Our Indigenization Journey

• Panel included Leslie Wexler, Elaine Lillie, Andrea Edginton, Celine Huab (current pharmacy resident and Rx2022 alum) and Breanna Quan (Rx2026).

"We spoke to the journey and our curriculum, celebrated how far we have come with the acknowledgement that we are still, very much, a work in progress." - Andrea Edginton, Hallman Director

• Culturally Safe Patient Care (PHARM230) is a mandatory second year course that includes online and in-person components and builds on Indigenous Foundations content offered in the first-year curriculum. The accompanying image is used throughout the online course.

"Launching PHARM230 was a true collaborative effort. Pharmacy is forever grateful to the Indigenous Knowledges and Anti-Racist Pedagogies team for creating meaningful, accessible content and to the Centre for Extended Learning for providing an online learning environment that engages learners." - Elaine Lillie, Adjunct Assistant Professor and author of an Indigenous Initiatives strategy

• Dr. Jaris Swidrovich, Canada's first self-identified Indigenous faculty member in pharmacy and founder and co-chair of the Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada, speaks about decolonizing evidence-based medicine.

• team to provide a suite of training and practice e-resources, aimed at improving equitable access to care.

"Pharmacy’s strong record of relationship-building made it the leading candidate for a pilot for Indigenization of its curriculum through the Centre for Teaching Excellence.  The Pharmacy Indigenization project team is a group committed to innovating through trying new things and remaining willing to work through challenges and mistakes." – Leslie Wexler, Sr. Educational Developer, Indigenous Knowledges and Anti-Racist Pedagogies

• The School had 13 Indigenous applicants through the Indigenous Admissions Pathway to date.

• Dr. Michael Dan offered brief history of the impacts of colonialism, genocide and intergenerational trauma for Indigenous peoples living in Canada.
• Organized by Decolonizing UW Health Studies Working Group.

• Tammy Webster, registered band member of Kitigan Zibi Anishnabeg, and inaugural Director, Equity for Let’s Talk Science led webinar.
• Organized by the STEM Indigenization Community of Practice to help answer:
  • Why is it important to do land acknowledgements?
  • How to deliver a land acknowledgement in a meaningful, respectful way?
  • Where to go for authentic resources to help deliver the acknowledgement properly? 

• Conference of Pharmacy Education and Research Conference 2021.

• The University of Waterloo STEM Indigenization Community of Practice received LITE grant funding for their project "Indigenous-accepted STEM instructor resources for Indigenization".

"To settlers like myself who learned nothing of this history during my own education, it made it all very real…not something abstract that happened a long time ago in some far away place. This school continued to operate until fairly recently and is close to home." - Rosemary Killeen, Director, Distance Education and Continuing Professional Development, reflecting on the residential school tour

• Reimbursement of all fees associated with the application process.
• Offering academic flexibility in admission criteria.
• Office of Indigenous Relations involved in documentation verification and applicant interviews.

• This group delivers their first event featuring Veselin Jungic talking about Math Catchers, a community-based program to engage First Nations children and youth in studying mathematics.

• Indigenous elements to be embedded in courses throughout pharmacy curriculum.
• Examples include: NIHB billing infographic (PDF by WholeHealth Pharmacy Partners) and lesson incorporated in Professional Practice series.

• Created deliberate equitable admissions procedures to attract and support the future admission of Indigenous applicants to the PharmD program.
• Indigenous Admission Pathway applicants are offered alternative options and flexibility for the various academic and non-academic admission criteria.

Often in health care, we talk about vulnerability and inequity. However, putting these issues in their historical context for Indigenous health is essential for us to move forward to tackle racism and inequity in health care. It is essential to Indigenize our training of pharmacists to have better health-care workers that serve patients." - Dr. Wasem Alsabbagh, Associate Professor, on the Four Seasons of Reconciliation training

"I believe it is critically important that Indigenous youth see pharmacy as a profession where they can have a positive and meaningful impact on the health of their community.  We as a School are making strides towards improving the training that we provide to all our students so that they have the knowledge and skills to provide care to Indigenous peoples in a culturally appropriate manner." - David Edwards, former Hallman Director

• Dr. Swidrovich, Canada's first self-identified First Nations Doctor of Pharmacy, guided the development of our Indigenization Strategy and presented to faculty, staff and students. A recording of his presentation continues to be used in our curriculum to inspire our students today.

• The group includes members from the Schools of Pharmacy, Optometry and Vision Science, Public Health and Health Systems and Renison College School of Social Work.

• With First Nations, Inuit and Métis health-care providers and community members.
• With Pharmacy educators across Canada committed to Indigenization.
• Within University of Waterloo and other academic Indigenization groups.