Culture, Ethics, & Safety Training

The Culture, Ethics, and Safety Training (CEST) Continuing Professional Development course prepares you to work with marginalized communities locally, nationally, and internationally. It provides effective pre-departure and immersion training that positions learners and practicing professionals for success. In this course, you’ll gain new understandings and revise past learning with tools and approaches to being a positive contributor to the health and wellbeing of communities that you are working with as a healthcare professional and advocate.

Learners and professionals seeking greater understanding and skills for advancing equity and justice for all are invited to take Culture, Ethics, & Safety Training.

This 4 module online program is accredited by Queen’s University for 5 Self-Assessment learning hours for the Royal College, 5 Mainpro+ Credits in the Self-Learning Category for the CFPC and provides a certificate for 5 hours of professional development for all health professions.

Fee: $175 CAD per learner

View a sneak peek of CEST

The Culture, Ethics and Safety Training course offered online by Queen’s Health Sciences is an engaging and easy-to-navigate course that provides an accessible yet comprehensive overview of the foundational knowledge that every learner should have before engaging in international or local global health placements.

The course is visually appealing with high-quality graphics and an easy-to-follow format. It finds the right balance between covering important theoretical concepts and discussing specific case studies and examples. The case studies are particularly engaging and provide an excellent opportunity to think through complex issues in a way that will leave learners well-prepared.

~ Past Learner

Module 01: Culture, Ethics, & Safety

Following completion of Module 01, learners will be able to:

Reflect on the impact of positionality and bias in healthcare settings.
Describe culture, cultural humility, culture shock, and culturally appropriate care.
Discuss the ethics and power dynamics often present in healthcare settings.
Identify basic health precautions and strategies to deal with safety issues that may arise in healthcare settings or placements

Module 02: International Work Placements

Following completion of Module 02, learners will be able to:

Identify personal health and travel safety precautions and strategies for international placements.
Describe cultural and ethical considerations for international placements.
Identify key phrases and words to know when travelling and for an international, health-related placement.
Recognize potential challenges and identify strategies when working with an interpreter to prepare to work with patients that speak a different language.

Module 03: Working with Indigenous Populations

Following completion of Module 03, learners will be able to:

Identify and recognize their role in relationship to Indigenous territory and its Peoples.
Reflect on Indigenous experiences with Western healthcare practices.
Reflect on how the power imbalances between Indigenous Peoples and settlers influences the experience of healthcare for Indigenous populations.
Develop goals/calls to action for their partnership/relationship building with Indigenous communities.
Integrate ongoing self-reflection practices to become a better healthcare practitioner

Module 04: Working with Equity-Deserving Populations

At the end of Module 04, you will be able to:

Describe cultural and ethical considerations for placements in which you are going to encounter people in equity-deserving groups.
Reflect on how the power imbalances can affect the healthcare experiences for equity-deserving groups.
Recognize how you can collaborate with equity-deserving populations to advance justice.
Engage in self-reflection to increase your awareness of the social determinants of health, experiences of equity-deserving groups, and your role in contributing to the safest care possible.

Accreditation Details

This online program is accredited by Queen’s University for 5 Self-Assessment learning hours for the Royal College, 5 Mainpro+ Credits in the Self-Learning Category for the CFPC and provides a certificate for 5 hours of professional development for all health professions.

Intended Audience

This program welcomes all learners and professionals seeking greater understanding and skills for advancing equity and justice in for all.

Jennifer Carpenter MD, FRCPC, MSc, CCFP

Dr. Jennifer Carpenter received her FRCPC in Emergency Medicine from Queen’s University, and then went on to complete specialized training in chronic pain management. She was the Director of Student Affairs for Undergraduate Medicine from 2003 to 2013 and was the Faculty of Health Sciences Director of Global Health from 2010 to 2019. More recently, Dr. Carpenter developed and is the Lead for the Global and Population Health Track of the BHSc program.

Dr. Carpenter designed and is actively involved in the Undergraduate Medicine Population and Global Health course. She is also the Advocate Lead for the MD curriculum. She led the MD Mentorship Program and has taught Clinical Skills, Interview Skills, and the Physician Wellness curriculum in the past.

At the International Level, Dr. Carpenter spent time in the Ivory Coast volunteering and completing research on HIV Education as a medical student, and co-founded and is actively involved in the Pamoja Tunaweza Women’s Center and Clinic, in Moshi, Tanzania. Her academic interests are Advocacy and Global/Population Health.