Dalhousie Medicine
Social Accountability Statement [pdf]
01 September 2024
Dalhousie Medicine is dedicated to upholding its social accountability framework, rooted in principles of anti-oppression, community engagement, and equity. Our commitment to educate, innovate, and lead in a manner that embraces and serves all communities. We recognize that catalyzing health systems change is essential for integrating sustainability and resilience, enabling us to respond and adapt to evolving challenges within both local and global communities.
We pledge to engage meaningfully with our diverse communities through evidence-based practices, demonstrating our social accountability. Our commitment extends to respectfully serving and involving the people and populations in the Maritimes in our educational, research, and service initiatives. Dalhousie Medicine acknowledges the varied and intersecting identities that constitute our Maritime communities.
In addressing health concerns and promote health equity, our focus is on underrepresented individuals and communities, particularly those belonging to equity denied groups. Identification of these groups is a consultative process involving demographics, population health evidence, published healthcare evidence, and validation from local communities through our numerous partnerships. This process is regularly revisited by the Faculty of Medicine’s executive leadership and Serving and Engaging Society.
Dalhousie Medicine recognizes two historically underrepresented populations in our medical program, aligning with Dalhousie University’s commitment through the Third Century Promise. We are dedicated to identifying and eliminating barriers including in admissions, curriculum, and research with a primary focus on:
- Rights-holding Indigenous Peoples in Canada, particularly Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, Peskotomuhkati; and
- Black/people of African descent, specifically historic African Nova Scotian (ANS) communities* and those with connection to New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
We adopt a proactive, collaborative, and longitudinal approach to support equity denied populations within medical education, recognizing their unique journeys fraught with historical systemic barriers and inequities. Dalhousie Medicine is committed to recruiting and retaining faculty and staff representing equity denied groups.
Our social accountability responsibilities are addressed through a distributed medical education model, providing diverse educational and clinical experiences across the Maritimes. We deliver on these commitments in an environment of respect and compassion, where diverse needs and abilities are not only supported but valued.
We acknowledge our unique position as a Faculty of Medicine, leveraging our resources and opportunities to support our communities and fulfill our social accountability mandate.
Review Note: This Statement is to be reviewed every three years to ensure its continued relevance and effectiveness. The next scheduled review date is September 1, 2027.
