IHSE MEETING
IHSE Thursday Morning Meeting
Aliki Thomas
Title: Beyond the Academy: Can Epistemic Communities Shape Health Professions Education and Societal Change
Learning Objectives
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Define the concept of epistemic communities and explain their relevance to health professions education.
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Reflect on how different ways of knowing can shape HPE for global impact
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Critically reflect on participants’ own positionality within epistemic communities and explore implications for collaboration, innovation, and change in HPE.
Learning Objectives
- Define the concept of epistemic communities and explain their relevance to health professions education.
- Reflect on how different ways of knowing can shape HPE for global impact
- Critically reflect on participants’ own positionality within epistemic communities and explore implications for collaboration, innovation, and change in HPE.
Breakdown of 2-hour session
- For the first hour, Aliki will deliver a lecture she gave in May 2025 as part of her Muriel Drive Memorial Lectureship to the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists titled “The Knowledge We Hold: Exploring Occupational Therapy's Epistemic Identity and the Balance Between Evidence and Practice.”*
- During the second hour, we will engage in discussion on the following points:
- In your own HPE context, whose ways of knowing tend to dominate decision-making, curriculum design, or assessment and whose are missing? What are the consequences of that imbalance for learners, patients, or communities?
- Think of a moment when alternative forms of knowledge (experiential, relational, community-based, Indigenous, affective) reshaped or could reshape your educational practice. What barriers keep these knowledge systems from influencing HPE more fully?
- Given your positionality, what responsibilities do you hold for amplifying marginalized ways of knowing within HPE? What practical actions feel possible in your specific sphere of influence?
* Thomas A. The Knowledge We Hold: Exploring Occupational Therapy’s Epistemic Identity and the Balance Between Evidence and Practice. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2025;92(4):258-281. doi:10.1177/00084174251383259