Aboriginal Patient Care Guidelines Released

Aboriginal Patient Care Guidelines Released

Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 14:33

New ways of offering better care to Aboriginal patients were unveiled today at a ceremony in Ottawa.

The Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada has partnered up with the government to create new teaching methods for doctors and nurses.

Under the new initiative, a program was developed that takes into account social factors and historical information when dealing with First Nations, Metis and Inuit patients.

Topics such as the legacy of the residential school system will also be included so physicians who are studying at university gain better insight into how that may have affected the patient.

Candace Leonard is the executive director of the Indigenous Physicians of Canada.

She says the new curriculum will be offered to 17 post-secondary schools across the country.

The curriculum covers the areas of obstetrics, gynecology, psychiatry and family medicine.