We check in with Beth-Ann Cummings, MDCM, as she wraps up her first year heading up the expanded portfolio of Vice-Dean, Education and Community Engagement. Dr. Cummings gives us an update on her office’s evolving scope to encompass community engagement priorities as well as new directions for faculty development and interprofessional learning, and a peek at what’s coming up for next year.
You’ve been in this role for about a year now – how has it been going?
I’m grateful that colleagues and learners have taken the time to bring me up to speed on what they’re working on and what’s important to them. That to me is the most energizing part of the entire dossier. There’s so much amazing work being done in both education and community engagement, both by individuals and by units and departments. The enthusiasm for doing this work to better serve our learners, our staff, our faculty and the communities in Quebec is really inspiring.
The scope of the Vice-Dean’s role has expanded. Can you tell us a little about the new structure and the reasons behind the change?
My office is now structured with two hubs of activity – Community Engagement and Belonging and Education Support, Enhancement and Innovation. Education is about preparing learners to meet the future needs of Quebec society, broader society, and the communities that we serve. By linking the education and community engagement portfolios more explicitly, it really forces us to identify and strengthen those links and to make sure that we always keep an eye on this, in particular for the health professions.
Can we hear a little more about the two hubs, starting with Community Engagement and Belonging?
Community Engagement and Belonging brings together leaders working in these areas within our Schools and is an opportunity for us to have a high-level view of the various ways we’re already engaging with communities. We want to strengthen existing relationships and ensure that what we build moving forward is of mutual benefit to our Faculty and the community.
The hub includes the Indigenous Health Professions Program (IHPP), which remains its own program with its own leadership. Connecting the work being done with Indigenous communities to the broader Faculty community allows us to learn from the wisdom of these experiences, particularly with regard to outreach, and also create a community of allies. We need to recognize that a small group of Indigenous faculty and learners can’t bear all of the responsibility for doing that outreach and education – we have to do this work together.
And the Education Support, Enhancement and Innovation?
This hub brings faculty development, rebranded as Faculty Enrichment and Development(FacED), and led by Associate Dean Sophie Vaillancourt, and Interprofessional Education (IPE), led by Prof. Cynthia Perlman, closer together , while maintaining the expertise of these teams. We’re linking the core business in education that crosses the boundaries of our Schools to better support this work.
The FacED team has just launched one such initiative: a new online microlearning module, Introduction to Clinical Supervision. This microlearning activity is accessible on-demand in English and French and available to the numerous clinical teachers and supervisors throughout the province who supervise our health professions students. The quality of clinical education that we offer depends on clinical teachers and supervisors – and we’re grateful for their commitment. This new approach to FacED activities recognizes and supports their work with activities they can access when they want, in small bites, in the language of their preference.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing educators in the health sciences in the coming year?
One of the challenges facing educators in this province is obviously the budgetary constraints facing higher education and health care. We’re preparing learners for careers in the biomedical sciences, population and global health, and the health professions in a shifting landscape. We need to be on the leading edge of education and continue to recruit outstanding learners into our cutting-edge programs that pave the way to the future despite the challenges.
A challenge – but also an opportunity – is identifying how to use artificial intelligence in education in a way that takes into account the inherent risks of bias, especially when we’re thinking about diverse groups of learners or populations. At the same time, there are tasks that AI could potentially do to free us up to do other higher order tasks, and I think in health sciences education we need to be thinking about what we can and should be offloading to technology.
Throughout health sciences education, we need to continue to think about belonging, . We are continuing work to address anti-Black racism and to meet our obligations for Truth and Reconciliation, while recognizing that other groups and communities are also suffering from racism, discrimination, and exclusion. An upcoming priority is accessibility and looking at how principles of universal design can enhance the success and sense of belonging of our learners, faculty, and staff.
What are some things the Faculty can do to better support our educators to face these challenges?
Thinking about how to reach more people in the way they want to be reached is really key. That’s why I’m really excited by the new online FacED series, Introduction to Clinical Supervision. Knowing our teachers and supervisors are spread across the province, activities that are in-person are inaccessible to and exclude many of the valuable members of our community. There are also four Health Professions Schools in the FMHS, and the needs of teachers are different. Introduction to Clinical Supervision takes this into account, with modules for Medicine, Nursing, and Rehab Sciences.
At the same time, having no opportunities to meet, exchange, and learn in-person would be a mistake. Being together fosters a sense of belonging and community. I’m glad to see that many groups are shifting back to some in-person meetings and activities, while maintaining hybrid options to promote accessibility. I have launched several Education and Community Engagement committees that bring together leaders from across our six Schools. As a community, we’re identifying shared priorities, common concerns, and helping each other succeed across the health sciences.
We need to make sure that we are constantly attentive to building communities of practice and support for the professors, teachers, and supervisors who are the backbone of the education mission.
Do you have a great teacher or mentor who inspired you to do this work?
I think the biggest inspiration for me to choose to take on this this role is Prof. Annette Majnemer, who was the inaugural Vice-Dean, Education, and with whom I had the pleasure of working closely when I was Assistant Dean, Health Professions Education. That was my first experience working for a leader who was not from Medicine, and I learned so much from her about how each of us brings our own worldview to bear, and that the more lenses you have in the room, the better. That’s actually one of the reasons I was so excited that this became an education and community engagement portfolio. I perceive that linking our education work to the needs of the communities we serve – all while fostering a sense of belonging in our community – is key to bringing the whole thing together.
