Twelve Bachelor of Health Sciences' students are among those who have received the 2022 Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Indigeneity, and Accessibility (EDIIA) Studentships for projects that aim to transform Queen's Health Sciences (QHS) into a more diverse and inclusive community.
The 2022 EDIIA Studentships support students from across QHS in undertaking projects that support and/or complement the work of the Dean’s Action Table on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Indigeneity and Accessibility (DAT-EDIIA).
QHS Teaching Assistant EDIIA Module
Niroshini Mather
This project strives to create an EDIIA Teaching Assistant (TA) training program specific to the Health Sciences program. Unlike in other programs, Health Sciences TAs play an increasingly front-facing role, as the primary point of contact in online courses and by facilitating interactive in-class activities. EDIIA training can help foster an inclusive learning environment for marginalized students, while simultaneously ensuring TAs feel comfortable and capable of recognizing and addressing equity-related concerns and questions.
Enhancing Indigenous Recruitment and Enrollment to the Bachelor of Health Sciences Program
Kyran Sachdeva, with mentorship by Cortney Clark
This project seeks to understand why Indigenous students are underrepresented at QHS, and will provide actionable suggestions for increasing Indigenous enrolment, creating equitable opportunities to study health sciences.
DAT-EDI Admissions Working Group: Implementing EDIIA-Focused Admissions Interventions Across QHS
Jiale Xie, Nicole Hajjar, and Nicole Shipton
The DAT-EDIIA admissions working group is composed of a diverse group of students, staff, and faculty from across QHS programs and was established to make admissions processes at QHS more equitable and inclusive. This project aims to translate the group’s work into recommendations and actions on EDIIA-focused admissions interventions for each QHS program.
QHSOSP Mentorship Initiative
Aisling Martins-Ezeifeaku, Angela Li, Clearwen Sladen-Dew, Danial Vagharfard, Jazlyn McGuinty, Reyana Jayawardena, Ryan Truong, Samsoor Akberzai, and Sanchit Kaushal
An extension of the QHS Outreach and Summer program (QHSOSP) pilot, this team aims to enhance health sciences knowledge by building upon the initiative, which pairs equity-deserving high school students grades 9 to 11 with undergraduate learners. Through a newly devised one-week summer program, QHSOP will utilize studentship funding to aid students in fostering meaningful mentor-mentee relationships while promoting further exploration of the field of health sciences.