Lung Saskatchewan is pleased to be hosting this final webinar as part of the Indigenous Care in Health Webinar Series. In this series, respected leaders have shared meaningful, candid, and extraordinary insight into Indigenous history, culture, and health. This insight informs our understanding of relevant health practices with a focus on stigma, cultural safety, and reconciliation.

Join us on December 6th at 12noon CST with Dr. Jaris Swidrovich for the series finale titled Decolonizing and Indigenizing Evidence-based Medicine.

Objectives of the Presentation

1. Summarize Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) through decolonial and Indigenous lenses.
2. Name and critically evaluate EBM regarding the knowledge system(s) that inform EBM.
3. Describe intercultural counseling strategies that honour Indigenous knowledges, medicines, and practices that may or may not fall under Western EBM.

About Dr. Jaris Swidrovich

Dr. Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. He is a queer, Two Spirit, disabled, Saulteaux and Ukrainian pharmacist from Yellow Quill First Nation. Dr. Swidrovich is the first and only Indigenous faculty member in pharmacy in North America. His mother was a 60s Scoop Survivor, and both his grandmother and great-grandmother were residential school survivors.

He received a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Saskatchewan and a postbaccalaureate Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Toronto. His primary areas of research and practice include pain, HIV/AIDS, substance use disorders, 2SLGBTQ+ health, and Indigenous health. Dr. Swidrovich is also a PhD Candidate in Education at the University of Saskatchewan, where he is studying Indigenous Peoples’ experiences with pharmacy education in Canada.

Dr. Swidrovich recently founded and is the chair of the Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada and sits on the board of directors for several other organizations, including Pain Canada, Pain Ontario, Solutions for Kids in Pain, and The 519, which is a 2SLGBTQ+ community-based organization in Toronto. He has been recognized with several awards and honours, including the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for service to the community and the National Patient Care Achievement Award from the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

The Indigenous Care in Health Webinar Series is proudly sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim.