This month’s DFM Monitor includes highlights from both education and research that touch on the key priority of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Indigeneity, and Accessibility (EDIIA). Queen’s Family Medicine, Queen’s Health Sciences, and Queen’s University all include EDIIA as a priority in their strategic plan.
I had the privilege of attending the department’s recent faculty development retreat where we discussed anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism. The workshop I attended on allyship — and even the issues related to using that term, rather than others like co-resistor — was enlightening and generated a lot of great discussion. I was reminded at the workshop — and at recent research meetings for the national Educating for Equity team I’ve been a part of for many years — that this is a journey that never ends, as we learn to live, work, and play together in ways that are mutually beneficial rather than harmful.
Learning more about effective ways to deliver care for our diverse populations has led Drs. Amrita Roy, Shayna Watson, and Imaan Bayoumi to partner with Akwesasne Mohawk Nation in the “Waonkwenserontiio ‘We are sleeping beautifully’” study of culturally appropriate insomnia care as a part of a larger CIHR team grant on sleep. We are also adding an EDIIA lead to our senior leadership team to help advance initiatives within the department and look forward to welcoming Dr. Eva Purkey into that role.
Finally, the CFPC just announced the appointment of its new CEO, Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel Region’s medical officer of health. He will take on the job of advancing the College’s strategic priorities, including its work in EDIIA and an anti-racism charter.
I would like to close by thanking all of you for your engagement in addressing EDIIA within your own practices and communities. The interest we hear from faculty, staff, and learners across the department in all our teaching sites is a testament to your interest in being a part of this lifelong journey.
Dr. Michael Green
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