four current Destination Excellence project teams continue their work in the areas of:  Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Internationalization, Culture of Excellence, and Balanced Scorecard. A registration link will be available soon.

The most recent DEIST meeting was held on Aug. 24. During the meeting, participants received an overview of the joint MD program currently under development between Memorial University and the University of Prince Edward Island. Also, the four current Destination Excellence project teams – Internationalization, Culture of Excellence, Balanced Scorecard and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – provided updates on their ongoing work and their plans for fall 2022. 

University of Prince Edward Island/Memorial University Joint Degree in Medicine

Dr. Cathy Vardy travelled to Prince Edward Island where she had the opportunity to meet with physicians, community organizations and Indigenous groups. Committee work is proceeding well with the adoption of Memorial’s curriculum with the addition of Planetary Health. The first intake of students is planned for 2024.

An important development is that the design of the new building, which will house the medical school is complete and ground breaking will hopefully occur this fall. The architects were very pleased with the support received from Memorial’s faculty and staff.