Newsletter

A Message from Patient & Community Partnership for Education (PCPE)

PCPE hopes everyone is staying safe and keeping well during these difficult times. We recognize the added stresses that the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing measures are putting on people, especially patients, students and health professionals.

We thank everyone for their patience, understanding and support with moving their final meetings and the Health Mentors Symposium online. We know the online environment cannot replicate the energy and sense of community that is created when we meet face-to-face or gather together in-person.

In an effort to maintain a sense of community during this unprecedented time, we invite you to share some of your experiences with the current public health emergency and how it is affecting your lives. We would like to include some of these stories in the next few issues of the newsletter. If you have a story you'd like to share, please get in touch. Thank you for being part of the work to bring patient and community voices into health professional education, especially in these challenging circumstances.

Sincerely,
Angela, Bill, Cathy, Jen & Kurtis

Health Mentors Cohort 9: 'Virtual' Symposium 2020

We are pleased to share the Health Mentors Symposium virtual presentations from cohort 9. Due to COVID-19 it was the first time we were unable to host the Symposium which was scheduled for April 6th. The Symposium has always been a highlight of the program and many groups had already begun to prepare so we invited them to share their posters virtually. 

The groups rose to the challenge and we have compiled their submissions along with their tweets on the meetingofexperts.org website. The presentations are thoughtful and thought provoking. We invite you to view them and join the conversation by sharing your comments on the discussion board in each presentation.

Health Mentors Cohort 10: Mentor Recruitment

10 years ago we recruited the first mentors and students for the UBC Interprofessional Health Mentors pilot program. Since then, nearly 1,500 students from 10 different health disciplines have taken part in this unique opportunity to learn about chronic disease and disability from the perspectives of patients and caregivers.

Funding is in place and plans are underway for Cohort 10! Recruitment begins in May and runs until September with screening interviews taking place over the summer. If needed the interviews, orientation and group meetings will take place electronically if physical distancing measures are still in place. Stay tuned!

The program starts September 2020 and runs until May 2021. Orientation is scheduled for Monday, September 28th. For more information and to apply visit the website.

Kerston Community Educator Awardee: Jon Collins

Jon Collins is one of the recipients of the 2019 R. Paul Kerston Community Educator Award. Jon has been a Health Mentor to UBC students and a member of the UBC Health Patient Advisory Committee since 2017.

Jon has mentored 3 cohorts of students from genetic counselling, nursing, medicine, occupational therapy, and pharmacy. He is also a member of Arthritis Research Canada’s Patient Advisory Board and co-chair of Reaching Out with Arthritis Research (ROAR). John was nominated by his Health Mentors students from cohort 8.

"Perhaps the biggest lesson he gifted me with was that we can learn from people we might not initially identify with. I am so grateful to Jon, not for all the ways we are similar, but for all the ways we are different. He helped me consider new ideas and ways of seeing the system. I see this now as such a gift," says Adrienne Leitch, 4th year student, UBC School of Nursing.

Jon will be recognized at the UBC Health Awards reception to be held at a future date. Congratulations Jon!

Kerston Community Educator
Awardee: Stephen Reid

Stephen Reid is also a recipient of the 2019 R. Paul Kerston Community Educator Award. Stephen has been a volunteer patient with the medical undergraduate clinical skills program and a Health Mentor to UBC students since 2014.

As a volunteer patient, Stephen has helped dozens of medical students learn and practice medical history taking and physical exam skills. As a Health Mentor, Stephen has mentored 3 cohorts of students from genetic counselling, nursing, medicine, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and pharmacy. Stephen was nominated by his Health Mentors students from cohort 8.

"In all health professions we are taught the importance of making the patient a key member of the interprofessional team. Stephen represented this perfectly. Even though he was our mentor, he made sure he was not always the centre of discussion, just a part of our larger discussion around healthcare. He made sure our group was not about him, but rather that we worked with him," says Pushpkiran Ubi, 4th year nursing student.

Stephen will be recognized at the UBC Health Awards reception to be held at a later date. Congratulations Stephen!

Kerston Community Educator
Awardee: Justice for Girls

Justice for Girls is a recipient of the 2019 R. Paul Kerston Community Educator Award. It is the first time an organization has been nominated. The nomination was a cross-disciplinary effort supported by students and faculty from law, education, and health.

"It has been our great pleasure to work with such amazing staff, students and professionals from UBC's Health, Law and Education Faculties. Justice for Girls staff and young women interns have truly benefited from the opportunity to partner with UBC, as has our organization's work to promote the equality rights of teenage girls living in poverty," says Co-Director Tracey McIntosh. 

Over the past 15 years, Justice for Girls has reached over 1,000 UBC students, providing workshops and community-based experiential learning opportunities for students in professional programs across campus.

In 2017, Justice for Girls partnered with Patient & Community Partnership for Education to design and deliver workshops for health care students to learn how to better meet the needs of young women living in poverty and experiencing violence. In 2018 they adapted the workshop to be part of the youth health curriculum for 2nd year medical students.

"I was deeply inspired by the strength and resilience of the young women who were teaching us and despite having extensive experience working with youth, I found myself learning an incredible amount from these experts," says Dr. Maria Hubinette, Assistant Dean Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Medicine.

The Kerston Award will be presented at the UBC Health Awards reception to be held at a future date. Stay tuned!

Justice for Girls was founded in 1999 in response to national and international calls for gender-specific programs and services for teenage girls.

Update from Chile: Health Mentors
Cohort 2

In 2018, Cristina Di Silvester visited UBC to learn about the Health Mentors program and replicate it at University of Desarrollo, Chile. After a successful pilot program in 2018 with 10 students and 3 mentors, the program expanded to 40 students and 10 mentors in 2019.

Cohort 2 began in August but is now on hold due to physical distancing measures and because some mentors do not have access to technology to meet online. 

"We have to wait for better times. There are some areas that are not allowed at all to go outside and we could not do the Symposium on the 1st of April. We need to be patient, we are in difficult times," says program director Cristina Di Silvester.

In January, Cristina presented to the Council of the Faculty where the program received support from the Dean and approval from faculty. Cristina is keeping busy with analyzing the student learning outcomes and she has created a brochure to give to potential students (in Spanish).