2020 Director's Message
Dr. Lynn Shaw
Four months ago, if I were asked which word I would use to describe the upcoming pandemic infused fall term, I may have chosen the word challenging. Now, looking back on the term, there are other descriptive words that come to mind.
Commitment. The School of Physiotherapy is well supported with Dalhousie’s commitment to invest in the necessary online tools and training to enable Dalhousie’s students to meet their academic goals. I, as the School Director, am truly impressed by the ongoing commitment of faculty and staff who work tirelessly to ensure student academic programming can continue at the high level that we are known for. As I see faculty and staff working together to move equipment from the Forrest Building to the McCain building to ensure the ongoing safety of our School of Physiotherapy Community in the upcoming term, the commitment of those involved has not gone unnoticed.
Creativity - Change during uncertain times is often a catalyst for creativity. This creativity has been displayed in a variety of ways. In order to streamline safety efforts, the Associate Director of the School of Physiotherapy and the School of Occupational Therapy collaborated with a fourth year student from the Faculty of Computer Science, to create a new COVID-19 pre-screening application for students attending face-2-face classes. Research advanced, knowledge disseminated, and theses defended this term because of the creativity and open-mindedness of faculty, students and alumni.
Caring - During uncertain times, caring has a way of showing the true character of individuals. The Master of Physiotherapy, Class of 2020 overcame the various pandemic hurdles to graduate. The graduation celebration was delayed a month in order for the class to celebrate their achievement together. Faculty, alumni, preceptors, award sponsors, physiotherapy association representatives and the student society all volunteered their time to personally congratulate our new graduates by submitting videos for the virtual graduation and awards ceremony. I am impressed with the caring of our students who volunteer their time and energy during one of their busiest months of studies, to raise $1875 for the very worthwhile Movember cause. With so many people working from home these days, Dalhousie’s Physiotherapy Clinic team showed client and community care by providing a variety of videos to help people stay comfortable and healthy as they work from their home or on-campus offices.
Community - As the pandemic drastically reduced mandatory placement opportunities for our graduating students, our ever-supportive College, Association and Health colleagues partnered with us to rally a call to ask clinical educators to become student mentors. Our student and School successes are shared with our Physiotherapy Community. We are grateful for your support and willingness to step up during these disruptive and uncertain times.
I encourage you all to take a moment to read the various articles and stories in this newsletter, my hope is that it will make you proud to be a part of such a committed, creative and caring community.
I wish you all a peaceful and restful festive season.