Calls for applications for the fall 2022 offering will begin in August 2022, so please stay tuned.

Making The Links

Improving the health of community by supporting the development of socially accountable health professionals

Making the Links: Certificate in Global Health is a 2-year course open to students in the College of Medicine and School of Rehabilitation Science. Making the Links offers a holistic education for participants that is grounded in anti-racism, anti-oppression, intersectionality, interprofessional & interdisciplinary collaboration, and community engagement. The content of the program focuses on health equity, social accountability & advocacy, global citizenship, that are required to meet the needs of populations which have been historically marginalized by oppressive policies. Including the structural drivers of health inequity and the impacts on lived experience of people.  

Through two in-person foundational courses and three structured practicum placements which are rooted in reflection and self-positioning, students develop their skills in the following key areas:

• Community engagement and advocacy, and cultural competence skills​
• Social and structural determinants of health​
• Social location awareness/bias​
• Collaborate in interdisciplinary approaches that address intersectionality​
• Critical integration skills: apply theory to practice 
• Political Economy of Health 
• Global Governance for Health

Components of the course:

• CHEP 402: Global Health I​
• CHEP 410: Inner City Practicum​
• CHEP 411: Rural/Indigenous Community Practicum​
• CHEP 403: Global Health II​
• CHEP 415: International Practicum

Calls for applications for the fall 2022 offering will begin in August 2022, so please stay tuned. If you would like more information in the interim, please contact Carlyn Seguin, carlyn.seguin@usask.ca  for more information.

 

 

The overall goal of this certificate program is to “improve the health of the community by supporting the development of socially accountable health professionals”.

Students who complete the Making the Links (MTL) certificate gain educational experience in multiple traditionally underserved/disadvantaged contexts, gain experience working in inter-professional teams, acquire cultural safety and health advocacy competencies, and develop a deeper understanding of health equity, social determinants of health and social accountability.

The overall goal of this certificate program is to “improve the health of the community by supporting the development of socially accountable health professionals”.

Students who complete the Making the Links (MTL) certificate gain educational experience in multiple traditionally underserved/disadvantaged contexts, gain experience working in inter-professional teams, acquire cultural safety and health advocacy competencies, and develop a deeper understanding of health equity, social determinants of health and social accountability.

MTL students are required to complete two global health courses (CHEP 402: Global Health I in first year, term 2 and CHEP 403: Global Health II in second year, term 1) as part of the certificate.

Global Health Experiential Learning Practicums

MTL students experience community health, health equity and advocacy in three placement contexts as part of the MTL certificate: 

1. an urban underserved community at SWITCH (the Student Wellness Initiative Towards Community Health) in Saskatoon and SEARCH (Student Energy in Action for Regina Community Health) in Regina across year 1 and 2 (CHEP 410: Inner City Practicum);
2. rural/remote and Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan in the summer of year 1 (CHEP 411: Saskatchewan Indigenous Placement),
3. and an community health placement in a Canadian Indigenous community or college approved community in a setting outside of Canada in the summer of year 2 (CHEP 415: Advanced Health Placement).

Language, Ethics and Research Training

MTL students are required to complete language training related to the location of travel for their advanced health placement (where applicable). Prior to the international advanced health placement, students must attend a half-day Pre-Departure Orientation session, which covers personal health and safety, risk management requirements, cultural awareness and ethics. In addition, students complete a full day of training in a community-based participatory research action workshop.

You are strongly encouraged to review the following sites and resources before applying in order to have some background on the concepts of social accountability and service-learning.

• Training for Health Renewal Program
• Northern Medical Services
• Community-Campus Partnerships for Health
• College of Medicine - Social Accountability
• Health Canada. Social Accountability: A Vision for Canadian Medical Schools

Interested students are encouraged to attend an information session (typically September/October) to find out more about the program and ask questions.

Applicants should submit their answers to the following questions in a Word document (2 pages max) to Carlyn Seguin, Global Health Manager, Division of Social Accountability, College of Medicine.

1. Name and age
2. Describe any experience in urban underserved, rural Indigenous, or international communities you think is relevant to your selection for this project.
3. Do you speak/read/write any languages other than English?
4. Why would you want to participate in the Making the Links project?
5. What personal qualities do you possess that make you a good candidate for this project?
6. Define, in your own words, community. Define in your own words, colonialism? How do these concepts relate to your future medical career
7. How would you share your experiences with the College of Medicine and with communities as you move through your studies and the Making the Links program?