Welcome to our series, McGill in Quebec: Together for better health, which celebrates the contributions of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences members across Quebec. From Montérégie and Outaouais to Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik, our students, trainees, clinicians and researchers are proud and privileged to partner with local communities to learn and teach, to care for Quebecers and to improve health outcomes for all. Discover their compelling stories.
Last summer, Ethan Dziewirz was one of four speech-language pathology (SLP) students from McGill’s School of Communication Sciences and Disorders (SCSD) who completed a placement in Chisasibi, located in Eeyou Itschee.
Over the course of five weeks, they planned to offer assessments to children at Waapinichikush Elementary School, in partnership with the Cree School Board.
One memory that has stayed with Dziewirz was learning to make bannock with members of the local community.
But sharing food with their new neighbours wasn’t just a fun after-hours activity, says Dziewirz. This chance to meet and learn from community members set the tone for the rest of the placement.
“It was crucial for us to express our genuine intentions, learn more about the culture and operate in a way that’s respectful and mindful of the people in it,” Dziewirz adds.
By the end of the placement, the students and their supervisors completed full SLP assessments for nine children, working closely with their teachers and family members.
Building trust is central to ensuring students provide compassionate, culturally appropriate care, says Sophie Vaillancourt, MBA, S-LP, Assistant Professor (Professional) and Coordinator of Clinical Education in the SCSD, who co-organized this summer’s placement.
It has also been the cornerstone of the SCSD’s partnerships with the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay (since 2014) and the Cree School Board (since 2018).
Marie-Paule Germain, the Coordinator of Special Education Services at the Cree School Board, has worked diligently to continue the partnership between the Cree School Board and McGill’s Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program. Her efforts ensure that the services provided to the children at Waapinichikush Elementary School, align with the iiyiyiu/iinu education values and principles.
Germain says that while the initial goal is to deliver SLP services to elementary school students, the ultimate aim is to build local capacity and inspire potential community members to take an interest in the field of speech and language.
Addressing an SLP shortage in remote areas
The SCSD’s partnerships with underserved communities across Quebec allow students to enhance their skills in clinical and educational environments. They also help address unmet needs, particularly those of Indigenous peoples living far from the province’s urban centres.
“There are not many speech-language pathologists in Quebec, and often, remote areas do not have access to these services at all,” Prof. Vaillancourt explains.
That’s what convinced Prof. Vaillancourt, her fellow clinical supervisor Alexandra Lauzon, S-LP, and their partners at the Cree School Board to bring this year’s placement students to Waapinichikush Elementary School. To make this possible, the Cree School Board kindly provided lodging and transportation for both supervisors and the students.
As well as providing SLP assessments for nine children, another priority of the project is ensuring continuity of care, Prof. Vaillancourt explains. She adds that two of the nine children already started interventions during the placement. The others will be offered intervention services with McGill students using telepractice over the fall and winter semesters.
Close collaboration with community members
Training on the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion is built into the SCSD’s curriculum. Dziewirz and his classmates also received a toolkit on providing culturally appropriate care to diverse Indigenous peoples, developed by speech-language pathologists and Indigenous consultants.
The hiring of this consulting team, as well as Lauzon’s salary as a supervisor, was made possible by the grant Soutien aux stages et à la formation pratique dans le domaine de la santé et des services sociaux, awarded to Prof. Vaillancourt and the SCSD for such endeavours.
The toolkit cautioned against overreliance on certain SLP assessment methods, which are often based on standard North American norms.
Therefore, alongside these formal tests, it was critical for students to include family members and teachers in the assessment process to better understand each child’s development at school and at home.
“Establishing trust and making an effort to involve community members is really important, especially in being able to reliably report accurate results,” Dziewirz says.
Adds Prof Vaillancourt: “By training our students to have an inclusive and culturally humble approach to delivering SLP services, we hope to dampen, if not stop, the negative impacts that we may have as healthcare and education providers on Indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups.”
Since the SCSD began its community partnerships in 2014, several of its graduates have continued working with underserved populations across Quebec – including three in Eeyou Itschee. After his time in Chisasibi, Dziewirz plans to follow that path too.
“One of my career goals is to be able to serve culturally diverse populations here in Quebec,” he says.
