Who would have thought that brushing your teeth, washing
your hands and packing a healthy lunch could be so much
fun?
The 200 middle and high school students who took
part in Health in the City, the all-day event focused
on health
care, had a great time doing all of these things and
more.
With their Health in the City passports in hand,
the students enthusiastically went through six health
stations,
each representing a different theme and set of activities
run by a group of George Brown students and faculty
from different programs. Upon completion of one health
station,
the students received a stamp before running off to
the next. The most popular activities as rated by the students
were at the mobility health station where they wore
special goggles to simulate vision loss and at the oral
health
station where they brushed their teeth and with the
help of disclosing tablets, saw what they missed.
The day was
a collaborative effort between the community services
and health sciences programs including Intervenor,
Activation/Gerontology, Orthotics/Prosthetics, Dental,
Nursing and Fitness and Lifestyle Management to name
a few.
The delivery of health-care services is moving
towards an integrated model and George Brown College
is responding
to this change by providing an interprofessional curriculum
to its students in all of these programs, said Lorie
Shekter-Wolfson, Dean of the Faculty of Community Services
and Health Sciences.
"Health in the City was an opportunity
for prospective students and community partners to learn
more about health-care
career options, the evolving health-care system and how
George Brown is addressing that evolution," said
Shekter-Wolfson.
Mauricio Araya, a teacher from Oakdale
Park Middle School, brought his class of Grade 8 students
to participate
and get a head start on knowing what their futures can
hold.
"It's good to expose kids to different
careers," Araya
said. "Grade 12 is too late for them to decide
what they want to do. They should at least have an idea
of what's out there now." The unique and interactive
nature of the stations helped the students see that they
can be other things besides
nurses, social workers and dental hygienists, said Kelly
Russell, a teacher also from Oakdale Park.
Even the teachers
and guidance counsellors were surprised by George Brown's
roster of programs and the career options that are available
to our graduates.
"There are so many new things in health
sciences. Students have probably never even thought of
sign language or
activation co-ordination," said Ellen Ison, a guidance
counsellor from Etobicoke Collegiate, as she visited
the program displays and collected brochures to bring
back to her students.
For those who have applied to health
sciences or community services programs, Health in the
City served as an interactive
orientation session, allowing them to get to know the
facilities, the staff, faculty and current students.
Members
of the health community also participated in an afternoon
symposium which featured the following panelists:
- Shirlee
Sharkey, CEO of St. Elizabeth Health Care and Chair,
George Brown College Board of Governors;
- Jeff Lozon,
President and CEO of St. Michael's
Hospital;
- Michael Decter, Chair of Canadian Health
Council;
- George Zegarac, the Assistant Deputy Minister
of Community Health with the Ministry of Health and
Long-term Care;
and
- Sandra MacDonald-Rencz, Co-Chair of the Interprofessional
Education Advisory Committee for Health Canada.
About
200 people attended the discussion forum which focused
on the future educational needs required to keep
professionals in sync with health-care reform.
"Health
in the City was a tremendous success," said
Shekter-Wolfson. "There was such a buzz around
the event that we have already started planning for next
year."
Student activities
Students, teachers and guidance counselors explored health-care career options,
the evolving health-care system and emerging models for education and health-care
delivery. View photos
of health stations and student activities at Health in the City 2005.
Symposium
Transforming the Health-care System - The
Education Gap
A special symposium provided an important platform for key industry
leaders to discuss the role that education needs to play in the
health-care system. Our panelists offered different perspectives
on how they view the education gap.
Revised: August 22, 2006
 |
PROGRAMS AND COURSES 
February
3, 2005
