MICHENER NEWS A publication for staff, students and clinical partners Spring 2013
STUDENT ISSUE Students Leading Students By Krista Urchenko, Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) 2014 and President, Medical Laboratory Students’ Society
Highlights RSNA 2012: A Student’s Reflection page 2
By Students, For Students, About Students page 3
Building Knowledge, Relationships and Awareness page 4
The Student Becomes the Teacher...and a Michener Advocate page 6
222 St. Patrick Street Toronto, Ontario M5T 1V4 www.michener.ca info@michener.ca
Back Row L to R: Annemarijn Huydgens, Stephanie Carragher, Sarah Bugden, Jennifer O’Neill, Silvana Jacobs, Katie Buck, Steven Henderson Front Row L to R: Katherine Macleod, Krista Urchenko, Brix Marzan, Ryan Wybenga
The Medical Laboratory Students’ Society was founded in the fall of 2012 by Brix Marzan, Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) 2014. The Med Lab program is one of the largest at Michener but until 2012 had no formal student group to represent it or to bring all of its students together. After the society’s inception, we wasted no time in planning our first event: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada’s “Light The Night” walk, which took place on October 2nd. A team of 11 students and faculty raised over $2300 in three weeks thanks to the support of friends and family, and proceeds from a bake sale, which raised over $625. This helped to demonstrate that the MLS Society had a place at Michener and would not only
be a benefit to the school, but to the community at large as well. The goal of the Society is to provide information, host events, and give support in the laboratory medicine field for our students and faculty. We will continue to set up exciting events and opportunities for our students in order to raise awareness of laboratory medicine. Plans so far include a med lab trivia night, a blood drive and “What’s Your Type?” blood clinic, and a National Med Lab Week. Also, two speakers’ night in March occurred, in which Michener alumni gave current students an idea of what is to come after graduation and what opportunities are available in the profession. continued on page 2
Michener News • Spring 2013
T H E C E N T R E O F E XC E L L E N C E F O R T H E A D VA N C E M E N T O F A P P L I E D H E A LT H S C I E N C E S E D U C AT I O N
We Em b o d y E x c e l l e n c e • We L e a d by Exa mp le • We Ce le bra te Re la tions hips • We C re a t e O p p ortunitie s • We Tra nsform L ive s
RSNA 2012 : A Student’s Reflection By Annie Baxter, Radiological Technology, 2013 During the week of November 25th, 2012, along with staff and faculty from Michener, I had the honour of attending the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference. Each year, over 60,000 health care professionals and exhibitors from 125 countries converge on Chicago to attend one of the world’s most significant conferences for medical imaging. When I first found out I would be attending the conference as a representative of The Michener Institute, I felt excited and very privileged for this amazing opportunity. It would be my first time in Chicago. Since I would only be there for one week, I wanted to make sure that I took full advantage of this trip I immediately started to research online and ask people who had attended the conference before their advice on how best to spend my time. When I first arrived at the RSNA conference, I was shocked at the sheer size of it. There were nearly 700 exhibitors spread throughout three large exhibition halls. I thought visiting every stand would take much longer than one week! I was most looking forward to browsing the state-ofthe-art equipment, software, and supplies from all the industry giants of medical imaging, including Philips, Siemens, and GE Healthcare. Along with Michener faculty, I was able to explore all three exhibition halls, get hands-on experience with the latest X-ray equipment, and observe demonstrations by the vendors. I also attended many lectures and seminars
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Annie Baxter at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference
on radiology delivered by radiologists and other health care professionals on the cutting edge of their fields. I believe attending lectures delivered by different health care professionals can be beneficial as a future technologist, helping me to gain an appreciation for the people I work next to and an insight into the depths and difficulties of their respective professions. I will never forget the time I spent with the Michener faculty and staff. We had an amazing time exploring the Chicago city sights, eating the local specialities and sharing stories. I was amazed at how helpful and friendly the people in Chicago were; it made the whole experience that much more enjoyable. More than anything else this trip made me realize how much technology in our profession can change in just one year. As responsible health care professionals we need to stay current
with the latest technologies and always maintain our ability to adapt, since not only can new technologies improve on our workflow but more importantly they can enhance the quality of care for our patients.
continued from page 1
We would like to extend a big thank you to the executive council: Sarah Bugden (vice president), Jennifer O’Neill (treasurer), Stephanie Carragher (secretary), Annemarijn Huydgens (2nd-year rep), Katie Buck (1st-year rep), and our faculty support Silvana Jacobs. We look forward to seeing the success of the Medical Laboratory Students’ Society continue for years to come! We can be reached at mlss@michener.ca.
BUILDING KNOWLEDGE
It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them. - Leo Buscaglia
By Students, For Students, About Students Working with Ishikawa Diagrams to Create a Project By Sharon Bhella and Sheena Bhimji-Kewitt on behalf of TMIAHSA
Front Row L to R: Kim Chung, Tricia Zou, Siu Chu Lam, Nicole Lesperance Standing L to R: Bonnie Sands, Tim Lee, Sheena Bhimji-Hewitt, Albert Gheorghita, Terenz Escartin, Alex Karolczyk Missing: Asma Ali, Sharon Bhella, Masood Hassan, Andy Hon, Naz Gabriel, Mikhail Orazco, Swischana Thiyagarajah, Raymond Wong
The Michener Interprofessional Applied Health Students’ Association (TMIAHSA) is composed of a group of students from different health disciplines. Our members come from medical laboratory science, nuclear medicine technology, radiation therapy, radiological technology, respiratory therapy, and ultrasound and are enrolled at Michener. We were brainstorming topics that we might come across in our clinical practice that would also impact us on a personal basis. We came up with the idea of looking at and learning about palliative care, and we decided to explore how cultural competence may impact the palliative care patient from an interprofessional perspective. To that end, we decided to use Ishikawa diagrams: diagrams that look at cause and effect but can also be used for
Who will work with the patient Health Care-Interprofessional Scopes of practice
project management and as outcomebased tools. They are also called fishbone diagrams or herring bone diagrams. We worked together to determine what things could impact palliative care and came up with our own fishbone diagram (see below). We then asked for the interested parties to complete the research and are now in the process of meeting to discuss what we’re discovering, with the eventual goal of creating a poster to share our learnings We wanted to take the opportunity to wish you a Happy Ishikawa! This is a tool all Michener students learn about in our first interprofessional (BAIP) course, and this is an example of its application in real life!
PEOPLE- what will impact the Patient Psychological perspective of dying Death and Dying/ palliative care Cultural perspective Religion/Values
TMIAHSA
Choices Right to Die
What is Important for the HCP Training Facilities Awareness Experience
Impacts Care Social Economic $/class
Michener News • Spring 2013 / 3
T H E C E N T R E O F E XC E L L E N C E F O R T H E A D VA N C E M E N T O F A P P L I E D H E A LT H S C I E N C E S E D U C AT I O N
We Em b o d y E x c e l l e n c e • We L e a d by Exa mp le • We Ce le bra te Re la tions hips • We C re a t e O p p ortunitie s • We Tra nsform L ive s
Building Knowledge, Relationships and Awareness Compiled by Lissa Manganaro, Senior Editor, Michener News
From L to R: Jordan Holmes, Reshika Balakrishnan, Renate Bradley, Rob Case
The 13th Annual International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) was held from January 26–30, 2013, in Orlando, Florida. Michener was able to send four people: Tim Chipman, Jordan Holmes, Jason Verbovszky, and Paul Smith. Highlights included sessions on creative use of pre-brief in simulations, an innovative techcafé, designing effective simulation scenarios, tools for validating simulation, integrating observers in an effective way, and using simulation to build a culture of safety and improve patient outcomes. Renate Bradley, Robert Case, and Reshika Balakrishnan had a poster accepted on their use of a cold linear accelerator in radiation therapy simulations, which was displayed during the Program Innovation session and presented by Jordan Holmes on their behalf. Networking opportunities yielded a lot of insight into the management of a simulation centre and provided a chance to hone our debriefing skills!
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Michener’s newly formed Medical Laboratory Students’ Society (MLSS) organized a speakers’ series for current students featuring MLS alumni. The first session was held of February 26, 2013. Students were joined by graduates Kayla Anderson (2012), Angela
Anthony (2012), Sarah James (1990), and Payton Chen (2012). Guest speakers talked about their journey to becoming medical laboratory technologists, and their experiences in clinical and in entering the work environment after graduation. Angela and Sarah also spoke about being pathology assistants, one of the many career opportunities available to MLS professionals. The second session, held on March 5, 2013, featured Ethel Lopes (2012), Megan Millar (2012), and Emmanuelle Chung (2012). Thank you to the alumni who volunteered their time to participate in these events, which were very successful and positively received by students. The MLSS looks forward to working with more alumni in the future.
From L to R: Kayla Anderson, Angela Anthony, Sarah James, Peyton Chen
BUILDING KNOWLEDGE
A student never forgets an encouraging private word, when it is given with sincere respect and admiration.
- William Lyon Phelps
University of Toronto Scarborough annual Health and Wellness Panel
Albert Gheorghita, Radiological Technology 2012, represented Michener at the University of Toronto Scarborough annual Health and Wellness Panel, held on January 16, 2013. Albert shared his experience with over 75 students and helped to promote Michener and our programs. On March 6, 2013, the Biology Students’ Association (BioSA) at the University of Toronto Scarborough,
which oversees approximately 1600 students, held its annual panel for careers in biological sciences. Michener was invited to send graduates. Amber Linkenheld-Struk, Medical Laboratory Science 2012, and Albert Gheorghita, Radiological Technology 2012, represented Michener at the event and shared with the students their career and educational experiences. Kevin Middleton, Michener clinical
coordinator for respiratory therapy at McMaster University in Hamilton, recently published an article in the Canadian Journal of Respiratory Therapy, winter issue 48.4. The article is titled “Clinical Simulation: Designing Scenarios and Implementing Debriefing Strategies to Maximize Team Development and Student Training” and can be read in full here: http://bit.ly/CSRT12
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Michener News • Spring 2013 / 5
T H E C E N T R E O F E XC E L L E N C E F O R T H E A D VA N C E M E N T O F A P P L I E D H E A LT H S C I E N C E S E D U C AT I O N
We Em b o d y E x c e l l e n c e • We L e a d by Exa mp le • We Ce le bra te Re la tions hips • We C re a t e O p p ortunitie s • We Tra nsform L ive s
The Student Becomes the Teacher...and a Michener Advocate By Joel Van Steenbergen, Radiation Therapy 2014 Full circle. That was how I felt about my experience as a guest speaker in a small high school physics class. One of my old friends from undergraduate school is currently working as a
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physics teacher in Mississauga. We caught up over the Christmas break and got to chatting about what we were each doing. When he realized that my studies in radiation therapy had a large physics component, he invited me to come to speak about both what a radiation therapist is and what physics a radiation therapist needs to know. I accepted but was unsure how I would
do at such a thing. I spent the first week back from the winter holidays working on an hour-long presentation on what a radiation therapist is, what we do, what we need to know, how students become radiation therapists, and mostly, why I went into radiation therapy. I arrived at the school at 8 a.m. and set up in the classroom. As soon as all the students had arrived, I introduced
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B U I LSDT IUNDGE N KN T SO W L E D G E
Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new. - Og Mandino
myself and told them a funny story that happened with me and their physics teacher, the time he and I camped out in our university’s library, hiding from security. Once the students had warmed up to me, I had a lot of fun talking about the many different roles of a radiation therapist. Going by the amount of questions I was receiving, I could tell the students were having a good time, too. The idea they found most interesting was that of pair production, a high-energy radioactive reaction that involves a photon with no
mass turning into particles with mass. I illustrated the inverse square law using an example from Halo, the video game. It wasn’t the physics that interested them but the stories I told. I highlighted my experiences in Michener’s linear accelerator suites and my placement last summer at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, which kept the kids asking question after question. The students continued to ask about the linear accelerators and about the radiobiology of radiation therapy even after the bell rang and class ended. As
they left, I remembered myself in their shoes years ago, being enthralled as I learned about exciting discoveries. I realized that I continued to chase those great discoveries and that my current enrollment in radiation therapy is the result of that chase. Not only do I enjoy helping others learn, I am in an exciting field that continues to captivate my interest every step of the way.
Getting to Know You By Shannan Bernst, Administrative Assistant, Radiation Therapy and Chiara Villasenor, Registration and Records Assistant, Registrar and Student Enrolment
Tashana Swaby Let’s extend a warm welcome to the new administrative assistant for our Chiropody and Ultrasound departments. Tashana is a recent graduate from the Bachelor of Administrative Studies program at York University and former graduate from the Business Administration Management program at Seneca College. When she isn’t working she enjoys reading, playing sports, and spending time with family and friends. She is particularly fond of suspense and thriller novels. Her favourite author? Definitely James Patterson, she says. The last book she read was Patterson’s Cross Country. She would like to thank Michener for welcoming her with open arms and says she looks forward to meeting each of you!
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Visit w w w . m i c h e n e r. c a / a l u m n i for more information about your Alumni Association!
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Michener News • Spring 2013 / 7
T H E C E N T R E O F E XC E L L E N C E F O R T H E A D VA N C E M E N T O F A P P L I E D H E A LT H S C I E N C E S E D U C AT I O N
We Em b o d y E x c e l l e n c e • We L e a d by Exa mp le • We Ce le bra te Re la tions hips • We C re a t e O p p ortunitie s • We Tra nsform L ive s
Michener Continues to Supports Toronto Firefighters Toy Drive By Michelle Mohammed, Events Coordinator
2012 Holiday Toy Drive
The closing ceremony of Michener’s 2012 Holiday Toy Drive was held on December 19th. In just three weeks, the Michener community collected almost 200 toys for the Toronto Firefighters’ Toy Drive. Rick Berenz, president of the toy drive, was on hand to accept the donations and personally thank the Michener community for its continued support. Cheryl Ramsay, Director, Human Resources, recognized the generous contributions of staff and students, as well as special contributions made by individuals and groups, including: • Silvana Jacobs, faculty, Medical Laboratory Science, who donated
The New Donor’s Corner By Wudasie Efrem, Development Officer, Office of Advancement As we launch into spring and the new semester, we would like to extend a sincere thanks to Mackenzie Health, particularly Rosie Nouraini the senior ultrasound technologist at the hospital, who was instrumental in making the recent donation of two ultrasound units to Michener possible. Rosie is a 1996 Ultrasound alumna. And thank you to Cathy Babiak for her contribution in this endeavor. Last but not least, we are happy to announce the establishment of a new Respiratory Therapy Award, thanks to
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the generosity of Respan Products Inc. We would like to thank Janey Hacke, President of Respan for her generosity. And thanks to the contribution of Respiratory Therapy faculty, particularly Kathleen Olden-Powell, Susan Dunington and program Chair, Fiona Cherryman for their roles in shaping the criteria for the award. Stay tuned for more information and opportunities on how to get involved in the Staff & Faculty Campaign and giving at Michener.
$200 to the Toy Drive from the sale of hand-painted holiday ornaments • The entire Medical Laboratory Science Faculty for donating the proceeds from their 2011/2012 Crystal Apple Values in Action Faculty Award • The Advancement Team for donating the gifts from their holiday gift exchange Together, the Michener community helped make the holiday season special for children and their families across Toronto.
BUILDING KNOWLEDGE
He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.
- Confucius
Student Support Services - We’re Here to Help! By Degan Davis, Counsellor for Students
The Student Success Network (SSN) supports students in a variety of ways by helping them with academic and personal matters. Students may seek support from SSN on their own or through recommendations from faculty Here are some of SSN’s offerings: • Academic skills training in one-onone sessions (covering such topics as time management, organization, and how to prepare for lectures • Tutoring from upper-year students in specific subject areas • Rounds (workshops) including Study Tips, Stress Reduction for Practical Exams, Assertiveness Skills Training, Multiple Choice Test Writing, Oral Presentations, Receiving and Giving Feedback, Learning Styles, Active Listening, Writing Skills, and more • “Customized rounds” to allow small groups of students to access academic and communication supports according to their schedules and needs
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Confidential personal counselling to manage anxiety, grief, depression, trauma, addictions, relationships and family issues, culture shock, and more. (Further referrals may be made to the in-house psychiatrist for assessment for ADHD or serious psychological issues.) Referrals to specialists (e.g., MRS students have a wide range of academic supports through Counseling and Psychological Services and their Learning Skills Department; OHIP covers some assessments for LD and ADHD) Residence and off-campus housing information Financial aid information (scholarships and bursaries, emergency loans, and student employment possibilities) Career supports, e.g., job search workshops, online resources, one-on-one student feedback on resumes, and interview skills Yoga/Pilates/fitness to assist with stress reduction
Contact information: For Monday - Thursday counselling appointments, please email Degan Davis at ddavis@michener.ca For Friday counselling appointments, please email Kim Phillips at kphillips@michener.ca For academic, writing, and communication support, please email Christina Yurchuk at cyurchuk@michener.ca For psychiatric services, please email Dr. Greg Chandler at SSNappointment@michener.ca If you have a counselling emergency, call The Toronto Helpline at 416-408-HELP (4357).
Michener News • Spring 2013 / 9
B E S T E X P E R I E N C E • B E S T E D U C AT I O N
We Em b o d y E x c e l l e n c e • We L e a d by Exa mp le • We Ce le bra te Re la tions hips • We C re a t e O p p ortunitie s • We Tra nsform L ive s
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MICHENER NEWS SENIOR EDITOR Lissa Manganaro LAYOUT & DESIGN Brianne Tulk
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ADVISORY BOARD Don Bartlett Shannan Bernst Jordan Holmes Emma Sabo Chiara Villasenor
Special thanks to our contributors: Annie Baxter Shannan Bernst Sharon Bhella Sheena Bhimji-Hewitt Degan Davis Michelle Mohammed Krista Urchenko Joel Van Steenbergen Chiara Villasenor
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Michener News is dedicated to informing, recognizing and inspiring the Michener community. The quarterly print publication intends to reflect the people, strategies, initiatives, social activities, gatherings and events that capture the spirit and momentum of the Michener community as we actively work toward achieving our strategic intent: Best Experience, Best Education.
UPCOMING ISSUE Summer 2013 Content Deadline: May 6, 2013