In June, I had the incredible opportunity to take part in UBC’s IHHS 408 course which explores topics in aboriginal public health. I traveled to Duncan, BC (on Vancouver Island) along with three other student team members, one of which was a sociology student and the other two were medical students. We stayed with a First Nations host family for the month in order to better immerse ourselves in the community. I was very eager to take part in this course because I have explored many temporary issues in developing countries such as Tanzania; however, through my studies and explorations in Tanzania, I realized that I do not know enough about current issues in my own country.
Beforehand, I didn’t know that Cowichan has the largest concentration of Aboriginal members is Canada and we were very fortunate that so many people were open to sharing with us many of their stories and traditional customs. At the beginning of the course, we heard first-hand accounts of the atrocities that some community members horrifically went through in Residential Schools. Hearing these accounts opened my eyes, as I never truly understood the solemnity of these former government-run schools and the atrocities that many First Nations individuals and communities were forced to go through. Through hearing these events, one thing that stood out for me was the incredible resiliency and humbleness that the First Nations people posses. It was certainly very inspiring and an honour to hear these personal stories that these men and women selflessly shared with us. We also took part in several traditional activities, such as harvesting cedar and going on a medicinal walk outdoors.
We worked in the Ts’ewulhtun Health Clinic for the entirety of the course. We job shadowed several nurses, dieticians, nutritionists, doctors and sociologists, which was an invaluable experience. Especially since I aspire eventually working in the healthcare field, it is imperative to learn how to collaboratively dialogue inter-professionally. We worked on several projects throughout our stay, which ranged from creating an HIV promotional campaign, creating an info sheet for child-developmental milestones, writing a nutritional guide as well as developing a research ethics protocol.
It was incredibly beneficial to take part in an experiential learning course, as there is so much more to learn by witnessing something first-hand than you ever will in a textbook. What I particularly took away from this course is the incredible respect that is given towards Elders in aboriginal communities, something I greatly admire, as too often Elders in the society that I came from are seen as being “outdated”, rather than “wise.” Furthermore, I learned that wellness stems from broader social constructs and that a collaborative approach towards healthcare is necessary in order to achieve the greatest outcomes. This is certainly a course that I would highly recommend UBC students to take part in.