The visiting lectureship on aboriginal health: an educational initiative at the University of Toronto.
Many recent reports on Aboriginal issues have identified three major deficits in Canadian universities: a lack of Aboriginal curriculum content, a lack of faculty role models, and low student enrollment. Many health professional schools have responded by recruiting more Aboriginal students and by introducing Native content into their curricula. This paper describes the six-year experience of the annual program of the Visiting Lectureship on Native Health at the University of Toronto as one of the ways to increase the Aboriginal curricular content. The three-week program covers the selected Aboriginal health issue by sequentially exploring its historical background, the extent of the current problem and its future solutions. Over six years, 37 Native speakers delivered 83 lectures, 19 public fora and 98 seminars and workshops to 3 universities and 12 professional and community agencies. Over 7,900 individuals have participated in the program and the response has been very positive.
Shah
C P
CP
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, University of Toronto, ON.
Svoboda
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T
Goel
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D044467:American Indian or Alaska Native; D002170:Canada; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003479:Curriculum; D006801:Humans; D009864:Ontario; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011634:Public Health / Q000193:education*; D012581:Schools, Public Health