The Manitoba Health Sciences Students' Association (MaHSSA) is a
student-initiated, student-driven interprofessional organization established in
January 2007. One of 19 university-based chapters, under the National Health
Sciences Students' Association (NaHSSA), NaHSSA is the first and only national
interprofessional student association in the world.
As a student driven
organization, our mission at MaHSSA is to serve as the unifying body that will
enhance holistic care by promoting interprofessional education and facilitating
collaboration amongst health sciences students in the province of Manitoba. Our
present Executive consists of student representation from programs including:
Dentistry, Dental Hygiene, Kinesiology and Recreational Management, Medicine,
Pharmacy, and the School of Medical Rehabilitation. As an effort to include
participation from all health sciences programs, we continue to strive to
establish communication with programs without current representation on our
council. MaHSSA has also gained support from faculty members and we have a
Faculty Liaison, Dr. Ruby Grymonpre of the Faculty of Pharmacy and the
Interprofessional Education Coordinator at the University of Manitoba.
Interprofessional (IP) education and collaborative practice are not
novel concepts. Despite this, opportunities for interprofessional collaboration
and education in the early years of training continue to be limited; MaHSSA
hopes to bridge this gap. We hope to achieve a standard of interprofessional
practice by providing IP opportunities for students in the health sciences
across curricular and human science initiatives. Our goals include: to promote
and advocate for IPE in the province of Manitoba; serve as the umbrella
organization for all student IPE programs and initiatives (current initiatives
include: Winnipeg Interprofessioanl Student-run Clinic- WISH, and the Institute
of Healthcare Improvement); work and collaborate with faculty to facilitate IPE
into curricular and provide professional development and social networking
opportunities for students in the health sciences.