EDI Committee Feature

CELEBRATING RACE, LANGUAGE, CULTURE, EXPERIENCES & UNIQUE PATHS THAT LEAD US TO OUR COMMON GOAL - PHYSIOTHERAPY.

By Jennifer Newman, Ifedayo Abel-Adegbite and Sabrina Nunn

For the past couple of years, the School of PT Inclusion and Equity Committee has been working on a project called “Faces of PT.” This initiative is aimed at showcasing the various backgrounds of current, and past students of the Dalhousie MSc Physiotherapy program. The purpose of this is to celebrate the diversity of our students in terms of race, language, culture, past educational experiences, and our various unique paths in life that all led us to our common goal of becoming a physiotherapist. Sabrina, Ife, and Jenn are the second-year reps of the SoPT Inclusion and Equity Committee taking the lead on this project alongside the Faculty Advisor, Marie Earl.

The “Faces of PT” project will be featured on the Dalhousie PT website as a blog styled outlet that showcases diversity in the physiotherapy profession. An online form will be distributed in the coming months to all current students, Alumni, and faculty members. The form consists of open ended questions about different life experiences that will shape these blogs. In the coming weeks, a trial run of these forms will be launched with a small group before opening up to other participants. This project will celebrate the diversity of past and current students and show prospective students that there are many routes to becoming a physiotherapist.  It is our goal to provide potential applicants a more intimate view of our current and past students’ lives to show that we are all unique and special in our own way. We are excited to get this project started and we cannot wait to show off all of your stories! Stay tuned for more information.  

This project will illustrate different pathways to physiotherapy education – a critical component in improving representation of our diverse communities on our health teams, and throughout the multifaceted physiotherapy profession. It opens up a space for awareness, learning, reflection and change in moving forward in achieving better health equity in physiotherapy. Helping all of us to grow and understand how together we can play a role in supporting students and clinicians in meeting the vast needs of the people we serve. The leadership of this team and this initiative is to be honoured. ~Lynn Shaw