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Diversity in Mental Health: W.O. McCormick Academic Day Conference

Posted by GHO Admin on March 7, 2017 in Events

Date: Friday, May 5th, 2017 @ 8:00 am- 4:30 pm
Location: Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel


Academic Day is an annual event jointly sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry, the Nova Scotia Health Authority Central Zone Addictions and Mental Health Program and Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine Continuing Professional Development.

Named in honour of the late Dr. W.O. McCormick, Academic Day has become the Dalhousie Department of Psychiatry’s most highly valued and successful annual conference with over 230 participants. Dr. McCormick was a fixture in the Department of Psychiatry and was the mastermind behind Academic Day.

Academic Day was popular from the very beginning, but once established the numbers wishing to attend often exceeded capacity and people had to be turned away. Today, not a year goes by that Academic Day, which is open to faculty and the public, is not sold out.

It features multiple speakers focused on a chosen theme. The audience consists of psychiatrists, primary care physicians, residents, medical students, and multidisciplinary mental health clinicians from throughout the Atlantic Provinces representing Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Adult Psychiatry, and Geriatric Psychiatry. 

NB. Indigenous and African Nova Scotian students interested in attending this conference please remember to apply for the Johnson Scholarship Foundation Conference bursary program.

For more information or to register please visit the conference website.

Invited Keynote Speakers


“Transcultural Psychiatry"

Dr. Laurence Kirmayer, MD, James McGill Professor, Director, Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University

“Transgender Mental Health”

Dr.  Gail Knudson, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Consultant Psychiatrist, Vancouver Coastal Health & Provincial Health Services Authority, Chair, BC Trans Clinical Care Group

Invited Local Speakers

"Indigenous Mental Health"  

Dr. Amy Bombay, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University

"The Impact of Differences in Age, Gender and Physical Health on the Use of Psychotropic Medications in Clinical Practice"

Dr. David Gardner, PharmD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, College of Pharmacy, Dalhousie University

"Resilience"

Dr. Carolyn Thomson, MD, Professional Support Program Coordinator, Doctors Nova Scotia

"Troubled Waters: The Psychological Impacts of Environmental Racism in African Nova Scotian Communities"

Dr. Ingrid Waldron, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Dalhousie University