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MGR | Stuart Skinner, MD – First Nations’ Resilience: Two Communities Take On An Epidemic

Date: Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Pinn Hall Conference Center Auditorium
Cost: Free


Dr. Stuart Skinner is an infectious diseases specialist at Regina General Hospital’s Infectious Diseases Clinic in Saskatchewan, Canada. He has special expertise in HIV treatment in First Nations communities, which have the highest HIV infection rate in Canada. Dr. Skinner is also a clinical assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan School of Medicine, and serves as clinical director of the Saskatchewan HIV Provincial Leadership Team.

Dr. Skinner will be joined by Leslie Ann Smith and Ruby McAdam of Health Canada’s Big River Health Centre, and by Noreen Reed of the Ahtahkakoop Health Center, both in Saskatchewan.

Learning objectives:

When the First Nations of Big River and Ahtahkakoop in Canada’s Saskatchewan province realized they had an HIV epidemic within their rural communities, their leadership and health centers rallied community members to determine the social and structural issues behind the epidemic. One of the driving factors proved to be injection drug use. Big River and Ahtahkakoop then developed culturally competent, community-based care to address the intertwined issues of HIV, hepatitis C, and substance use. In this presentation, spokespersons from these two communities describe how they took on these epidemics, and discuss the solutions that have worked for them. What can other communities struggling similarly with substance abuse and related infectious disease outbreaks learn from these First Nations’ grassroots responses? Are there lessons here for communities in Virginia, where, on average, three people die each day from opioid overdose?


Co-presented with the Department of Medicine and the Medical Center Hour (Center for Biomedical Ethics & Humanities).

Medicine Grand Rounds is offered every Wednesday throughout the year by the UVA Department of Medicine, in association with UVA’s Office of Continuing Medical Education. CME credit is available; instructions and forms are available at the event.

The University of Virginia School of Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The University of Virginia School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. The University Of Virginia School Of Medicine awards one hour of participation to each non-physician participant who successfully completes this educational activity. The University of Virginia School of Medicine maintains a permanent record of participants who have been awarded hours of participation. CME transcripts may be obtained at www.cmevillage.com (click on Transcripts and follow the instructions).

Filed Under: Medicine Grand Rounds