Conference Sessions

Over the past three years, the global pandemic has underscored the vital role that healthcare workers have played in upholding healthcare systems worldwide. In Canada, a significant proportion of healthcare workers comprises those who are employed on the frontlines, many of whom have recently immigrated to the country. Notably, several have been involved in multiple migrations, working in healthcare systems in other countries prior to arriving in Canada. Particularly on the frontlines of healthcare work, the pandemic has exposed the disproportionate risk and impact of structural inequality at the intersections of race and ethnicity, occupation, citizenship, and socioeconomic status. Deemed essential and amongst one of the most stressful frontline occupations, these positions are predominantly occupied by racialized women.In this session, we will explore the dynamics between healthcare institutions, work and labour, and immigration, and delve into the complexities, challenges, and opportunities arising from the convergence of these domains. Particularly, we will examine the im/mobility and stratification that workers face within healthcare institutions and organizations. Understanding their challenges is vital for developing equitable organizational and management strategies, policies that optimize service delivery, and improving their retention within healthcare institutions. Their work is pivotal for ensuring the efficient functioning of healthcare systems, provision of patient care, and effective mentorship of new workers.

Over the past three years, the global pandemic has underscored the vital role that healthcare workers have played in upholding healthcare systems worldwide. In Canada, a significant proportion of healthcare workers comprises those who are employed on the frontlines, many of whom have recently immigrated to the country. Notably, several have been involved in multiple migrations, working in healthcare systems in other countries prior to arriving in Canada. Particularly on the frontlines of healthcare work, the pandemic has exposed the disproportionate risk and impact of structural inequality at the intersections of race and ethnicity, occupation, citizenship, and socioeconomic status. Deemed essential and amongst one of the most stressful frontline occupations, these positions are predominantly occupied by racialized women.In this session, we will explore the dynamics between healthcare institutions, work and labour, and immigration, and delve into the complexities, challenges, and opportunities arising from the convergence of these domains. Particularly, we will examine the im/mobility and stratification that workers face within healthcare institutions and organizations. Understanding their challenges is vital for developing equitable organizational and management strategies, policies that optimize service delivery, and improving their retention within healthcare institutions. Their work is pivotal for ensuring the efficient functioning of healthcare systems, provision of patient care, and effective mentorship of new workers.

Presenters in this session will share their research on the barriers, challenges and complexities of the healthcare system in a wider global context and why it is critical to integrate medical humanism in medical education to foster culturally-sensitive and patient-centered care equity in a growing diverse world. Studies show that cultural sensitivity and equity in healthcare is a foundational pillar for reducing health disparities among ethnic minority and lower socio-economic groups of people. Recognizing patients as individuals, regardless of their cultural or linguistic backgrounds shows respect for the patient and contributes to more empathetic and compassionate care with better health outcomes.

This session focuses on cultural sensitivity and equity of care within healthcare services. It offers insights of foreign doctors and other professionals from globally diverse medical systems. Presentations range from advocating for integration of oral hygiene care as the missing gap in comprehensive healthcare; advocating for policy changes to ensure healthcare equity in rural and indigenous communities; and rethinking the contributions foreign medical doctors, including women doctors, in supporting culturally sensitive care to the 6.5 million people in multicultural Canada who are at risk of worsening health from lack of access to a family doctor and timely access of care.

This session will focus on research relating to school-to-work transitions in Canada, specifically focusing on how notable changes in the post-COVID era have created unprecedented career uncertainties for students. Given the current economic shrinkage due to the pandemic, it remains uncertain about how quickly Canada’s economy will fully recover. Notably, there is vast evidence of the disproportionate impact of economic recession on young people’s career trajectories, often leaving a scarring impact on their earnings for many years. It is inevitable that current economic uncertainty will create an ever-more challenging labour market for students, but particularly more so for students from underprivileged and marginalized groups. This session invites papers that highlight students’ educational choices and/or employment outcomes as they transition through programs and into the labour market, and identify challenges experienced by underprivileged and marginalized groups. We also invite papers that provide insights on how the relevant stakeholders and policymakers can better respond to the needs of the underprivileged and marginalized students, and provide practical support systems to ensure their successful school-to-work transition in Canada.