Call to Action # 23

Why “In Progress?”

In January 2021, Health Canada approved funding for a National Consortium on Indigenous Medical Education. The initiative is led by Indigenous physicians, in partnership with the Association of the Faculties of Medicine of Canada and will provide leadership and implement Indigenous-led projects that reform and update the education of physicians. The goal of the initiative is to create an improved medical education environment, tools and resources to ensure Indigenous populations have access to culturally safe health care.

Consortium priorities:

• assessment of Indigenous studies, cultural safety and anti-racism
• anti-racism, policies, processes, and implementation support
• Indigenous student admissions and transitions
• Indigenous faculty recruitment and retention
• improving cultural safety in curriculum
• Indigenous physician wellness and joy in work

In addition, the Association of Faculties of Medicine, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons and The Canadian Nurses Association have all made recommendations to address this Call to Action.

Dec. 20, 2022: CASN and CISN released their first annual Indigenous Nursing and Faculty Survey Report 2020-2021 designed “to create a mechanism to collect and disseminate high-quality, longitudinal evidence that will allow the recruitment and retention of Indigenous nursing students and faculty to be assessed and monitored across the country.

Nov. 2020 – The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) in partnership with the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association developed a framework of foundational strategies, recruitment and retention strategies, and curricular strategies for nursing education to advance responses to the TRC

Oct. 5, 2020 – The Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association (CINA) and Canadian Nurses Association have emphasized the need for a “mandatory” cultural competency and humility training program for health-care professions after the dearth of Joyce Echaquan, a 37-year-old woman from the Atikamekw community of Manawan, Que.