Indigenous health care lessons unveiled for doctors

Medical residents and practising doctors will be offered educational programs on First Nations, Inuit and Métis health topics under a pilot project announced Wednesday.

The Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and Health Canada unveiled the project in Ottawa.

It aims to improve indigenous health care by educating physicians about the specific needs of aboriginal Canadians.

"These educational modules outline ways for physicians to provide better, more culturally responsive care to aboriginal people," Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said in a statement.

Faculty from medical schools, national aboriginal groups, indigenous elders and experts in First Nations, Inuit and Métis helped develop the curriculum modules on:

• Obstetrics.
• Gynecology.
• Psychiatry.
• Family Medicine.

The modules will provide basic statistical and historical information and cover topics including residential schools, vital statistics and the social determinants of health, such as how the conditions in which people live and work affects the quality of their health.

"This initiative builds on our work to influence medical education at the undergraduate level, so that there will be First Nations, Inuit and Métis health education at all levels of medical learning," said Dr. Marcia Anderson, president of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada.