The twice-yearly magazine highlights the latest news and student, faculty and alumni accomplishments from the five colleges of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences: the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, Max Rady College of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy and College of Rehabilitation Sciences.

The Rady researchers profiled in the Summer 2022 issue include Dr. Dana Turcotte, a pharmacy prof who is committed to working with patient partners to manage chronic pain, and Dr. Peter Nickerson, an award-winning kidney transplant trailblazer who was recently named Postl’s successor as dean of health sciences and medicine.   

Rady alumni showcased in this issue include respiratory therapist Karen McElroy, who has found career satisfaction in a unique role in rural Manitoba; Monika Warren, Manitoba’s new chief operating officer for provincial health services and chief nursing officer; and Dr. Laura MacDonald, a UM graduate in dental hygiene, education and applied health sciences who never stops growing as a dedicated educator.

Other features look at three health-care leaders who were recently recognized with UM honorary doctorates; an Indigenous academic who urges doctors to reconnect body, mind, heart and spirit; and a new program that offers systemically excluded UM health sciences students learning opportunities in seven African countries.

Explore the Awards and Honours earned by faculty members and stay current on what’s happening in the Rady Faculty by checking out the Notable News section.

Read the latest issue of RadyUM now.

Facilitator Kathi Camilleri set the scene for the half-day workshop, “Building Bridges Through Understanding the Village”, by laying out a blanket and adding objects symbolizing Indigenous life in pre-contact Canada.

She set out a feather to signify governance, then a cradleboard for children. A canoe stood for travel, while a drum was a reminder of music and song. Many more objects – each with a specific tie to Indigenous life in Canada before the arrival of Europeans – helped tell a story about a traditional way of life.

The group took on roles within the village, and then Camilleri put on a red hat and the identity of colonizer. One by one, she took away the objects from the blanket. Language. Bison. Ceremony. Nearly everything the community held sacred.

Then she started taking the children.

“As I was playing the role of a parent, I had a deep sense of hopelessness, injustice and fear that I may never hold my child again,” said Sarah Olson, one of the organizers and a descendent of residential school survivors. “I was made aware of the jarring reality of how my great-grandmother and grandmother might have felt having their children taken.”

Camilleri, who comes from both Indigenous and Irish heritage, had warned the group that the day wouldn’t be easy. Colonization is an issue that raises complex feelings for Indigenous people and newcomers alike. But as simple as it would be to make the story about “good and bad,” she encouraged participants to set aside any feelings of blame or shame that might come up. “This is about people who saw a great opportunity to come to this country and improve their own situation, as well.”

The powerful half-day event was hosted by the College of Pharmacy as part of an effort to weave greater cultural sensitivity into its curriculum, while opening up opportunities for other members of the Rady Faculty.

Dana Turcotte (left) and Sarah Olson (right), event co-organizers.

“The name of the workshop, Building Bridges, perfectly sums up what I was hoping to do by co-leading this project,” said Olson, who works for the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) as project assistant, Indigenous engagement. “I wanted our attendees to understand how essential it is to truly listen to one another to make sure we are fulfilling the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action and the U of M’s strategic priority of Indigenous achievement in a respectful, inclusive way.” 

Co-organizer Dr. Dana Turcotte, clinical assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, is hopeful that the event will serve as fuel to spark participation within the College of Pharmacy in the upcoming aspects of the Purposeful Pause Project, a new initiative to assess Indigenous knowledge within the college and build a stronger foundation for ongoing work in inclusive education.

“Although this workshop was intended to be a celebration of work done to date, it really was more of an opportunity for us to purposefully pause, reflect, and continue to move forward,” said Turcotte.

The college has now completed baseline Indigenous knowledge assessments of its undergraduate students and will begin the same process with faculty and staff. “As well, we will be holding several focus group sessions where we will seek to identify factors within our current curriculum and program that may be prohibitive to fostering an academic culture of Indigenous respect and achievement,” said Turcotte.

“Ultimately, our goal is to ensure our students leave our university with an informed, compassionate approach in their fields,” added Olson. “I think initiatives such as ours are helping to ensure not only that students are prepared, but their teachers and mentors are committed to this change as well.”

“It hurts to be talked down to or treated differently based on my culture,” said Olson, who says it’s not uncommon to face prejudice. “No matter what you’re wearing, no matter what your background is, we should all be treated the same. No one should ever feel that way.”

That’s why Olson, who recently joined the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) as project assistant, Indigenous engagement, has teamed up with Dr. Dana Turcotte, clinical assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. Together, they’re taking a broad-based look at where the college and its curriculum stand when it comes to cultural safety.

Their project, A Purposeful Pause: Creating a Culture of Change that Promotes Indigenous Knowledge, Education, and Scholarship Achievement at the College of Pharmacy, was recently awarded funding by the University of Manitoba’s Indigenous Initiatives Fund. 

Collaborating with Queen’s University researchers Dr. Anne Godlewska and Dr. Laura Schaefli , Olson and Turcotte started by establishing a baseline for how familiar students, faculty and staff already are with Indigenous culture.

“When we began this project it came from a place of wanting to be well-informed before making any big steps,” said Olson. “We want to measure twice and cut once, so the change will be sustainable.”

Work to date shows that exposure to Indigenous culture runs the gamut from none at all to first-hand experience in all-Indigenous schools. Turcotte points out that even among those with some familiarity, there may also be misconceptions or assumptions.

“It’s hard to know what our students bring to the table,” said Turcotte. “We want to know where the gaps are, but also where the strengths are, too,” explained Turcotte. “Students can surprise you! Additionally, we want to ensure that our faculty and staff are well-prepared and supported in delivering Indigenous curricular content.”

Turcotte says the timing is right for a review, with a PharmD program launching in 2020 and newly approved strategic plan to take the college into its next stage of development.

“There are already pieces in place,” said Turcotte. “It’s time to build on those existing initiatives and expand on the work that is already being done around cultural safety.”

For both Olson and Turcotte, the biggest factors in creating a stronger culture of inclusion will be consultation with the community and involvement from all university stakeholders, including Ongomiizwin, The Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing.

“The people that I meet with are so keen,” said Olson, adding that the initial work around this project has been met with support and encouragement. “They understand that this is not just a strategic priority of the university, this is something we need to work on as a community in Manitoba. I’m very optimistic.”

The flu clinic will also be offered November 6, Theatre D (Skills Lab) in the Basic Medical Sciences Building at the Bannatyne campus and on November 14 at the University of Winnipeg campus. Blood tests and immunization reviews are also available at the clinics.

For Rachel Mangiacotti, a fourth-year nursing student, the opportunity to collaborate with other health-care disciplines was an eye opener.

“As nursing students, because we’re on a different campus we don’t get a whole lot of opportunities to interact with the different colleges from Bannatyne, but it is nice to work together in a setting like this,” she said. “It’s also a nice experience to see the community health side of nursing. We’re not in our scrubs or a hospital. It’s a different setting and it’s nice to provide the patient education.”

In addition to providing free vaccinations to the local community, for every vaccination $5.00 will be donated to UNICEF to fund vaccine programs in developing countries.

According to Dr. Dana Turcotte, Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Pharmacy, the clinic gives students a special opportunity to not only gain practical knowledge but also helps to bolster their confidence.

“It’s an invaluable experience,” she says. “We’ve had students come here who were terrified to do their very first injection and they’re leaving here with a lot of confidence that they can translate into their clinical practice in their community rotations.”

Dr. Lalitha Raman-Wilms, the new dean of the College of Pharmacy was also on hand to get a first-hand look and was impressed by the interprofessional way the clinic is run.

“We know that collaborative care provides better outcomes for our patients. What better way to train our students than to work that way early on so that when they’re in practice they get used to reaching out and working collaboratively,” she said. “When we run clinics like this together the community also sees the students working together. It’s not only that the students get used to working together, the community sees all of them as team members and hopefully that becomes a natural thing to expect.”

Clinics were offered on October 24 & 25, 31 and November 1 to 4, 2016, in the hope of immunizing over 1,500 individuals.
For Cortney Desrochers, a fourth year nursing student, access to flu vaccinations plays a vital role in public health.

“Free flu clinics are important because influenza is a serious illness and receiving the flu vaccine is the best defence,” Desrochers said. “When you receive the influenza vaccine you are not only protecting yourself, but everyone around you including young children, pregnant woman, the elderly and immunocompromised.”

This is the first year that pharmacy, nursing and medicine students will be collaborating interprofessionally at these vaccination clinics. Interprofessional healthcare preceptors from medicine, nursing and pharmacy are also volunteering their time as supervisors.

According to Dr. Dana Turcotte, Instructor, College of Pharmacy, this year’s clinic contributed more than just flu vaccinations at the local level.

“This year at our largest outreach initiative at the University of Winnipeg donated five dollars for every influenza vaccination given to UNICEF to fund vaccination efforts in developing countries,” Turcotte said.

“Our goal is to provide a convenient, safe and comfortable environment in order to encourage as many individuals as possible to be vaccinated and – as an added bonus – those being immunized will be helping to increase vaccine accessibility to those in developing countries around the world.”

To help Winnipeggers combat the virus, students from the College of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences are offering a two day free flu vaccination clinic at the University of Winnipeg (U of W) campus.

Dr. Dana Turcotte, Assistant Professor with the College of Pharmacy, says the flu clinic is part of the College of Pharmacy’s efforts to reach out to the community.

“This was a project I started when Dr. Neal Davies, Dean of the College, presented his vision to me of the potential for public outreach opportunities like this for the College of Pharmacy,” she says. “As we now have a licensed pharmacy within our College we are able to offer services like mass immunization clinics, which not only benefits the populations who will be receiving these services but also provides our students with valuable practical experience.”

Turcotte presented the idea of a flu vaccination clinic to the U of W’s Klinic on Campus where it was enthusiastically received. She hopes that up to 300 people will get their flu shot over the two day clinic.

Alexis Wanner is one of the 22 pharmacy students who are volunteering at the flu clinic. Now in her fourth year, Wanner believes this initiative is beneficial for her and her colleagues.

“It’s a good way to get practice under our belts,” she says. “It’s definitely something of value to offer our patients out in the community. Pharmacists are very accessible so I think the more practice we have the better able we are to implement that experience as professionals.”

Turcotte adds that she hopes that this will mark the beginning of many more outreach endeavours from the College of Pharmacy.

“Once we have this pilot project off the ground and get feedback from students as well as from patrons of the clinic, I will take that information and use it to inform the planning of future clinics,” she says. “It is our hope that next flu season we are able to coordinate our efforts so that more of our third and fourth year students will have the opportunity to volunteer at these clinics and that we will be able to reach further into the community.”

The flu clinic is taking place November 19 at Riddell atrium from 10:00 to 4:00pm. On November 20 the clinic will be held in Riddell atrium and the UWSA Boardroom in the Bulman Student Centre.