The CFMS Global Health Program (CFMS-GHP) is a branch of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS). The CFMS has over 8000 members at 14 medical schools across Canada. The CFMS stands on three pillars: representation, services and communication. The CFMS-GHP was developed over the last 12 years in response to a growing need for coordinated programming and collaboration focused specifically on global health.
Last year, the Global Health Program of the CFMS (CFMS-GHP) broadened its reach in the health advocacy arena through the Global Health Advocacy Program (GHAP). The GHAP was developed as a national education and advocacy program which encourages support for improving the health of Canadians and global communities. Toward this end, each Canadian medical school has nominated a Global Health Advocate (GHA). With the support of the National Officer of Human Rights and Peace (NORP), as well as GHAs from other schools, GHAs are given the task of developing (i) local and (ii) national advocacy initiatives around a theme relevant to global health. Aboriginal health and the need for more Aboriginal medical students was the theme selected for 2008-2010.
As part of their national advocacy mandate, the NORP and GHAs attend the Montreal World Health Organization Simulation (MonWHO) conference. Attendance at the MonWHO in 2008-2009 allowed the GHAP team will provide awareness of this topic with respect to their impacts on aboriginal health. The GHAP members presented on The Effects of the Oil Sands Developments in Northern Alberta, which are located upstream along the Athabasca River Basin. The presentation focused on the project’s environmental consequences – which included deforestation, open-pit mining, dewatering of water systems and watersheds, toxic contamination, and disruption of habitat – as well as examine the effects of this destruction in relation to the indigenous Dene, Cree and Métis peoples. Perhaps the first step in building bridges between cultures is through cultural appreciation. In this vein, a second workshop included cultural sensitivity training to enhance understanding of Aboriginal culture, heritage and traditional medicine. Finally, a third presentation addressed the underrepresentation of Aboriginal peoples in Canadian medical schools, as well as in the physician population.
