Reaching out to Aboriginal students

Kara Paul is the coordinator of the Aboriginal Health Sciences Initiative. (Nick Pearce Photo)

How can we get more Aboriginal students to enroll in the health sciences? This question is being asked across the country, and right here at Dalhousie too.

The Aboriginal Health Sciences Initiative (AHSI) is a collaborative project, comprised of faculty and staff members from Dalhousie and Cape Breton University, and leaders from Aboriginal communities in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Working together, the AHSI Advisory Committee aims to increase the enrolment of Aboriginal students in the health sciences at Dal.

“We need more aboriginal students in the health fields, to better reflect the population in Canada. We’re not there yet, but Dalhousie is taking steps to make that happen,” says Kara Paul, AHSI coordinator. Her role is to coordinate the advisory committee and its working committees as they review current processes at Dal and make recommendations for the university to implement.

The university received funding for this project through the Aboriginal Human Health Research Initiative (AHHRI), which aims to increase enrollment and retention of Aboriginal people working in health careers across the country.

The Dalhousie committee is focused on four major areas:

• admission and support
• curriculum 
• cultural competencies - developing recommendations for creating an environment in the health sciences that is friendly and supportive for Aboriginal students
• outreach

Professor Fred Wien in the School of Social Work is co-chair of the committee, and principal investigator on the project.

“As the list of major areas indicates, addressing this issue requires a multi-faceted approach,” he says. “Fortunately, we have a wealth of experience at the committee table, as well as best practices arising from the experience of other universities in Canada.”

Ms. Paul says the committees have a great mix of people working together to address this issue.

“We have members of the Aboriginal community, we have Dalhousie faculty and staff, and we have members of government on this committee. It is a highly collaborative approach, and we feel this will lead to good discussion and solutions. We hope that by implementing our recommendations, Dalhousie will eventually see more Aboriginal students graduating from the health sciences.”