Spring 2021 Director's Message
The year brought a new level of strength, creativity, resilience and community engagement ...
Written by Dr. Lynn Shaw
How can we best educate students to become exemplary health professionals?
The answer to this question evolves with every changing year. Responding to this question during the upheaval of a global pandemic forces us, as a School and as a community, to take a close look at our existing processes and methodologies and reimagine them to fit into this new world we find ourselves in.
The Forrest Building is a beautiful historical building brimming with memories of time spent with classmates, peers and colleagues. But when it comes to height-of-pandemic ventilation standards during the winter months, the Forrest Building is not at the top of the list of places to be. The School, Faculty and the University worked together to find a solution. As the last of the 2020 autumn leaves fluttered to the ground, a team of School faculty and staff members coordinated and executed the monumental task of transporting the administrative and physiotherapy program equipment and other assorted necessities to the McCain building to enable face-to-face skills labs to continue safely.
Clinical Placement coordination is a complex undertaking requiring the alignment of schedules, agreements, regulation adherence, medical records, along with other assorted and unforeseen circumstances and requirements. With the delayed completion of the Class of 2020 and the incoming pandemic health regulations, the School found itself in the unprecedented predicament of back-to-back-to-back placements for our students. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the tireless efforts of our internal Clinical Education Team as well as each and every Clinic and Clinical Educator who took on students this past year. I encourage you to take a moment to check out this year’s Dalhousie School of Physiotherapy Clinical Educator Award and Outstanding Contribution Award winners. You may also be interested in learning about the Virtual Integrated Interprofessional Access (VIIA) approach to care in the medical home – an innovative interfaculty initiative developed in response to the impact of COVID19 on access to rehabilitation services and care for patients with chronic conditions and the loss of clinical rotations for OT and PT students during COVID19.
As our academic community moves forward to its fourth and final phase of Return to Campus, our School priority will continue to be the safety and well-being of the faculty, staff, students and our broader community. Resumption of activities will align with public and occupational health and safety guidelines. Be assured, we will communicate prior notice of any upcoming changes. I, along with the School Associate Director, will continue to work with the Faculty of Health Dean and University leaders to provide necessary support for faculty, staff and students to ensure academic continuity and research advancement.
It’s been over a year since the world declared a pandemic, it tests us and tries us, and yet ground-breaking research moves forward, faculty push through the changing landscape to establish new ways of teaching, and students persevere and adapt. For me, and what I’ve observed of those around me, the year brought a new level of strength, creativity, resilience and community engagement, as our faculty have worked to adapt to COVID pressures, altering student progression of the curriculum and program to create the best possible environment for students, so they can become exemplary health professionals.
As we emerge from winter into the warmth and beauty of spring, I wish you all good health and renewed vigor.