Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Sasah Experiential Learning: Global Health Equity, Anjali Singh

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

My journey with the Global Health Equity (GHE) internship program through the SASAH experiential learning program has been a transformative experience. This report encapsulates an exploration of the four years I have spent at the placement, outlining the evolution of skills, collaborations, and impactful projects that have strengthened my academic development and career aspirations. The report starts with a reflective introduction on my initial anxiety about entering the GHE internship, ultimately highlighting the meeting of interests between diplomacy, global affairs, and journalism with the internship’s focus on global health equity. I highlight pivotal encounters with mentors, colleagues, staff, and experts, …

Experiential Learning Final Report: Ase Leadership And Usri, Lauren Cowell

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

This reflective journey encapsulates the profound impact of my SASAH experiential learning, encompassing roles as an ASE Transition Leader and a USRI intern during my undergraduate years. From fostering academic growth to developing practical skills applicable in professional settings, this program provided unique opportunities for multidimensional learning. Collaboration emerged as a cornerstone, teaching adaptability, resilience, and the nuances of teamwork. Engaging with professionals contributed to workplace insights and personal growth. The roles undertaken enriched my skill set, from refining public speaking to engaging in collaborative research. The CliftonStrengths framework played a pivotal role, guiding me through challenges and leveraging collective …

Polisci 3210f: Feasibility Of A National Disability Insurance Plan (Ndip) In Canada, Twana Hassan, Aditi Priya, Dylan Poole, Samantha Rubin, Ethan Chen

Community Engaged Learning Final Projects

This research report presents an overview of the feasibility and reliability of a National Disability Insurance Plan (NDIP) in Canada. Several Global North countries are leading the way in disability legislation and disability funding in comparison to Canada's inaction on the matter. A National Disability Insurance Plan in Canada will have social and economic benefits for everyone in Canada. The report concluded that Canada is capable of implementing a NDIP and doing so is the right choice.

Ethics And Epidemiology Workshop Report: Towards Ethics-Informed Epidemiology And Epidemiology-Informed Ethics, Zoe Ritchie, Brendan T. Smith Phd, Maxwell J. Smith Phd

Health Studies Publications

Two key groups of researchers have worked in parallel to advance health equity—one on the descriptive component (those in public health sciences, e.g., epidemiologists) and one on the normative component (those in the humanities and social sciences, e.g., philosophers and ethicists). Yet a significant gulf exists between their respective research. Consequently, advances in thinking regarding the philosophical underpinnings and normative requirements of health equity have been largely divorced from the design of public health interventions that seek to reduce health inequities. As a consequence, public health interventions aiming to advance health equity may fail to target the most appropriate populations …

Experiential Learning Final Report: Western Heads East X Mikono Yetu And Crhesi, Rebecca Jackson

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

Over the summer of 2020, I completed an internship with Western Heads East (WHE), a collaboration between Western University and African Partners. During this internship, I worked alongside two of my peers to design a website for the non-governmental organization “Mikono Yetu” to showcase the important work they are doing surrounding female empowerment and economic independence. During the Fall term of my final year at Western, I completed a placement with The Centre for Research on Health Equity and Social Inclusion (CRHESI). For this placement, I created an infographic that outlined the barriers migrant agricultural workers currently face to accessing …

The Story Behind The Ontario Health Insurance Plan And Its Impact On The Public Sector, Marvin L. Simner

History Publications

The Ontario Health Insurance Plan is a provincially supported health care program that required fifteen years to develop and emerged though seven distinct and frequently controversial stages. It was said at the time to have generated more heated debate in the House than any other legislation that previously had been approved by the provincial government. The purpose of this report is to provide a comprehensive review of these seven stages, the arguments that accompanied each stage, and the impact of the stages on the local community. In the final section we discuss how certain elements in these stages, if known …

Interdisciplinary Lens On Indigenous Health Iniquities: Planning, Nursing, Anthropology, Geography, Education, Chantal Francouer, Alana Kehoe, Ivy Tran, Steven Vanloffeld, Lillian Woroniuk, Jacob Renaud

Head and Heart Posters 2019

Indigenous peoples experience poorer health outcomes on almost every measure of health and wellbeing, when compared to the rest of Canada. For decades researchers have been working independently on addressing health inequalities, yet little progress has been made on closing the gap. This Discipline-specific way of thinking is too narrow and neglects indigenous ideologies of holistic approaches to health. An interdisciplinary approach to indigenous health research provides a more collaborative and integrated opportunity to address the multidimensional aspects of health. This paper has the goals to contribute to the limited research on interdisciplinary indigenous health research.

The Application Of Community-Based Participatory Research (Cbpr), Riley Kennedy

Head and Heart Posters 2019

Community-based participatory research is a contemporary research methodology used largely in health research. Community-based participatory research works to balance power and control in research. Indigenous people around the world have had an continue to have an uncomfortable research. Community-based participatory research is viewed as a way to do ethical research with Indigenous people. This project seeks to understand factors that influence community-based participatory research on Indigenous health using a narrative literature review approach.

Examining Indigenous Learner Recruitment And Retention Strategies Through An Environmental Scan Of Canadian Medical Schools, Sebastian Deagle

Head and Heart Posters 2019

The 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s Calls to Action Report outlined the need to better resolve the disparities in health status between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadian population. IN response, several Canadian medical schools began implementing recruitment and retention strategies to increase Indigenous matriculation. This is crucial, as Indigenous physicians are more likely to practice – and provide culturally-competent and comprehensive primary care – in Indigenous communities than physicians of other ethnicities. Therefore, enhancing Indigenous medical workforce development programs will have a strong return on investment in terms of improving the health status of Indigenous populations. However, while …

The Power Of Community: Reflections From The Education Commissioner Of Active Minds Western, Josh Thompson-Persaud

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Presentations

As a mental health advocate, Josh is passionate about advancing mental health reform and increasing mental health literacy in their communities. Feeding from this passion, Josh worked with Active Minds Western (AM), a USC-regulated mental health advocacy club, as the Education Commissioner this year. Josh decided to use the second half of the term in this role as a Community Engaged Learning (CEL) project as they recognized the value in academically structuring and critically assessing their progress toward increased mental health literacy at Western University.

Harm Or Mere Inconvenience? Denying Women Emergency Contraception, Carolyn Mcleod

Philosophy Publications

This paper addresses the likely impact on women of being denied emergency contraception (EC) by pharmacists who conscientiously refuse to provide it. A common view—defended by Elizabeth Fenton and Loren Lomasky, among others—is that these refusals inconvenience rather than harm women so long as the women can easily get EC somewhere else nearby. I argue from a feminist perspective that the refusals harm women even when they can easily get EC somewhere else nearby.

Ethical Challenges In Icu Research, Charles Weijer

Philosophy Presentations

No abstract provided.

When Can Physicians Say “No” To Families And Patients?, Charles Weijer

Philosophy Presentations

No abstract provided.

Referral In The Wake Of Conscientious Objection To Abortion, Carolyn Mcleod

Philosophy Publications

Currently, the preferred accommodation for conscientious objection to abortion in medicine is to allow the objector to refuse to accede to the patient's request so long as the objector refers the patient to a physician who performs abortions. The referral part of this arrangement is controversial, however. Pro-life advocates claim that referrals make objectors complicit in the performance of acts that they, the objectors, find morally offensive. McLeod argues that the referral requirement is justifiable, although not in the way that people usually assume.

Infertility And Moral Luck: The Politics Of Women Blaming Themselves For Infertility, Carolyn Mcleod, Julie Ponesse

Philosophy Publications

Infertility can be an agonizing experience, especially for women. And, much of the agony has to do with luck: with how unlucky one is in being infertile, and in how much luck is involved in determining whether one can weather the storm of infertility and perhaps have a child in the end. We argue that bad luck associated with being infertile is often bad moral luck for women. The infertile woman often blames herself or is blamed by others for what is happening to her, even when she cannot control or prevent what is happening to her. She has simply …

The Stem Cell Debate Continues: The Buying And Selling Of Eggs For Research, Françoise Baylis, Carolyn Mcleod

Philosophy Publications

Now that stem cell scientists are clamouring for human eggs for cloning-based stem cell research, there is vigorous debate about the ethics of paying women for their eggs. Generally speaking, some claim that women should be paid a fair wage for their reproductive labour or tissues, while others argue against the further commodification of reproductive labour or tissues and worry about voluntariness among potential egg providers. Siding mainly with those who believe that women should be financially compensated for providing eggs for research, the new stem cell guidelines of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) legitimise both reimbursement …

For Dignity Or Money: Feminists On The Commodification Of Women’S Reproductive Labour, Carolyn Mcleod

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.

Revisiting The Ethics Of Hiv Prevention Research In Developing Countries, Charles Weijer, Guy Leblanc

Philosophy Presentations

Issues: We present key aspects of our paper, commissioned by UNAIDS in 2005, entitled, “Revisiting the ethics of HIV prevention research in developing countries.” In 2004 and 2005 we witnessed the closure or suspension of three international clinical trials testing tenofovir in the prevention of HIV infection in high risk groups due to the failure to provide free treatment to those who seroconvert during the conduct of the study. We examine critically moral claims for the provision of treatment to those who seroconvert in HIV prevention trials and ask whether it is a matter of moral obligation or moral negotiation? …

In Search Of The Anglophone Doctor In Jacques Ferron’S Story “Le Petit William”, Vivian C. Mcalister, Christiane I. Mcalister

Surgery Publications

The story of ‘Le Petit William’ (Contes anglais, 1964) is based on Ferron’s experiences as a general practitioner in the Gaspé in 1946. A medical event, use of the maternal left lateral position by a sage-femme to deliver a baby boy, becomes allegory. The sage-femme had learned the technique from a visiting Anglophone doctor. A simple joke, which superficially appears to be the story’s culmination, takes on a sombre political tone when considered in the light of the Latin epigraph. Trips to the Gaspé, a review of the history of obstetrics and speculation are used in this paper to understand …

Clinical Kidney Transplantation: A 50th Anniversary Review Of The First Reported Series, Vivian Charles Mcalister

Surgery Publications

BACKGROUND: Histories of kidney transplantation rarely mention a series reported by Gordon Murray of Toronto and published by the American Journal of Surgery 50 years ago.

METHODS: The papers and biographies of Gordon Murray were reviewed in the context of knowledge at that time about renal failure management to determine their contribution to transplantation research and to current practice.

RESULTS: Murray proceeded from a unique leadership position in vascular surgery, anticoagulation therapy, and dialysis to undertake a rational series of animal experiments and human trials of kidney transplantation that led him to the practices of graft irrigation, cold storage, pelvic …

Mere And Partial Means: The Full Range Of The Objectification Of Women, Carolyn Mcleod

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.

Clinical Equipoise And Rct Design, Charles Weijer

Philosophy Presentations

This presentation addresses these questions:
• “Upon what ethical grounds may the physician offer RCT enrollment to a patient?”
• Which is the preferred moral basis of the RCT?

Relational Autonomy, Self-Trust, And Health Care For Patients Who Are Oppressed, Carolyn Mcleod, Susan Sherwin

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.

Self-Trust And Reproductive Autonomy, Carolyn Mcleod

Philosophy Publications

In this thesis. I give a theory of the nature of self-trust and an explanation of its role in autonomous decision-making. We tend to think of trust as essentially interpersonal which casts doubt on the coherence of the concept of self-trust. Drawing on patients' experiences in reproductive medicine. I argue that self-trust is a meaningful as well as a useful concept. I provide autobiographical sketches of a number of women's experiences. supplemented by my own observations made while doing a clinical practicum in reproductive medicine, to illustrate that what many women feel toward themselves in a variety of reproductive health …

Trudy Govier’S Dilemmas Of Trust, Carolyn Mcleod, S. Burns

Philosophy Publications

No abstract provided.

Selecting Subjects For Participation In Clinical Research: An Empirical Inquiry And Ethical Analysis, Charles Weijer

Philosophy Publications

Procedures for the selection of subjects for participation in randomized clinical trials--usually formalized as eligibility criteria in the study protocol--have both scientific and ethical implications. In this thesis, I undertake an examination of eligibility criteria at three stages in the genesis and dissemination of medical knowledge: clinical trial protocol, interpretation by investigators, and reporting of study results.

In the first chapter, ethical issues in subject selection are reviewed and the main study questions are presented. In the second chapter, the results of an examination of eligibility criteria in two sets of clinical trials, one sponsored by the NSABP, the other …

Characterizing The Population In Clinical Trials: Barriers, Comparability, And Implications For Review, Charles Weijer

Philosophy Publications

The definition of the study population for a clinical trial via the criteria for trial eligibility has implications for the validity of the study and its applicability to clinical practice. Though issues of equity regarding the selection of subjects for research have long been a concern of ethicists, issues regarding the impact of subject selection on a trial's generalizability have only recently attracted ethical scrutiny. After a review of the history of the ethics of subject selection, I focus on three empirical questions regarding the generalizability of clinical trials. (1) What proportion of diseased populations are studied in clinical trials? …