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Mary Lou Boudreau, Debra Cameron, Lynn Cockburn, Donna Drynan, Heidi Lauckner, Carmen Moliner, Shawna O'Hearn, Caroline Storr Student Participants: Thao Dao, Mira Etlin-Stein, Melissa Lee T

he ACOTUP presented an education forum session on “The Ethics of Working and Learning in Developing Countries” as part of the CAOT annual conference in Saskatoon. The education sub-committee of ACOTUP, which is comprised of Margaret Anne Campbell-Rempel, Brenda Merritt, Margo Paterson and Caroline Storr, supported the two-hour session which was held on June 16 at the TCU in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Approximately 40 participants attended the start of the session, which had four objectives:

• To provide an overview of ethical issues in international fieldwork contexts; • To outline existing Canadian university guidelines;

• To share three recent student experiences;

• To permit small group discussions on the ethical issues presented.

The session began with a brief introduction by Mary Lou Boudreau who gave the background and overall context for the session.She explained international fieldwork has existed in Canada for many years and both resource rich and resource scarce destinations are selected. The focus of this presentation was on resource scarce destinations. Lynn Cockburn, Deb Cameron and Heidi Lauckner then presented an overview of ethical issues that may arise in the international arena during the student learning context. Three different perspectives were addressed which included: issues from the host country; the university; and the individual context. Some of the issues identified included:

• Moral philosophy over time; • Ethics;

• What is the place of Canadian students in the post-colonial, corporate world; • Power imbalances and hierarchies; • Scarce resources and allocation; • Cultural competency versus humility; • Language restrictions; • Planning processes;

• Collaboration and partnership;

• Safety and health issues; • Justice, equity and commitment; • Tensions and trust.

The student panelists were chosen to reflect geographic diversity across the Canadian university sector and to narrate different ethical considerations encountered in Sri Lanka, Kenya and Cameron. Their presentations were extremely poignant and articulate and covered issues such as balancing cultural sensitivity with personal ethics, sustainability, personal ethics versus professional ethics, the meaning of independence and reciprocal cultural sharing.

The audience was then invited to break into small groups to discuss the issues presented and/or discuss three pre-developed cases. Groups shared their key discussion points and a summary was provided by Donna Drynan. Participants were provided with a list of resources to continue to facilitate both student and clinician international learning experiences. Interested participants were invited to continuing building international health initiatives. (www.internationalhealthinitiatives.com)

• Isabelle Daneau, CAOT Student award; • Josée Desbiens, OSOT Student award; • Danijela Subara: Prix du Regroupement des ergothérapeutes Francophones de l’Ontario (REFO)

Every year since its inception, a parting gift is given to every student as a symbol of their passage among us. A different symbol is given every year as each group is different. This year the symbol was the pearl. Over the past two years, we have cultivated these pearls. We have fed them many new ideas, concepts, skills and all this learning was crystallized this past week. The value of pearls is determined by their shape, luster and color. Round pearls are rare and precious. Each student received a round purple pearl which combined make a very unique and precious necklace. Welcome to the profession, dear colleagues, and we wish you a fruitful and meaningful career!

Front Row: Lili Liu, Tanya Packer, Tal Jarus (president), Martine Brousseau, Donna Collins, Angela Mandich Back Row: Margaret Jamieson (current secretary/treasuer), Louisette Mercier, Lori Letts, Paulette Guitard, Andrew Freeman, Louise Demers, Bernadette Nedelec (incoming secretary/treasurer) Missing from photo: Susan Rappolt (vice president) To read an article highlighting the great meetings that took place in Saskatoon, visit the ACOTUP website at: http://www.acotup-acpue.ca/.