A Curriculum Framework for Global Health and Health Equity: Family Physician as Health Advocate
The CFPC states that “as Health Advocates, family physicians responsibly use their expertise and influence to advance the health and well-being of individual patients, communities, and populations”. Within this role, “family physicians recognize their duty and ability to improve the overall health of their patients and the society they serve…health advocacy is appropriately expressed both by the actions of individual family physicians and through collective actions with other health professionals in influencing population health and public policy".
Much of the CanMEDS-FM definition relates to the specific practice population of a given physician. In teaching Global Health however, we seek to extend this role to its broadest possible definition, that of health advocacy at the level of populations, primarily those experiencing health inequities, wherever they may be. Likewise, when conceptualizing “health advocacy”, we do so in the most comprehensive sense. Advocacy must be around all determinants of health including but not limited to gender, local and global economics, culture, immigration status, place of birth, membership of a particular social, political or religious group, access to resources (economic, food, health or other), environment as well as psychological and biological determinants of health. We hope to train family physicians who will advocate for equity in healthcare and health for the totality of the Global population in their community, country and world.
For more information, visit the Global Health page in the Academic section of our website.