From dentists to midwives, Inuit students get a taste of what health professionals do

Inuit students from across Nunavut had a chance to learn about jobs in health care during a camp hosted last week in Iqaluit.

The camp was organized by Makigiaqta, a division of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., and set mostly at Nunavut Arctic College, where professionals spoke to 14 students about traditional medicine, midwifery and occupational therapy.

The camp ran from May 4 to 7.

“Social services came and talked to students to see that that’s a part of health,” said project officer Kunuk Kotierk in an interview about the variety of professionals who spoke to youth. “It’s going from office workers that are a part of health to in-the-field [workers].”

Participants from eight communities across Nunavut’s three regions took part in the activities. Kotierk said he planned for more people to join in, but blizzards kept Rankin Inlet and Baker Lake youth from flying in.

Troy Jonas, a student at Clyde River’s Quluaq School, was one of the youth who attended the camp.

His favourite moment?

“Probably when we were at the firehall with the first responders,” Jonas said, describing a simulation by the Iqaluit Fire Department of rescuing somebody out of a a damaged car.

In the evenings, he said, he visited his aunt and played volleyball.

The students also heard from community health representatives, who develop public health initiatives in their hometowns.

Patricia Lyall, a community health representative from Gjoa Haven, accompanied her daughter, Nevaeh, to Iqaluit.

“She really got inspired by my department,” Lyall said. “She got excited and said, ‘I could do that when I’m older.’”

Lyall was inspired herself when she watched a presentation on midwifery, which emphasized the benefit of Inuit mothers giving birth close to home. There hasn’t been an Inuk midwife in Nunavut for more than five years.

“I got interested in the midwifery program after I started as [community health representative],” Lyall said.

“I was dedicated to the job and good with the public. Just being engaged with the community. I thought of it before, because I live with an elder and most of her life, she was a midwife.”