Procedures and Guidelines

MPAS Mistreatment, Discrimination and Harassment Guideline

Categories: Physician Assistant MPAS

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Purpose

The University of Saskatchewan is committed to providing a safe, inclusive, and respectful learning and working environment for all members of our campus community. This document serves as a guideline for identifying and addressing mistreatment, discrimination, and harassment within the Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) program. It is intended to support learners, faculty, and staff in recognizing inappropriate behaviours, understanding institutional procedures, and accessing the supports and reporting mechanisms available through the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA).

Alignment

The MPAS program aligns with the policies and procedures of other academic units within College of Medicine in addressing mistreatment, discrimination, and harassment. This guideline complements existing university and health authority policies and applies in both academic and clinical learning environments.

Definitions of discrimination and harassment

Pursuant to the Saskatchewan Employment Act, employees have a right to a healthy and safe work environment free from discrimination and harassment. The Act includes the following categories of harassment:

Harassment:
Harassment includes any inappropriate conduct, comment, display, action, or gesture by an individual toward another individual or others that is either:
• made on the basis of race, creed, religion, colour, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability, physical size or weight, age, nationality, ancestry, or place of origin (also referred to as Discrimination under The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, 2018); or,
• adversely affects the worker or learner’s psychological or physical well-being and that the person knows or ought reasonably to know would cause the worker or learner to be humiliated or intimidated; and,
• that constitutes a threat to the health or safety of the worker or learner
• for this type of harassment to be established, the following must exist
o repeated conduct, comments, displays, actions, or gestures;
o a single, serious comment, display, action, or gesture that has a lasting, harmful effect on the worker or learner
Sexual harassment:

Any conduct, comment, display, action, or gesture by a person towards a worker or learner or learner that:
• is of a sexual nature; and,
• the person knows or reasonably ought to know is unwelcome.
• Some situations of sexual harassment may include:
• any implied or express threat of reprisal for refusing to comply with a sexually oriented request
• unwelcome remarks, lewd jokes, innuendos, propositions, or taunting about a person’s body, attire, sex, or sexual orientation
• displaying or sending pornographic or sexually explicit or offensive pictures or materials via text, hardcopy, video, or other multimedia platforms
• unwelcome physical contact/touching
• unwelcome invitations or requests, direct or indirect, to engage in behaviour of a sexual nature; and/or
• refusing to work with or have contact with an individual because of their sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation

Mistreatment:
The university does not condone behaviour that interferes with the provision of a respectful, productive environment for working or learning, but is not pervasive or significant enough to meet the definitions of harassment and/or discrimination described above. Depending upon the situation, examples of behaviour that may fall into this category include (but are not limited to) behaviour that shows disrespect for the dignity of others and unreasonably interferes with the learning process or a respectful workplace. For example:
• spreading negative rumors
• belittling or humiliating someone
• mean spirited pranks or practical jokes
• being spoken to in a sarcastic or insulting manner
• verbal aggression (examples include but are not limited to: yelling, swearing, or subjecting someone to offensive remarks or names)
• requiring someone to perform personal services
• nonverbal aggression (examples include but are not limited to behaviours that are demeaning, intimidating or threatening)
Identifying Mistreatment, Discrimination and Harassment
If you are unsure about the kind of behavior you are experiencing, we have compiled a series of resources to help identify and classify mistreatment, discrimination and harassment.
Examples of mistreatment:
• Threatened with physical harm
• Physically harmed
• Required to perform personal services
• Subjected to unwanted sexual advances
• Asked to exchange sexual favours for grades or other rewards
• Denied opportunities for training or rewards based on gender
• Subjected to offensive, sexist remarks/names
• Received lower evaluations/grades based on gender
• Denied opportunities for training or rewards based on race or ethnicity
• Subjected to racially or ethnically offensive remarks/names
• Received lower evaluations or grades solely because of race or ethnicity rather than performance
• Denied opportunities for training or rewards based on sexual orientation
• Subjected to offensive remarks/names related to sexual orientation
• Received lower evaluation or grades solely because of sexual orientation rather than performance

The Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, has developed a rubric (Appendix A) to help students and faculty better communicate about inappropriate behaviors.

Reporting

If you have experienced or witnessed mistreatment, discrimination, or harassment, we strongly encourage you to speak with the MPAS Learner Experience Coordinator. You may:

• Use the secure and confidential online reporting form (anonymous or identified submissions are acceptable) I may have been mistreated OR
• Contact the Learner Experience Coordinator, Sara Bryson at sara.bryson@usask.ca directly

The Learner Experience Coordinator will respond promptly, provide support, and work with you to determine next steps, whether that means informal resolution, referral, or a formal complaint process. Alternative routes can be explored if you are uncomfortable with the procedures outlined. Please see the mistreatment flowchart for a summary of options for addressing complaints.

Students also have the option to file a formal complaint through the University of Saskatchewan’s Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Services (DHPS).

Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) Involvement

If the respondent is a staff member within the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), the written complaint form will be addressed in accordance with discrimination, harassment and mistreatment procedures and policies within the health authority. In such cases, the University’s involvement may be limited, but the MPAS Academic Director will remain informed and involved as appropriate.

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