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NaHSSA Conference
Who we are
Jason is a graduate student at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Educational Studies and is affiliated with the College of Health Disciplines, where he is investigating the role of interprofessional education (IPE) in fostering the essential competencies for effective interprofessional collaboration (IPC). Jason holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Respiratory Therapy from Dalhousie University and is currently practicing in Vancouver. In addition to his work with NaHSSA, Jason was a founding member of the Canadian Interprofessional Students Network (CISN) and has also served as the founder and chair of the Students Special Interest Group of the Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists. Aside from interprofessional education, Jason has been involved in international health projects and has worked as a medical volunteer in Cape Coast, Ghana and is also involved in projects related to access to essential medicines and neglected tropical disease research.
Jason can be reached by e-mail at president@nahssa.ca.
Anna Njarlangattil is currently a 4th year (Medical Science) student at the University of Western Ontario and plans to commence medical studies in the fall of 2008. She is an active member of the London Interprofessional Students’ Association at Western and Fanshawe College, serving as Vice Chair as well as sitting on other Interprofessional Education (IPE) related committees within the Western as well as on NaHSSA's Advisory Committee. She was involved in the planning of NaHSSA’s annual conference in January, 2008, and at the conference she presented a new IPE undergraduate course developed by students at Western. Since her election to the Board of Directors - VP Academic position, Anna has been working towards advancing NaHSSA and IPE across the country.
Anna can be reached by email at vpacademic@nahssa.ca
A native of the Greater Toronto Area, Eveline is in her fifth year of Dual Degree studies in Nursing and Music at Queen’s University. At the local level, she is one of the Co-Chairs for the 5th Annual NaHSSA Conference and a member of the Queen’s HSSA Executive. As the current President of the Nursing Science Society, she has been working to strength the bonds of Interprofessionalism between the disciplines by creating the first ever Queen’s University Health Sciences President’s Caucus – a forum for the collaboration of the Health Sciences student leaders. She is currently working on opening an interprofessional student-run clinic initiative at Queen’s, and hopes to pursue a Master’s degree in Interprofessional Teaching and Learning following the completion of her undergraduate degrees. Excited to continue the implementation of NaHSSA’s Strategic Plan, she intends to focus on expanding partnerships within the legal community, establishing a long-term financial strategies plan, and supporting individual chapters in finding sustainable local funding sources. Eveline is fluent in both English and Italian, with a working knowledge of French.
She can be contacted in any of these languages at vplegalfinance.
Raed Joundi is a medical student entering his second year of study at Queen’s University. He completed his BSc at the University of Manitoba in microbiology, neuroscience, and philosophy. He was previously the secretary of the Queen’s HSSA as well as a member of the NaHSSA Advisory Council, and was elected to the Board of Directors as Vice-President Internal Affairs at the 2008 NaHSSA Conference. He will also be serving as the Delegates Co-ordinator for the 2009 Conference hosted by Queen’s University. Raed enjoys working with children, and is currently a camp counselor for at-risk youth. He also has a strong interest in neuroscience, and hopes to ultimately specialize in paediatric neurology (a very inter-disciplinary area!) In addition, he has an enthusiasm for human rights and global health, and will be traveling to Tanzania this summer to volunteer at a hospital and orphanage near Mount Kilimanjaro. In his free time, Raed enjoys martial arts, camping, running, and squash, but has a marked aversion towards golf. He is excited about being a part of inter-professionalism on a national level and deepening his understanding in collaborative patient-centred care.
Raed can be contacted by email at vpinternal@nahssa.ca.
In 2006, Kamini completed her nursing degree from McMaster University. Since graduation, she has worked as a Registered Nurse in an acute mental healthcare unit and as a research assistant in mental health and housing research. She is currently pursing a Master’s of Science in Nursing degree at the University of Western Ontario. Her research areas of interest include mental health and culture, interprofessional education (IPE), and knowledge translation. Kamini’s interest in IPE stemmed from her experience in a ‘Community Health Initiative by University Students’ Steering Committee at McMaster. From 2006-2008, she has received a stipend for her involvement on the Steering Committee for the Consortium of Interprofessional Health Education and Research – Mental Health at Western. During her term as Chair of the London Interprofessional Student Healthcare Association, Kamini also coordinated the 4th Annual National Interprofessional Healthcare Conference. She continues to provide student input into the development of IPE and Research at Western as a member on the Advisory Council. As VP Communications, Kamini will aim at improving communication between and across chapters, the public, educators, and policymakers within Canada.
Kamini can be contacted by email at vpcommunications@nahssa.ca
Lindsay is a fourth year nursing student from the Dalhousie University School of Nursing. There she has been extremely involved with her profession. She is currently the student representative on the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia pilot project for her graduating class. She has also been involved with the Dalhousie Nursing Society as the former Class Representative 2006-2007 and the DAL Health Science Students’ Association Nursing Representative 2007-2008. Lindsay became involved with DalHSSA by attending their annual general meeting in 2007 and immediately became involved. There she ran and was elected for the position of Vice President Events for the 2007-2008 academic term. She was also elected for this NaHSSA position in 2008 at the Annual Conference in London Ontario while representing Dalhousie’s local chapter. Lindsay has a passion for interprofessional education and has been a leader of interprofessionalism within her own university . She has provided student feedback at the Dalhousie University Academic Forum exploring ways to increase Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Patient-Centred Practice within the Dalhousie curriculum and community. This year Lindsay will be the executive Chair of her local DalHSSA chapter and looks forward to leading efforts at the national level to support other local chapters within NaHSSA. She plans to continue the local chapter highlight series’ and strengthen the bond between the National Board of Directors and the leaders of the local chapters.
Lindsay can be contacted by email at vpchapterdevelopment@nahssa.ca
Melissa can be contacted by email at vpbilingualism@nahssa.ca
A homegrown Saskatchewanian, Shandy will be entering her second year of medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. Prior to medicine, she completed a bachelors degree in Physical Therapy and she continues to practice in orthopedics and cardio-respiratory as time allows. Shandy first became involved with her local HSSA as a physical therapy student and is now an active member of the U of S chapter as the incoming president. Her passion for IPE has led her to become a strong advocate at her local university by promoting early IPE exposure, student body input, and the push for student representation on University IPE committees. She is also involved with SWITCH, the student run health clinic in Saskatoon, where students from many health related professions work together for holistic patient-centered care. Aside from IPE, Shandy shares a passion for local and global health issues and is a participant of the Making the Links program. As part of the program she will be completing a summer research project in a northern community in 2008 and will travel to Mozambique in the summer of 2009. Shandy looks forward to her involvement with IPE promotion at the national level and working with students from all across Canada.
Shandy can be reached by email at vpstudentaffairs@nahssa.ca
Alex is completing her fourth year of nursing at Queen’s University. She has been involved with the National Health Sciences Students’ Association since the summer of 2006 - first as the interim VP Communications (2006-2007), then as the President (2007-2008) and currently as the Past President (2007-2008). At the local level, Alex was the President of the Queen’s HSSA chapter (2006-2007) and has been an active member of the Queen’s IECPCP government-funded project, QUIPPED, as both a member of its Steering Committee and as a recipient of two student stipends. She is also a member of the CIHC’s Knowledge Translation and Exchange Sub-Committee and sat on the Education Working Group for the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care’s Interprofessional Care Steering Committee, Health Force Ontario Strategy. Currently Alex is involved with the Accreditation of Interprofessional Health Project, headed by the Associated Faculties of Medicine of Canada, and will be completing a summer internship with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Alex can be contacted by email at pastpresident@nahssa.ca
John Gilbert received his undergraduate education at the University of London and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1963 for graduate studies at Purdue University where he was also the David Ross Research Fellow. He received his PhD in Speech Science (Experimental Phonetics) in 1966.
John joined the Department of Paediatrics at UBC in 1966, where he was a Medical Research Council Post-Doctoral Scholar from 1968 to 1973. He founded the Division of Audiology and Speech Sciences in 1969, which became a School in 1982, and of which he was Director until 1988. From 1985-1988 he also served as Director of the School of Rehabilitation Sciences.
John is B.C.’s Ministry of Health Services representative to Health Canada’s National Expert Committee on Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Patient Centred Practice, and serves as expert advisor on the F/T/P Coordinating Committee on Entry to Practice Credentials. In the past five years he has published five papers on aspects of interprofessional education (IPE), and is preparing an MS for submission on the UBC model for IPE. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal for Interprofessional Care and is one of the founding members of the International Association for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice, which will hold its inaugural meeting in London, April 2006. He was Convenor of the international conference: Altogether Better Health: Progress in Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice (Vancouver May 2004). As Principal of the College of Health Disciplines he is deeply involved in advancing interprofessional education across UBC’s 15 health and human service academic programs and in collaboration with a wide range of community agencies. During the past two years he has given more than 35 invited presentations in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia and Japan on all aspects of IPE.
Professional associations have honoured John both provincially and nationally. In 1988, he was awarded the Medal for Outstanding Professional Achievement by the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists. He was named one of the Outstanding Alumni in the School of Liberal Arts by Purdue University in 1993; in 1995, he received a UBC Faculty of Medicine Killam Outstanding Teaching Award. He received a 50th Jubilee Medal from the Faculty of Medicine at UBC in 2000 for his exceptional and outstanding contribution to the Faculty. In 2003 he was given the Distinguished Service Award by the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He is a member of UBC’s Senate, chaired the Task Force to Examine the Administrative Organization of Studies in Human Health at UBC, which reported to Senate in April 1997. He is a member of the Executive and Operating Committees of the British Columbia Academic Health Council. He served for 19 years on the Advisory Committee for the B.C. Medical Services Foundation and for 15 years as its Chair.
He was instrumental in establishing the unique College of Health Disciplines at UBC (December 2001) of which he is Principal. The mission of the College is IPE. He was recently elected the first President of the International Association for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice.
John is also the first Chair of the Board of the Women’s Health Research Institute at Women’s Hospital, and a member of the Women’s Hospital Foundation.
John can be contacted by email at facultyadvisor@nahssa.ca.
Dr. Louise Nasmith was born and raised in Montreal. She obtained a B.A. from the University of Toronto in 1974 and her medical degree from McGill University in 1978. She completed a rotating internship in Montreal, practiced for one year and then returned to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a residency in Family Medicine. In 1995 she was named chair of the Department of Family Medicine at McGill, a position that she held until 2002 when she moved to Toronto to take on the same role in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Her scholarship has centred on medical education resulting in her obtaining a Master's of Education from McGill in 1994 and a series of publications and presentations in this area. In addition she has been involved in a number of projects that focus on integration of care for chronic illness and on interprofessional care and education. She is a member of the National Expert Committee on Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Patient-Centred Practice, a Health Canada initiative. This involvement, along with her role as Interim Chief of Family Medicine at the Toronto Western Hospital, have allowed her to bring the broader perspective of the role of interprofessional team-based care in the Canadian health care system into her academic and clinical work.
Dr. Nasmith has been involved with the College of Family Physicians of Canada since 1985 and was the President for the 2005-2006 year. She will be assuming the position of Principal of the College of Health Disciplines at the University of British Columbia on June 1st, 2007.
Dr. Nasmith can be contacted by email at facultymentor@nahssa.ca