Waterloo Pharmacy student wins third place in the University of Waterloo Map the System Competition
Benjamin Longley (Rx2027) and his research partner Connie Chong, MPACS student in the Master of Peace and Conflict program, worked together to understand the barriers refugees face when accessing healthcare in Canada. Their project won third place in the Map the System Competition, sponsored by the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI).
Map the System is designed to explore and research the systems that exist within our society. It is not intended for students to come up with a solution but to find what causes the system to remain in place and to look at the gaps in the current solution landscape. Students are faced with real-world problems and are guided to establish a good understanding of the intricacies of how everything within the system functions.
Longley and Chong merged their different educational backgrounds to map the system of healthcare through the lens of refugees arriving in Canada.
“I came from a place of privilege and had a lot to learn,” says Longley. “The barriers refugees face when accessing healthcare stem from multiple areas, including language, culture and finance. This project helped us identify all the barriers, how they connect and reinforce one another in the system. When we found solutions that exist we then looked at where they fell short and whether even a minor difference would make the solutions more effective.”
Longley adds that the Canadian healthcare system consists primarily of white European roots. “Awareness of cultural differences that exist is important and as students we need the exposure to know what works in practice to help make our field more accessible and accepting for refugees coming to Canada.”
Mapping the system impacted Longley to address the current curriculum to improve culturally sensitive care for refugees. The project opened his eyes to the barriers and larger systemic challenges in place within our society.
Longley encourages other students to follow their passions to pursue smaller projects to apply their pharmacy knowledge to the social humanities to start thinking innovatively to help tackle big system challenges.
“This project genuinely built my confidence in my ability to practice as a pharmacist in the future,” Longley says. “The exposure to different perspectives and real-world issues reframed my way of thinking.”
Longley and Chong are thankful for this award as it confirms the value of their work and inspires them to continue to educate others and push barriers.