Enhanced Skills Program: Global Health and Vulnerable Populations Goals and Objectives

Family physicians in a global heath practitioner role will be able to:

Establish and maintain clinical knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to their practice in resource-poor settings and with vulnerable and marginalized populations in Canada and abroad;
Recognize and address the ethical issues inherent to the practice of family medicine in the global heath arena;
Perform a complete and appropriate assessment of a patient with the limited resources available;
Use preventive and therapeutic interventions appropriate for the population and community served;
Demonstrate proficient and appropriate use of procedural skills, both diagnostic and therapeutic available in the resource-poor setting;
Provide care that is culturally appropriate with an awareness of and respect for the local beliefs, customs and practices;
Seek appropriate consultation from other health professionals and key community leaders recognizing the limits of their expertise;
Provide clinical and knowledge support, guidance and teaching to other health care providers, at all levels;
Identify specific resource gaps and develop programs and interventions, in collaboration with the community, to address systemic issues which negatively impact the health of individuals and of the community;
Address individual and collective health inequities in the context of the historical, political and economical developments which have conspired and continue to fuel them.

Family physicians in a global heath practitioner role will be able to:

Participate effectively and appropriately in an inter-professional healthcare team;
Effectively work with other health professionals to prevent, negotiate, and resolve inter-professional conflict;
Collaborate with local heath authorities and major community stakeholders to assess and address systemic health threats;
Identify and engage the health authorities and other key stakeholders at both the international, national, regional and local level to address health inequities.

Family physicians in a global heath practitioner role will be able to...

Develop rapport, trust and ethical therapeutic relationships with patients and families across cultural and linguistic differences;
Accurately elicit and synthesize relevant information and perspectives of vulnerable and marginalized patients and their families, colleagues, community stakeholders and other professionals despite the resource-poor environment in which they practice;
Accurately convey relevant information and explanations to patients and families, colleagues and other professionals taking into consideration the cultural and experiential differences and the related vulnerabilities of their patient;
Develop a common understanding on issues, problems and plans with patients and families, colleagues and community to develop a shared plan of care or community intervention.

Family physicians in a global heath practitioner role will be able to...

Measure, document and communicate health inequities and their systemic underpinnings;
Respond to health needs of individual patients and of the community particularly those most neglected and vulnerable;
Identify and address the macro and micro contributors to health inequities;
Identify the determinants of health of the populations that they serve;
Promote the health of individual patients, communities and populations;
Negotiate with health authorities, government representatives and NGO’s for the improvement of health inequities locally and abroad.

Family physicians in a global heath practitioner role will be able to...

Participate in the scholarship of discovery, application, integration or education with a view to improve health;
Contribute to building the capacity of the community to assess and evaluate its own health and social parameters;
Bring forward for debate and consideration the factors which underlie inequities in health through various scholarly channels.

Family physicians in a global heath practitioner role will be able to...

Participate in activities that contribute to the effectiveness of their hospitals, other healthcare organizations and systems to address the needs of the underserved locally and abroad;
Manage their practice and career effectively taking into consideration their commitment and responsibility to communities locally and abroad;
Allocate finite healthcare resources appropriately in the context of resource poor settings;
Serve in administration and leadership roles, as appropriate.