Dispatches International
no real economic development in our area so they really pushed me to pursue my post-secondary educa- tion and finish my schooling. They wanted us to be self-sufficient.” There are extreme health
disparities between the First Na- tions, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and the general Canadian population. Among Aboriginal peoples, there are high rates of mental illness, alco- holism, fetal alcohol syndrome, do- mestic violence, diabetes, tubercu- losis, sexually transmitted diseases, obesity, and hypertension. Relative to the general Canadian population, the life expectancy of Aboriginal peoples is 7.4 and 5.2 years shorter for males and females, respectively. Suicide rates are five to seven
times higher for Aboriginal youth than the national average, and sui- cide is also one of the greatest causes of injury-related deaths. Infectious diseases impact Aboriginal peoples at rates two to seven times higher, depending on the disease, than the overall Canadian population. Exten- sive research has been conducted into the intergenerational effects of trauma endured by the First Na- tions of Canada, but no consensus has been drawn, other than the ob- vious: the poor health of Canadian Aboriginal peoples is a complicated interplay of multiple factors. Canada has the second largest
proportion of indigenous peoples of any country in the world, with over 1 million people, representing almost 4% of the Canadian popula- tion. There are over 600 distinctive First Nations communities, each
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with their own culture, language, arts, and music. Almost half of the Aboriginal peoples are distributed in major centers, living amongst the general population of Canada, while others live in rural communities and on reserves. A partnership between the
Association of Faculties of Medi- cine of Canada and the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada through a broad consultation pro- cess has produced the set of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Health Core Competencies meant to com- bat healthcare issues in Aboriginal communities. Barbie Shore, a project manager on this initiative with the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada explains that the purpose of this framework for undergradu- ate medical education is to ensure all the physicians are well-trained. “They must be able to provide
culturally safe care with indigenous patients, their families, and commu- nities,” says Shore. There are seven core competencies with associated enabling objectives. “The compe- tencies are what you are teaching to. For example, to describe what culturally safe care is for First Na- tions, Inuit, and Métis peoples, the students have to have had some experience or training in order for them to be able to do that.” To facilitate the implemen-
tation of this curriculum, there is a working group with representa- tives and educators from each of the schools, as well as the commu- nity partners who are working with them. “At the national level they
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