Words of Welcome

McGill Land Acknowledgment Video Clip

Tom Hutchinson

Public Lecture: Promoting Healing and Resilience in People with Cancer: A Nursing Perspective

Writing as a Mindful Practice

McGill Land Acknowledgment Video Clip

Words of Welcome: VP Dean Lesley Fellows

Reflection: Seamus Heaney Video

Introduction of Speaker

VP Dean Lesley Fellows

Tom Hutchinson

8:30-9:30am

Plenary Session: Mortality-Informed Care for Whole Persons

Death is the elephant in every room. It lurks in the back of people’s minds, like an embarrassment or obscenity, that which shall not be spoken. In healthcare, we focus on health and quality of life, which is the bright side of a coin that includes disease, decline, and death. Yet avoidance of death robs people from living fully, adversely affecting health and quality of life.

In this session, Dr. Byock will offer an alternative - reframing illness, dying and grieving as components of full and healthy living. This shift clarifies the goals of medicine and expands the scope of human caring to encompass individual and family well-being through the end of life. When grounded in the full breadth of human experience, the roles of physicians and other professional caregivers become deeply satisfying.

Ira Byock

9:30-9:45am

Coffee Break 

SESSION CHAIR: Stephen Liben, MD

Concurrent Sessions
15-min. Oral Presentations

Using the Serious Illness Conversation Guide to Improve the Quality of Life of Hematology-Oncology Patients: A Pilot Study

Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy for Cancer Patients

Considering Life through Death - Introduction to Lessons of Life

A New Communication Model for Procedure-Oriented Health Care Professionals

Simulating a Situation of Homelessness: Nursing Students' Perceptions of Learning through Virtual Embodiment

Facing Our Own Dying: Exploring Conflicts between Our Individual Professional Stance and Our Own Personal Views on MAiD

Victoria Korsos

Houman Farzin

Yusuke Takamiya

Carmelina D'Arro

Niki Soilis

Anna Towers

SESSION CHAIR: Krista Lawlor, MD

Workshop: Enduring Witness: A Book-in-Hand Play Performance

As a rural general practitioner (family physician), I have the privilege of journeying with my patients through health and illness. This is mostly a joy, but there are times of immense challenge. I am often the only health practitioner to follow a patient during periods of good health, at the time of a significant diagnosis, then during treatment, remission, follow up, relapse (if that were to occur) and end-of-life care.

During this interactive workshop, a book-in-hand performance piece representing this journey will be presented. Enduring Witness traces the relationship between Jane, a general practitioner/family doctor, and one of her patients, Lisa. We initially meet Lisa as a schoolgirl, and then follow her growth through young adulthood to marriage and parenthood. Lisa develops breast cancer, and we witness the ups and downs for both characters during her treatment, initial remission, relapse and finally her death.

The action takes place in Jane’s clinic room via snippets of conversations from Lisa’s visits. Each conversation is followed by an exploration of the inner world of the characters. Contributions to the script have come from writers from around the world.

At the conclusion of the performance, the actors will stay in role, and there will be a facilitated discussion, allowing audience members to ask questions directly to the “characters”. Audience members will also have the opportunity to respond to what they have witnessed through a simple reflective writing exercise.

11:15-11:30am

Coffee Break

11:30am-12:30pm

Panel Discussion

Ira Byock

Tom Hutchinson

Krista Lawlor

SESSION CHAIR: Joanna Caron, MD

Formal Poster Session

Lunch

Introduction of Speaker

Plenary Session: Trauma Informed Education

Each day, millions of adolescents walk into schools and classrooms across the world carrying backpacks not just filled with pencils and books. They are also carrying what psychologists refer to as “invisible” backpacks that are filled with trauma. These backpacks are heavy and can be complete with fear, anxiety, anger, and disengagement. School staff must be prepared to not only assist students with learning their A-B-Cs, but they must also begin to address the challenges that result from the trauma our students are experiencing in their lives. Educators no longer have a choice about whether or not they want to address the trauma their students come to school with every day. Instead, they must create sustainable change by building trauma-informed classrooms that have the power to transform how our students learn in school and how they relate to the world.

Allen Steverman

Meredith Fox

2:30-2:45pm

Coffee Break

SESSION CHAIR: Timothy Wideman, Ph.D.

Concurrent Sessions
15-min. Oral Presentations

The Art and Skills of Compassion in Practice

The Empathy Imperative in Whole Person Care - For Patients and Physicians

Invitations to Think and Feel in Forensic Nursing; the Role of Clinical Supervision and Reflective Practice

"He Told Me My Pain Was in My Head": Testimonial Injustice in Patient-Physician Relationships

Into the Looking Glass on Cultural and Religious Competent Care: Optimizing Healthcare for Haredi Individuals with Mental Illness

Mindfulness and Therapeutic Relationships: Insights from a Phenomenological Study of Occupational Therapists' Practices

Margie Sills-Maerov

Anita Nowak & Milan Sen

Nicola O'Sullivan

Marie Vigouroux

Eliana Rohr

Kirsten Smith

SESSION CHAIR: Mark Smilovitch, MD

Workshop: The Invisibility of Care and a New Paradigm for the Art of Being in Relation

How do humans continue to care in a rapidly changing society, accelerated by digital, non-human technologies and unprecedented environmental crises driving a multitude of pressures on humanity and its relationships? Is it possible that the salve to the overwhelming intensity of the modern world is simply to (re)learn the therapeutic and transformative power of relationships – that which anchors us in ourselves (self care), makes us feel cared for (interpersonal care), like we belong (community care), and connected to something bigger (societal/environmental care)? How do we (re)awaken this awareness in medicine, the profession which has traditionally been tasked with the responsibility of caring?

In this innovative session, we will attempt to address these questions by shifting the current epistemology of medicine to expand beyond a model of expertise to also an experience created in relation – the relationship of human beings with each other and other species where care is created and (co-)constructed. By exploring both the bases of the bio-medical perspective and the perspective of lived-experience (the patient), we will look at the currently invisible parts of care (the elephant in the room!) and the consequences that occur from this invisibility. Finally, we propose a new framework for medical education based on the art of being in relation that could help all those who care for, to address the hyper-complexity of health in the 21st century.

Philippe Karazivan

Marie Leclaire

Caroline Wong

Coffee Break 

Panel Discussion

Meredith Fox

Tom Hutchinson

Allen Steverman

Alexander Stoljar Gold

An Evening of Mindful Bittersweet Entertainment

• Irish and Japanese whiskey tasting
• Light dinner/ Cocktail Dinatoire
• Bittersweet entertainment

Krista Lawlor
Tom Hutchinson
Nick Hamilton
Dan Goldman
Anne Lacourse

Writing as a Mindful Practice

8:25-8:30am

McGill Land Acknowledgment Video Clip

Reflection: Apathy Sets in During the Third Year by Lucie Dubes

Introduction of Speaker

Lucie Dubes

Steven Jordan

8:30-9:30am

Plenary Session: Systems Thinking and the Underlying Logics of Contemporary Healthcare: Countervailing Tensions and Potential Resources

Fred Hafferty

9:30-9:45am

Coffee Break 

SESSION CHAIR: Allen Steverman, MD

Concurrent Sessions
15-min. Oral Presentations

Anatomy of the Elephant in Quebec Family Practice

"I Get to Know Them as a Whole Person": Family Physician Stories of Proximity to Patients Experiencing Social Inequity

Narrative Medicine and Narrative Practice: Partners in the Creation of Meaning

ICU Bridge Program: Working with Staff Towards No Family Members Feeling Like "the Elephant in the Room"

Ethical Challenges for Children Undergoing Surgery: Evaluation of Graduate Nursing Students' Learning

Whole Person Care in Philanthropy - Healing & Giving

Mark J. Yaffe

Monica Molinaro

Miriam Colleran

Adrian Goin & Danielle Fox

Ariane Gautrin

Glen Komatsu

SESSION CHAIR: Simon Rousseau, Ph.D.

Workshop: Artificial Intelligence: Potentials and Perils for Healthcare Education and Delivery

Background & Purposes: Recent and sustained developments in generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and their widespread accessibility are challenging our typical methods for teaching, learning and assessment particularly due to concerns about academic integrity. The impact of these tools has potential significant ramifications for healthcare-both positive, and rife with challenges. Our purpose in this interactive workshop is to delve into these potentials and perils through purposefully designed activities that engage participants in meaningful discussions.

Format: The workshop will be delivered through mini-plenaries, hands-on activities, and discussions. Part I of the workshop is a short plenary presentation to introduce the audience to various capabilities of artificial intelligence tools that impact classroom education and healthcare delivery. Part II of the workshop will engage participants in a jigsaw activity that guides participants to explore opportunities and innovations of AI, its risks and challenges, and ethical and pragmatic implications for whole-person care education in both the classroom and the clinical context. The workshop will conclude with Part III with a facilitated discussion to synthesize the findings and ensure that whole-person care remains at the forefront of healthcare

Outcomes: By the end of the workshop participants will be able to: 1) Identify the main characteristics of AI tool; 2) Discuss various ways in with AI tools may be integrated in education to advance whole-person care; and 3) Evaluate the potential challenges with the use of AI tools, and its ethical implications for whole-person care.

Maryam Wagner

Catherine-Anne Miller

11:15-11:30am

Coffee Break 

Panel Discussion

Fred Hafferty

Tom Hutchinson

Steven Jordan

Lucie Dubes

12:30-1:30pm

Film Screening: Peering Ahead. A story of shared recovery and compassionate community, built through peer mentoring. 

Seven years ago, a handful of patients and staff in the McGill University Health Centre Mental Health Mission had a vision of peers mentoring peers, and collaborating with staff to offer a better health care experience for people in recovery. The result was the Recovery Transition Program, which has fostered resilience in hundreds of participants, to date.

Lunch

Reflection: Story 98 from Heroes: 100 Stories of Living with Kidney Disease

Introduction of Speaker

Plenary Session: Resilience, a Key Personal and a Group Responsibility

Mark Smilovitch

Tom Hutchinson

2:30-2:45pm

Coffee Break 

SESSION CHAIR: Steven Jordan, Ph.D. 

Concurrent Sessions
15-min. Oral Presentations

Reframing Perceptions: A Phenomenological Inquiry into Students' Written Reflections on Learning about Mindfulness

Reflections on Teaching Mindfulness to Teenagers: from Research to Clinic

Survey on the Current Status of Undergraduate Education on Self-Care in University Medical Schools and Medical Colleges in Japan

Medical Students as Whole Persons - Tending to the Elephants in Clinical Practice Training

Resilience in Adolescent Chronic Pain: An Exploration of Coping Mechanisms and Personal Growth

Culturally-Adapted Resilience-Building for Medical Students: A Comprehensive Approach at Showa University School of Medicine, Japan

Elizabeth Anne Kinsella

Mariana Smith

Yusuke Takamiya

Donald Boudreau

Richard Hovey

Shizuma Tsuchiya

SESSION CHAIR: Patricia Lynn Dobkin, Ph.D.

Workshop: Schwartz Rounds: When Everything is NOT Enough

The Schwartz Rounds™ program, now taking place in more than 430 healthcare organizations throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and more than 150 sites throughout the U.K. and Ireland, offers healthcare providers a regularly scheduled time during their fast-paced work lives to openly and honestly discuss the social and emotional issues they face in caring for patients and families.

In contrast to traditional medical rounds, the focus is on the human dimension of medicine. Caregivers have an opportunity to share their experiences, thoughts and feelings on thought-provoking topics drawn from actual patient cases. The premise is that caregivers are better able to make personal connections with patients and colleagues when they have greater insight into their own responses and feelings.

A hallmark of the program is interdisciplinary dialogue. Panelists from diverse disciplines participate in the sessions, including physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, allied health professionals and chaplains. After listening to a panel’s brief presentation on an identified case or topic, caregivers in the audience are invited to share their own perspectives on the case and broader related issues.

Patricia Lynn Dobkin 

Mark Smilovitch

David Weigens

Pascale Lehoux

Vanessa Wrzesien

Coffee Break 

Wrap Up with Elephants in the Room

Tom Hutchinson

Fred Hafferty

Elizabeth Anne Kinsella

Mark Smilovitch


Timothy Wideman

Workshop: From Disconnected to Reconnected: Engaging Hearts and Minds via Narratives

The current landscape of healthcare is burdened by elephants in the room such as: demands to multitask, EMRs, time pressures, along with lingering COVID shadows that contribute to high levels of dissatisfaction and burnout, even at early stages of training.

Narrative Medicine provides an antidote to these ‘impossible-to-ignore’ issues. It is a discipline that is predicated on the fact that illness and caregiving occur in the context of stories. It forges deeper connections with patients and health care professionals’ original motivation to serve.

This workshop will provide participants with excursions into the arts and humanities to explore what gives meaning to their work. They will participate in close reading of written and visual texts, facilitated discussion, reflective writing, and opportunities to share their written narratives. This experiential workshop will enhance the ability to follow the narrative thread told during the workday and be better able to identify metaphors, tolerate ambiguity, and recognize embedded stories encountered in attending to others and within the self. Participants will emerge energized and be positioned to practice mindfully and attend to the whole person.