University of Calgary Chapter Hosts Multidisciplinary Human Trafficking Panel

This summer, on the UN World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, our University of Calgary student chapter hosted a panel event on “The Intersection of Human Trafficking and Healthcare” at the Cumming School of Medicine.  

The panel included experts from various fields: Dr. Rabiya Jalil (MD, Cumming School of Medicine), Dr. Cathy Carter-Snell (RN, Mount Royal University Forensic Nursing Professor), Detective Paul Rubner (Counter Exploitation Unit Detective), and Jessica Brandon (Manager of Training & Education, ACT Alberta). 

The audience of medical students from all 3 years of training, plus residents, found the event both highly informative and useful. The event included an overview of the definition and forms of human trafficking from Jessica Brandon, which was then followed by an open Q&A session. The panelists discussed how to recognize the red flags of human trafficking in the clinical setting, and ways in which physicians can support victims of human trafficking with a trauma informed approach. 

“Collaboration is one of the best tools for advocacy and education”

The UofC CAMSAHT team - Rachel Lipp, Julia Madill, and Jessica Tjong - were all impressed by the level of interest and engagement from the students, as well as the speakers. “I was really impressed by the genuine energy and excitement that the speakers brought to this event.  Their passion about the topic of human trafficking was evident and it translated into an engaged, interactive audience,” says Rachel. 

“Collaboration is one of the best tools for advocacy and education,” Jessica adds in. “I appreciated the different perspectives and expertise from the panelists, as well as their openness to discuss things that aren’t super clear - like how do we handle disclosure, or in suspected cases, how do we deal with our own sense of needing to be ‘rescuers’ when we really need to support patients where they are. I learned a lot from the panelists and I believe everyone in the audience had something to take away from the event as well.”

Overall, the UofC team “felt that this event was an excellent catalyst for future dialogue and events amongst our student body on human trafficking.”