Enhanced Skills Program: Indigenous Health Program Goals and Objectives

Medical Expert

The trainee will be able to:

Demonstrate skills and knowledge in direct primary/secondary care of indigenous people, including both outpatient and inpatient care.
Demonstrate knowledge and skills in mental health and addiction medicine especially as it applies to indigenous populations, both urban and remote.
Demonstrate increased knowledge and skills pertaining to the specific health issues that are most relevant to the indigenous peoples of Canada.
Demonstrate an understanding of the impact and correlation of the various medical, social and spiritual determinants of health and well-being on First Nations, Inuit and Metis (indigenous) peoples.
Demonstrate improved knowledge of the history of indigenous peoples in Canada including the history of colonization, residential schools and other political issues and how this history affects current health and social conditions of indigenous people.

The trainee will be able to:

Work cross-culturally and with interpreters.
Work inter-professionally, including with traditional healers.
Demonstrate knowledge and skills regarding cultural safety as it pertains to indigenous peoples.

The trainee will be able to:

Function effectively in a multidisciplinary team to provide high-quality care to indigenous populations. These members would include clerical staff, nurses, nurse practitioners, traditional healers, therapists, pharmacists, and medical specialists.

The trainee will be able to:

Assess, plan, provide and integrate care for specific indigenous populations (urban Toronto and rural/remote Ontario or other) appropriate to the patients’ locale.
In the rural/remote setting, demonstrate awareness of the context of patient referrals, and demonstrate increased skills with respect to effective consultation with health care professionals in the patients’ home community to establish and ensure appropriate support systems and follow-up for sustained culturally appropriate care.
Demonstrate awareness of community and health resources, and support structures available to both the urban and remote indigenous communities, appropriate to the training locale.

The trainee will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the indigenous patient’s view of illness, how the community is part of the patient, and “empowerment”.
Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of discrimination, racism, and government policies on the healthcare of the indigenous populations.

The trainee will be able to:

Complete the graduate course in Indigenous Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, and successfully complete all course requirements as agreed upon by the director of the course.
Describe the history of indigenous peoples in Canada including the history of colonization, residential schools and political issues and how this history affects current health and social conditions of indigenous people.
Be a resource to the indigenous population as well as a resource to the medical profession on indigenous health issues. This includes an understanding of the impact of discrimination, racism, and government policies on the healthcare of the indigenous populations.
Provide teaching to students and residents and colleagues about indigenous Health issues.
Keep up to date with new information and research in the field of indigenous health.
Critically appraise medical information and its sources, and apply the relevant information to medical practice.
Employ critical analysis skills in evaluating the delivery of health care to indigenous peoples.

The trainee will be able to:

Demonstrate a commitment to patients and their families, colleagues, their profession and to society through ethical and reflective practice.
Demonstrate self-reflection skills that include an analysis of one’s own response to the histories and contemporary environments of indigenous peoples.