Bringing human rights into focus in medical education

Veronica MitchellMichael RoweSue StathamSouth Africa’s history of human rights violations is well documented, especially in the fieldof healthcare. The issues raised during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission allowedus to develop a deeper understanding of the complicity of healthcare practitioners inhuman rights abuses, and helped to put into place policies to prevent their recurrence.However, ethical and human rights dilemmas in health are as relevant today as ever before.As educators, our responsibility is to incorporate a human rights approach into our teaching, guiding our students and colleagues towards an awareness of social anddistributive justice that is reflected in actual practice. Recently, the role of human rights inhealthcare has been brought to the fore with the announcement by the Health ProfessionsCouncil of South Africa of a mandatory accumulation of 5 Ethics CPD points per year,further acknowledging the importance of human rights in health.This workshop has the following intended outcomes:1.To describe and illustrate the link between human rights and health in promotingand protecting well-being in a holistic manner for all.2.To provide a space where dialogue on human rights issues can be openlydiscussed.3.To illustrate how to integrate a human rights approach into our educational practice,and how to support students and colleagues in interpreting health through a humanrights framework.4.To interpret case studies involving human rights dilemmas that health personnelface in practice.The workshop will include presentations, discussion and groupwork that will allowparticipants to actively engage with the subject matter. The intention is that participantswill leave with an increased awareness of the opportunities for incorporating a humanrights approach in their respective curricula.

Brief Curriculum Vitae for Veronica Mitchell, Michael Rowe and Sue StathamVeronica Mitchell

is a physiotherapist who is presently a Masters student in Higher Education at the University of Cape Town. She facilitates several undergraduate studentcourses in the Health Sciences Faculty at UCT, including Problem Based Learning.While teaching a multidisciplinary group of 1

year students, Veronica realized thepotential impact of human rights teaching in medical education. Inspired by participation inProf Leslie London and Prof Laurel Ragaven-Baldwin’s Train-the-Trainer course in 2004,she pursued further training through the Human Rights Education Association, USA andEquitas, Canada. In 2007, with the support of the School of Public Health, Veronicainitiated a pilot project facilitating health and human rights workshops with 3

year studentsin their Women’s Health block in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department. Theseworkshops have been described by students and clinicians as a “highlight”.