It is hard to believe that another year is almost over already. Since things are going to be relatively quiet around Queen’s starting next week, this is going be my last blog post of the year. I want to take the chance now, then, to offer my best wishes to all of you for the holiday season and the new year, and also to unveil this year’s issue of the Dean’s Report, which you can find here: https://healthsci.queensu.ca/administration/reports/deans-report

When I met with a group of four doctors from the Chengdu Second People’s Hospital on November 7, they had taken a 20-hour flight from China to Toronto, then, the next day, rented a car and drove down the 401 to Kingston. Needless to say, this is not a journey that anyone would take lightly.

As a newcomer to Canada, Dr. Setareh Ghahari experienced first-hand some of the challenges faced by newcomers in attempting to access health services.  Despite being a registered occupational therapist with extensive knowledge, experience, and access to resources, she experienced difficulty accessing health-related services.

Guest blog by Sharon Yeung, Co-Chair of the annual Queen's Health and Human Rights Conference

Vanessa Silva e Silva, a fourth-year PhD student in the School of Nursing, had applied for a fellowship from the Kidney Foundation of Canada and the Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training Program (KRESCENT) and was expecting to hear the committee’s decision by the end of May. In the first week of June, she still had heard nothing and figured it meant bad news: rejections always come out later than acceptances.